Darling Recall Workers Party for a Purpose at New Office

The organizers of the campaign to recall Republican Sen. Alberta Darling threw a party at their new home Friday night that was attended by a standing room only crowd.

And it's a good thing the crowd didn’t mind standing because the organization’s new office in a former sub shop at 6807 N. Green Bay Ave. has precious few chairs.

“A lot of people thought we were going to announce we made our petition goal,” said Kristopher Rowe, founder of the group. “That’s not true.”

Rowe said the group has until the end of the month to collect signatures. The strategy is to keep canvassing for signatures until the very last minute.

“The more signatures we get, the stronger the message we will send to Senator Darling,” Rowe said. “It will also give us a good idea what doors we should knock on for the recall election.”

If the group succeeds in getting at least 20,343 signatures, there will be an election. The timing for the election isn’t the greatest, Rowe acknowledged.

“It looks like it will be July 12 or 19,” Rowe said. “We’re really going to have to work to bring out the vote in the middle of summer.”

Martha Pincus, of Fox Point, is putting her all into the recall effort. She baked brownies and dipped strawberries in chocolate for Friday's event and has circulated recall petitions for the cause.

“On paper, my husband and I should be Republicans,” said Pincus. “It is our duty to help those who are less fortunate.

“So many of these people claim to be such good Christian folks,” she said of the GOP lawmakers. “But they are voting against the needs of the elderly, the poor and the disabled. They say one thing, but their actions say another.”

Darling is her representative in Madison, Pincus said, but the senator does not represent her interests.

“She sold out a long time ago,” Pincus said. “She used to be a middle-of-the-road Republican. She was on the Planned Parenthood board. She doesn’t even acknowledge that anymore.”

Pincus’ friend, Kathy Golden, said she joined the recall effort after news reports of the now infamous conversation Gov. Scott Walker had with a blogger posing as billionaire David Koch, a Walker donor.

“After that, I decided I had to do something,” said Golden, a Fox Point resident who retired from a job with Milwaukee County more than 20 years ago. “Then it became clear that the (Republican) party was being run by someone else, the rich corporate interests.”

Chris Rockwood is a self-described liberal from Wauwatosa who up until now has been politically apathetic. He has spent one day a week working on the Darling recall.

“I went to Madison on Feb. 18 and got swept up in the wave of excitement,” Rockwood said. “My senator is Leah Vukmir and she can’t be recalled until next year. This is practice for that.”

Two state legislators showed up at the party to encourage the recall workers.

Rep. Sandy Pasch, a Whitefish Bay Democrat who is , said the ongoing developments in Madison are fueling the recall movement.

The startling news of the results and uncertainty of Tuesday’s Supreme Court race has “increased the sense of outrage,” said Pasch.

Incumbent David Prosser Jr., a former Republican legislator, trailed challenger JoAnne Kloppenburg by about 200 votes until late Thursday when Waukesha County Clerk Kathy Nickolaus announced that . That gave Prosser a 7,500 lead.

Sen. Chris Larson, a Democrat whose district is on the East Side, agreed the Supreme Court election was encouraging the efforts of the recall workers.  

“It’s so highly questionable,” Larson said. “It leaves all of us just scratching our heads.”