Organizer of Darling Recall Effort Drops Out of Assembly Race

Kristopher Rowe, the man behind the failed recall effort against Sen. Alberta Darling (R-River Hills), said Wednesday he’s suspending his run for the state Assembly to clear the path for Democratic state Rep. Sandy Pasch.

“I feel that it is in the best interests of the people that I wish to represent to step aside,” Rowe told supporters in a Facebook message late Wednesday night.

“I have spoken with Representative Pasch … she has pledged to fight just as hard for you as I have. I believe she is genuine and she is not tied to the oligarchy that has lost sight of the people. With the GOP’s ongoing war on women we need strong leaders like Sandy in Madison," he wrote.

, saying that in light of the Shorewood's shift from the 22nd District under Pasch to the 10th Assembly District, he would run for the seat now held by Democratic freshman Elizabeth Coggs of Milwaukee.

Coggs announced her plans April 17 to run for the Senate seat her cousin is vacating. She was elected to the Assembly seat in 2010 and her two-year term ends in 2013.

Then Pasch, a Democrat from Whitefish Bay, followed in mid-April saying after . Pasch said her family has been thinking about moving to either Milwaukee or Shorewood, which she would be required to do if elected to the Assembly District 10 seat.

Under the redistricting plan approved by the Republican-controlled Legislature, Shorewood will be lumped in with Milwaukee neighborhoods, including Riverwest, Arlington Heights, Williamsburg Heights and Lincoln Park areas.

Rowe spearheaded a recall effort that saw 22,243 signatures validated by the state Government Accountability Board, the agency that oversees elections. That was more than enough to hold an Aug. 9 recall election, which

(This story was updated at 1:20 p.m. April 26.)