Recall Organizers: 12,000 Signatures Needed to Secure Successful Recall of Grothman

Recall organizers at a Saturday rally in Grady Park said they need about 12,000 more signatures to force a recall of republican Sen. Glenn Grothman.

Tanya Lohr, a teacher, recall advocate and one of six speakers at the event, offered a plan to secure the remaining signatures required: find 400 people to collect 30 signatures apiece.

"We are 400 people away from recalling Glenn Grothman," she said. "If 400 people make a commitment to go out and get 30 signatures ... 30 people to sign the petition, and we are done. We have recalled Glenn Grothman — one of the most despicable of the Republican Eight."

Richard Schwalb, who is spearheading the recall effort, said 12,000 is a ballpark number, as some signatures await verification, and the recall could be successful with even less.

The Grothman recall campaign was registered with the state March 2, and organizers have 60 days to collect the 20,061 signatures needed to recall the senator.

One man showed up in support of Grothman, holding a sign that read, "You lost get over it," on one side, and "Raping the taxpayers is not a union right," on the other.

The man declined to give his name, but said he is from Washington County and lives in Grothman's district.

"I'm here to try to express the facts and the information that the media is not reporting," he said, citing examples such as donations given to the democratic party by public service workers, sick pay stacking by prison workers and emeritus programs in Green Bay and Madison.

Other speakers at Saturday's event included Stephanie Bloomingdale, secretary/treasurer for the Wisconsin AFL-CIO; Wendy Strout, executive director of Emerge Wisconsin; Sen. Chris Larson, one of the "Wisconsin 14" senate democrats who went to Illinois to protest Gov. Scott Walker's budget repair bill; and Rich Aaron, a democratic candidate for the 60th Assembly District. Deb Dassow, a Port Washington-Saukville School District teacher and a negotiator for the teacher's union, spoke in place of Gus Gnorski, a retired local television journalist who decided against speaking due to conflicts of interest.

Bloomingdale was first to speak at the rally, calling it an historic day in Saukville because of the number of people who showed up for the cause.