Government and Political News: Undecided voters could determine tomorrow's primary

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Some polls show that only two-percent of Wisconsinites are undecided about whether to vote for Scott Walker or his Democratic recall election opponent on June fifth. But those undecided voters could have more of a say in tomorrow’s five-way Democratic recall primary. Last week’s Marquette Law School poll gave Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett a 17-point lead over former Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk. Doug La Follette and Kathleen Vinehout remain further back, and Gladys Huber is on the ballot as a fake Democrat who ran to guarantee that the finals would be pushed back to next month. Undecided voters interviewed by the Associated Press include those who sympathize with the public union workers who lost most of their bargaining privileges – but still believe the Republican Walker earned the right to serve his full four-year term. Others want to find out if a Democrat can do better in creating jobs. A couple of voters said they didn’t like Walker’s confrontational tactics – even though they agreed with what he did. Some said they haven’t seen any new ideas from Democrats for improving the state’s fiscal condition.

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Wisconsin Republicans will hold their annual state convention in Green Bay this weekend. Job-One is to help Governor Scott Walker try-to-win his recall election on June fifth. But the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says a battle is brewing behind the scenes over the G-O-P’s highly-sought endorsement in the U-S Senate race this fall. The paper says former Congressman Mark Neumann’s campaign is the most aggressive in trying to get people designated as delegates who will vote for him at the convention – even in counties where the delegates have already been picked. Sean Lansing, a spokesman for Eric Hovde’s Senate campaign, says it’s a repeat of the 2010 G-O-P convention where quote, “Neumann is apparently using under-handed tactics to try and get his way because he knows he doesn’t have a whole lot of support in Wisconsin.” The Neumann camp says it has not done anything against the rules. Former Governor Tommy Thompson and state Assembly Speaker Jeff Fitzgerald are also running in the Republican Senate primary on August 14th.

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The state D-N-R’s Number-three official arranged to settle a violation against an Oconomowoc waste hauler, instead seeking prosecution from the Justice Department. Former D-N-R Secretary George Meyer called it a case of political influence unlike any he’s ever seen. The Wisconsin State Journal said Scott Gunderson asked prosecutors last year to fine Herr Environmental 43-hundred-dollars. It was the minimum penalty for a waste-spreading violation that the paper said could have resulted in a 40-thousand-dollar fine had the Justice agency handled it. A D-N-R memo said Herr spread three times as much human waste from septic tanks onto farm fields than its permit allowed. And an agency investigator said it was so excessive, it threatened poisoning up to 40 private water wells nearby. Gunderson said his action forced the company into compliance faster-and-better than the Justice Department might have done. Gunderson received 750 campaign dollars from Herr’s owner when he served as a Republican in the state Legislature. But an official said Gunderson did not violate ethics laws, because he was not in the Assembly at the time. Gunderson said it didn't influence his decision anyway. The State Journal also said one of Herr’s legislators, Assembly Republican Joel Kleefisch, pushed for lenience. But D-N-R Secretary Cathy Stepp said last night that the agency never cut its number of violations due to Kleefisch’s contact. And Stepp said quote, “Our administration holds itself to the highest ethical standards.”

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