With six days to go before his recall election, Wisconsin Republican state senator Randy Hopper is out knocking on doors in Fond du Lac, trying to reintroduce himself to his constituents. He bounds like a Labrador from door to door, exuding an enthusiasm reflecting his recent surge in the polls. At houses that display red Hopper signs, he thanks the residents for their support. At houses with no sign, he asks them for their support. “I tend to skip the houses with the blue signs,” he jokes — referring to the Jessica King signs that pepper the neighborhood.
Hopper, a radio-station owner from Fond du Lac, won his seat in 2008 — a year in which the GOP was being wiped off the map around the nation. His district leans Republican most of the time, but Barack Obama received 54 percent of the vote in that election — while Hopper won by 163 votes, keeping the seat in the GOP column after longtime Republican state senator Carol Roessler retired.
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Yet in 2011 — just months after the country saw a historic GOP surge — Hopper is fighting for his political life. On August 9, the senator faces a recall election in which he is set for a rematch against his 2008 opponent, Democrat Jessica King. If he loses, it will give Democrats one of the three seats they need to retake the state senate. His fortunes have fluctuated: Upon his election in 2008, he was considered by some to be potential gubernatorial material; earlier in this race, he was left for dead, as polls showed him well behind King; and now, he is gaining momentum.
Hopper and five of his GOP state-senate colleagues landed in this electoral cauldron as a result of their vote to significantly scale back collective bargaining for government employees in Wisconsin. He tells the story of how on the day Gov. Scott Walker introduced his collective-bargaining plan, a number of union members came to his legislative office — they said if he voted against the bill, he would always have a “free ride” to reelection. But if he voted for it, they would come after him with all they had. Even in February, Hopper knew what that meant.
While it was his vote on the collective-bargaining plan that provoked the unions to gather recall signatures against him, collective bargaining hasn’t been much of an issue in the state since the recall process actually started. All around the state, unions have realized that the collective-bargaining issue isn’t a winner, so they have pivoted to other topics — school funding, Medicare, etc.
For Hopper, the unions are primarily focusing on personal scandal. During the initial round of protests in February, union protesters showed up to picket Hopper’s house in Fond du Lac. According to reports, when they set up shop outside the front door, they were greeted by Hopper’s wife, Alysia, who told them that picketing there was a fool’s errand — as Hopper was living in Madison with his 25-year-old mistress.
Through a spokesman, Hopper has issued a statement indicating he and his wife have been separated for around a year; he is currently living in an apartment in his district. He filed for divorce in August of 2010.
The news got worse when the Milwaukee Journal Sentinelreported that Hopper’s alleged mistress (the newspaper refers to her as his “girlfriend”) had received a job in Scott Walker’s administration at a salary more than $10,000 higher than what the previous employee in that position had been paid. The newspaper strongly played up the implication that something untoward had occurred.
It is this issue that has been hyped to voters in Wisconsin’s 18th state-senate district — and that could ultimately determine control of the state senate. A union-funded group, the Greater Wisconsin Committee, has just begun running radio and television ads hammering away at Hopper’s personal issues. “While we struggle to find good jobs, senator Randy Hopper’s 26-year-old alleged mistress was given one in the Walker administration,” says the ad.
If the GOP loses the senate, union organizations will beat their chest all over America that union power is not to be trifled with; if unions lose, Scott Walker’s approach to public-sector collective bargaining will be vindicated. Millions of dollars are pouring in from out-of-state unions to try to make Wisconsin an example.
Really, the most troublesome development from these recall elections is the fact that the candidates aren’t talking about collective bargaining/union issue. You open up a Pandora’s Box when you then in turn make it okay for there to be recall elections for elected officials at every possible juncture.
Clearly there are extreme circumstances here, but shifting the debate away from them sets a precedent for a government cycle constantly hounded by recalls where legislation never makes progress (not to mention all the money wasted on countless campaigns).
Furthermore, it’s hard to understand why the Republicans are avoiding the issue. If there’s one thing worth campaigning on, it’s the simple fact that legislation is working (External Link).
Conversely, in areas operating under previously union-negotiated contracts, hundreds of workers have been laid off (External Link). Despite this fact, we’ve actually seen public sector job growth since Governor Walker took office (External Link).
If the politicians won’t discuss it, it’s up to the people of Wisconsin to seek out this information, so that they might make the most informed decision come recall time.
I hope this election goes the same way the election for the WI Supreme Court went. I don't know how anyone other than someone with personal Union ties could possibly have enjoyed the fiasco Union members demonstrated at the WI Court House.
Nasty spoiled brats is the term that comes to my mind.
Were the voters ever allowed approve the recall election first? I can't believe collecting the signatures was enough to start the recall.
I actually like the CA model (If I recall correctly) - if you voted 'yes', you could also pick a candidate to replace the incumbent. The field was huge and included independents as well as the two major parties. Theoretically a democrat could have replaced Gary Davis. This (sort of) prevents one party from hijacking the process. But if the 'no' side prevailed, then all of that was a moot point.
"Once left for dead, state senator Randy Hopper gains momentum."
Mr. Schneider:
I read this post carefully (twice) and am at a loss to see where you provide evidence that Mr. Hopper is gaining momentum. Or for that matter, losing momentum. Or really, anything at all, momentum-wise.
You just sort of say so, based on his campaigning hard, and, apparently, the shape of his chin. (Seriously? His chin?)
Anyway, the "captcha" thing I had to fill out was "thin air" - which is somewhat ironic because, apparently, it's the source of your conclusion.
I agree. I didn't find any evidence of any movement, positive or otherwise, in this article. It just comes across as a love letter to a politician.
I live in Wisconsin, and while the unions were involved in the protests and early recall process, I haven't seen or heard from them in a while.
I took my daughters to lunch at a fast food restaurant yesterday. 3 volunteers going door to door for Sen. Hopper came in wearing t-shirts for a conservative group. One volunteer had a button that read "Pro-Family, Pro-Life, Pro-God". I also respect these values, but I had to ask whom they were supporting. When they responded "Sen Hopper", I had to ask if they heard about his marital infidelity. They parroted the line about union smears. I reminded them that Sen Hopper didn't say the infidelity wasn't true, just that the unions were reporting it. I left them to their confusion.
I hope he retains his seat, not just because I'd hate for the Left to be able to claim any sort of "victory" in this whole Wisconsin debacle, well - OK, I guess that is the only reason someone (me) from out of State (MI) cares.
But win or lose, I want to thank the Senator and everyone else running in these recall elections, Republican or Democrat, for chewing up all those Union dollars that will not be able to be spent to buy future Dem victories.
I'd also like to thank WI for beating back the Liberals on what has become the "front line" of their offensive time and again.
Good luck!
If the Unions win, the people of Wisconsin and America lose. The CHANGE conservatives are working to achieve locally and nationally is the only HOPE this country has of surviving as an economic power. Do you really believe there is enough money to solve our economic problems by just "taxing the rich" more? It really is the spending that hurts the states and the country the most, particularly the wasteful spending.
Is Mr. Clinton, oops Hopper, running a family values centered campaign? Infidelity, lies, trashing his marriage vows, aren't we conservatives supposed to care about that? Isn't that one of the ways we're different from liberals?
"All around the state, unions have realized that the collective-bargaining issue isn’t a winner, so they have pivoted to other topics — school funding, Medicare, etc"
Living near the district in which this race is happening, I assure you that you could just as easily write this sentence about the campaign of Luther Olsen (and the other Republicans running in recall elections). None of Olsen's ads talk about collective bargaining, they attack Clark for supposedly defunding higher education for veterans and for promoting higher education for illegal aliens; they accuse Clark of slashing funding for education; and for enabling welfare cheats.
Oh, and about those personal attacks, ads run by groups sympathetic to Olsen talk about Clark owing child support and being a bad driver.
They don't talk about collective bargaining, because "the collective bargaining issue isn't a winner."
But don't let the facts get in the way of your pre-determined narrative.
As someone who lives in Hopper's district, I can most certainly say that this article is either a) the function of prolonged drug use, or b) "fake it til you make it" posturing. No, Hopper is NOT gaining momentum. Each day that passes seems to get worse for him here at "home". Each day, his opponent reveals herself not only to be politically savvy, but almost unshakeable in sticking to the issues, making clear and concise points, and motivating voters who fall on her side of the aisle. Articles such as this serve to lull Mr. Hopper's supporters into a false sense of security...as they should be. To be honest, HE brought this on himself. Had we not heard endlessly about his shenanigans with his mistress, the union issue would probably not have been enough for most of us in his district to oppose him. Hopper did this to himself.
The collective bargaining issue has been beat to death. If you live in Wisconsin and haven't heard about it you are either dead or a hermit. Voters who are only going to use this issue to decide have already made their minds up and know where each side stands. To say different is to insult the intelligence of Wisconsin voters.Both side have chosen to wisely leave this issue alone and campaign on other issues that voters may not know of.
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