Local Supporters of Walker Recall Take to the Street

Even in Republican-friendly Oak Creek, signs of the effort to recall Gov. Scott Walker can be seen.

For the past four Sundays, a small group has set up along Highway 32 near Puetz Road encouraging passers-by to stop and sign their petitions. They get about 60 signatures each day, said Kathy Slamka, adding to the 500,000-plus .

The reactions they get from drivers run both ways. Some will show their support, others their displeasure. Some motorists get out and enthusiastically sign; others have stopped to argue the merits of the recall.

"We get thumbs up from people. We get beeps, we get waves," Slamka said. "We get thumbs down and sometimes we get worse."

No matter what the reaction, Slamka said she and others want to do their part to oust Walker from office.

"He's owned by the corporations and people who don't represent Wisconsin," she said. "It's the buying and selling of Wisconsin."

Not everyone has been pleased with the mission, however.

The has fielded a couple of complaints about recall-related activity in the city. One was about a person who was asked to stay off private property on 27th Street. The other was about Slamka's group causing a traffic hazard. They were advised to take down a sign posted on a utility pole and on Slamka's vehicle but otherwise sent on their way.

Those complaints are just two small examples of the amount of acrimony this unprecedented attempt to recall the governor has caused. The Walker campaign filing a lawsuit against the state elections board, the possibility of "Mickey Mouse" and "Adolf Hitler" being counted as vaild signatures and are just a few of the numerous stories to come out since the recall officially began in November.

Slamka said she was confident pro-recall organizers will have plenty of signatures to move forward with an election.

When asked why a recall was being attempted instead of waiting until 2014, when Walker is up for re-election, Slamka said she didn't want more of his initiatives to be pushed through.

"He's doing so much damage ... he's doing things that are going to be really hard to reverse," she said. "There's a sense of urgency."