Wisconsin Coaltion Submits 1 Million-Plus Signatures to Oust Walker

Bursting with smiles and pride as the national media watched, Wisconsin activists made history this week as they delivered more than 1 million petition signatures in the campaign to recall Gov. Scott Walker.

"It was snowing and it was cold, but I don't think too many of us felt it," said CWA Local 4630 retiree Tim Sager, one of 140 activists hand-picked to make the Jan. 17 delivery. "I couldn't think of a better way to end the recall signature-gathering process than to actually be able to physically carry a box of the petitions in and present it."

Nearly as many people signed the petitions as the 1.12 million who voted for Walker in 2010. But his popularly began plummeting, even among Republicans, as soon as he took office.

Walker immediately pushed the legislature to strip collective bargaining rights from public workers, something he'd never talked about doing during his campaign. His actions and arrogance set off a firestorm of opposition that escalated as he slashed budgets for education and vital services while championing tax breaks for corporations and the rich. One in every four registered voters signed the petitions supporting his recall.

The United Wisconsin recall campaign needs 540,209 valid signatures to trigger an election that could oust Walker. It would be Wisconsin's first-ever election to attempt to recall a governor, and only the third nationally. Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch and four Republican state senators are also targeted, and collectively nearly 1 million more signatures were submitted to unseat them.

"Across the state, our CWA local activists have been an important part of not only the million signatures to recall Walker but also the recalls to take back the state Senate," CWA District 4 Vice President Seth Rosen said. "We are ready to continue on to the next phase, the election, and elect a governor and state senate that will bring back good jobs and strong communities in Wisconsin."

When the broad-based United Wisconsin coalition held its first meeting in Madison, Local 4630's Sager and his wife, Genny, signed up to start collecting pledges from people who would support or be involved in the recall campaign. Soon, Sager was appointed as one of two coordinators in Green County, just south of Madison.

"I had absolutely no experience in organizing, other than being a mobilization chair at one point for Local 4630," Sager said. "I started following our (Democratic) state representative around as she did a listening tour. I hung out a United Wisconsin sign and started collecting signatures, pledges, looking for volunteers and that kind of snowballed."

The coalition rewarded Sager and other county coordinators around the state by inviting them to deliver the boxes full of petitions. After a luncheon, they marched around the capitol square toward the Government Accountability Office, where a truck full of boxes was waiting. Fellow activists lined the sidewalks and cheered. The happiness was "infectious," Sager said.

One by one, each member of the delivery team hoisted a box and walked inside the state office building to a small room set up for collecting the petitions. Wearing a yellow CWA retired members' button, Sager can be seen prominently in footage aired Wednesday on MSNBC's The Ed Show and the Rachel Maddow Show.

The million-plus number was supposed to be a secret until a celebration later that night, but it had leaked hours earlier. Even so, Sager said, "it was still impressive at the party when you saw the big signs with that 1 and six zeros."