Richard Sanchez, 18, was asked why he came out Monday to cast an early vote in the first election he’s eligible to vote.

“Walker,” he said, referring to embattled Republican Gov. Scott Walker, facing recall and running to keep his seat against Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett. “His (anti-collective bargaining) bill affects both my parents.”

Sanchez and his mother, Teresa, left after waiting awhile in line. He has final exams on Election Day, June 5, but promised his mother he’d go to the polls at 7 a.m., before school starts.

For Sanchez, voting in his first election marks the conclusion of a long political journey that began last February when he, along with hundreds of other high school students, marched from West High to the Capitol during the first week of last year’s massive protests against Walker’s budget bill.

Many other voters at City Hall on Monday protested last winter and helped collect the more than 900,000 recall petitions that allowed this election to happen.

Many greetings were exchanged among old friends, all seemed to say a special thank you to the city employees who worked on a holiday and little doubt could be found about how most planned to vote in the heavily Democratic city.

“Voting Walker out is very important,” said Paul Deutsch, there with his wife, Sallie Cunningham, because they’ll be out of town June 5. “I think it will bring the state back together and put things back to the right course.”