The Republican Party of Wisconsin admitted Monday that they planned to run candidates as Democrats in this summer’s recall elections.

Earlier this month, the Wisconsin Government Accountability Board Tuesday approved recall elections for three Republicans, bringing the total number to six. At the same time, the nonpartisan election officials put the recall elections of three Democrats on hold.

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By running their own Democratic candidates, Republicans will force the July 12 recall elections to become Democratic primaries. The general elections would be moved to Aug. 9.

“We should have protest candidates in most and perhaps all of the races,” a Republican official told The Wisconsin Sentinel Journal. “We’re not hiding this from anybody.”

“Republican senators are again busy doing their jobs crafting a fiscally responsible state budget that promotes economic growth, which puts them at a distinct disadvantage with many of their challengers who have had sufficient time to campaign,” Stephan Thompson, Executive Director of the Republican Party of Wisconsin, said in a statement.

“Because of this disadvantage, and the outrageous nature of elected officials facing recall for standing up for a balanced budget, the Republican Party of Wisconsin has advocated that protest candidates run in Democratic primaries to ensure that Republican legislators have ample time to communicate with voters throughout their districts after the state budget is approved,” he added.

Wisconsin Democrats called the move “Nixonian tactics.”

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“Now they’re resorting to dirty tricks – like running Republicans as Democrats in Democratic primaries – to deny democracy,” Democratic state Senate Minority Leader Mark Miller said.

Republican Isaac Weix is in the process of collecting signatures to get on the ballot as a Democrat against Shelly Moore, the state Democratic Party’s official candidate in the 10th District.

“It’s absolutely nauseating,” Moore told The St. Paul Pioneer Press. “It’s about the most un-American thing I can imagine.”

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Photo courtesy of PCCC/BoldProgressives.org