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Leaders of the state's largest teachers union and the state employees union met privately with Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett this week to discourage him from running in possible recall election next year against Gov. Scott Walker.

But Barrett rebuffed the union bosses.

According to an email obtained by No Quarter, Wisconsin Education Association Council President Mary Bell, WEAC Executive Director Dan Burkhalter and other top union officials had a face-to-face meeting with the Democratic mayor on Monday to discuss the potential Walker recall race.

"Despite attempts to communicate the issues you laid out very clearly in our meeting on Saturday, in our judgment the meeting did not convince Mayor Barrett that he should not run in a potential recall election," Bell wrote Thursday to her board members and UniServ presidents.

Insiders say the union officials are hoping to clear the field for former Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk to take on the first-term Republican governor in the spring. Also attending the meeting was Marty Beil, executive director of the Wisconsin State Employees Union and an open critic of Barrett.

At least one other union leader was upset with WEAC and Beil for discouraging Barrett - or anyone else - from considering a possible recall run.

"That's certainly not a unanimous view in the labor community," Jim Palmer, head of the Wisconsin Professional Police Association, said of the effort to force Barrett out of the race. "What everybody wants is a candidate to defeat Scott Walker. That should be our primary objective."

Patrick Curley, the mayor's chief of staff, issued a statement saying his boss is focused on Milwaukee and his mayoral re-election contest in April. It appears that Barrett will face only minor opposition.

"The recall campaign is a grass roots, citizens initiative that still has a few chapters to be written," Curley said in the statement. "Tom respects and supports the thousands of Wisconsinites who have made this a true democratic effort."

That is consistent with his remarks at a Wednesday news conference in which reporters repeatedly asked Barrett if he would run in a recall election. He repeatedly dodged the question.

"I'm a proud candidate for mayor of Milwaukee," Barrett said, adding, "I don't know what the future holds" for the prospects of a recall election.

Frankly, it's not surprising that the state teachers union and the Milwaukee mayor do not see eye to eye on the recall race.

WEAC opposed Barrett's plan a couple of years ago to take control of the troubled Milwaukee Public Schools. In his 2010 gubernatorial campaign, the statewide teachers group didn't make independent expenditures in support of his campaign, as it did for a number of Wisconsin lawmakers.

In her email, Bell, who could not be reached for comment, urged top WEAC officials to press the case for Barrett to sit on the sidelines in a recall contest. Walker defeated Barrett by 52% to 47% in the 2010 general election. That marked the second time Barrett was beaten in a bid to be governor.



"We continue to pursue the message on other fronts, but could use your assistance in telling the story from your perspective and with your reasons, to those with whom you have connections that might be more effective in delivering that message to the Mayor," Bell wrote.

Bell then told her union brethren what Barrett had said at his Wednesday press conference announcing his re-election bid for mayor.

"Mayor Barrett has not signed a recall petition," Bell wrote. "He said he might sign. 'In all likelihood' he will sign. REALLY? Wisconsin citizens – our members – are standing in the cold to gather signatures and Mayor Barrett is undecided?"

Earlier this month, the United Wisconsin coalition said more than 507,000 signatures had been collected in just 30 days. They need 540,208 signatures to force the recall election sometime in 2012. Petitions are due Jan. 17.

The effort was spurred by anger over Walker’s proposal effectively ending collective bargaining rights for public workers.

As part of its effort to push Barrett aside, WEAC officials began circulating a polling memo on Thursday that suggests Falk and former U.S. Rep. Dave Obey have as good a chance as Barrett to unseat Walker.

"After introducing balanced information about Walker and each Democrat, Kathleen Falk is able to move the vote more towards her than Obey or Barrett," says the memo from Anzalone Liszt Research, a national Democratic firm that polled 601 likely recall voters on Dec. 12-15 for WEAC.

"Though Barrett has the highest name ID to start with, voters are familiar with him and he is limited in his ability to gain voters. Falk gains the support of key target groups including independents, women and seniors."

Other Democrats, however, were dismissive of the memo, suggesting that other private polls show Barrett is a better position than Falk.

"The difference would be he wins, she loses," said one well-connected Democrat. "All his negatives are known, and people still want him over Walker. Falk is much more of a wild card."