Wisconsin GOP will aim to block judge's order to Gov. Scott Walker to call special election

MADISON - One day after a judge dealt Republicans a setback by ordering special elections, Gov. Scott Walker and his fellow GOP leaders in the Legislature said they will pass legislation to block those elections.

Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald (R-Juneau) and Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester) said they would take up legislation to change special election rules after a Dane County judge ruled that Walker must call special elections to fill two legislative seats that have been vacant almost three months. Walker quickly committed to signing the bill, which has not yet been released.

"It would be senseless to waste taxpayer money on special elections just weeks before voters go to the polls when the Legislature has concluded its business. This is why I support, and will sign, the Senate and Assembly plan to clarify special election law," Walker said in a statement.

Democrats leapt to object, saying that Republicans were seeking to block a vote at a time when the GOP is underperforming in special elections. In a statement, Senate Minority Leader Jennifer Shilling (D-La Crosse) said Republican lawmakers are "clearly intimidated by the thought of losing power."

"Rather than depriving thousands of Wisconsin families of their constitutional right to representation, Senator Fitzgerald and Speaker (Robin) Vos need to get it together and focus on the problems they were sent here to fix," Shilling said.

RELATED: Judge orders Gov. Scott Walker to hold special elections for open legislative seats

Walker had declined to call the special elections after two GOP lawmakers stepped down to join his administration in December. It's likely that the trial court ruling on the matter will be appealed and could result in the judge's order being blocked by the Supreme Court, which might render the question of legislation moot.

In a news conference Friday, Fitzgerald could offer no specifics on what legislative changes he would make to halt the elections and acknowledged he wasn't yet sure if such a bill would be constitutional. He and Vos said they were worried that the tight timeline of a special election might lead to the disenfranchisement of the federally protected voting rights of troops stationed overseas and other voters abroad.

"The logistics of this is very messy and I don't think (Dane County Judge Josann) Reynolds considered this at all how this would transpire in the real world and so we started looking at how this could be addressed," Fitzgerald said.

Democrats scoffed at that, arguing that it was far worse to let no one vote as Republicans propose. They said the districts would have no representation if the Legislature has to return this summer to redraw the lines of legislative districts.

Democratic attorney Lester Pines of Madison questioned whether the Republican proposal was an unconstitutional infringement on people's right to vote.

"That strikes me as a very strong argument," Pines said. "The intent is clear: They do not want people to vote."

Also Friday, Fitzgerald strongly signaled that GOP senators will not take up a firearm background checks bill passed by Assembly Republicans Thursday. The proposal would apply somewhat more extensive background to those gun sales covered by some existing checks.

"I don't see that bill moving forward," Fitzgerald said.

Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett said the Assembly GOP bill didn't go far enough to require background checks on all gun sales in Wisconsin. But Thursday's vote shows Republicans are worried about the issue, he said.

"They're beginning to realize, 'Oh, this could be a problem in the election,' " he said in an interview.

RELATED: Wisconsin Assembly expands gun background checks, but bill's fate in Senate is uncertain

Walker's special election decision would have left the seats vacant for more than a year. Democratic voters in those areas took him to court with the help of a group headed by Eric Holder, the first attorney general under Democratic President Barack Obama.

Reynolds — whom Walker appointed to the bench in 2014 — determined Walker had a duty under state law to hold special elections so voters could have representation in the Legislature. She said failing to hold special elections infringed on the voting rights of people who lived in the two districts.

In a statement Friday, Holder said his group was ready to take further legal action if needed.

"Even for Republicans in Wisconsin, this would be a stunning action to keep citizens from exercising their right to vote. They appear to be afraid of the voters," Holder said.

Under the ruling from Reynolds, by next week Walker must call two special elections to fill the seats that belonged to former Sen. Frank Lasee of De Pere and former Rep. Keith Ripp of Lodi.

Reynolds did not say when the elections would be held, though they could be as late as May. The winners would stand for election again in November.

On Thursday, Vos, the Assembly speaker, dismissed Reynolds as an "activist Dane County judge," saying he thought the description fit even if she was appointed by Walker.

That brought a sharp rebuke from Pines and from William Hanrahan, the chief judge of the state court system's District 5, which includes Dane County. Hanrahan praised Reynolds' work as a judge and said Vos could criticize her decision but shouldn't attack her character.

"You took the low road. With a broad brush, you have not only needlessly besmirched my reputation and that of my colleagues, you have gratuitously denigrated the good citizens of Dane County," Hanrahan wrote in a letter to Vos.

For his part, Fitzgerald said that Hanrahan's criticism of Vos was inappropriate and said he would ask Supreme Court Justice Patience Roggensack what if anything could be done about it.

An aide to Roggensack had no comment Friday on what if anything she would do.