GOP Candidate Disqualified from Wisconsin Recall Election

After collecting more than 15,000 signatures necessary to trigger a recall election against Democratic state senator Dave Hansen, Wisconsin Republicans failed to get 400 valid signatures necessary to get their preferred candidate on the ballot: 

State elections officials Monday took a Republican Assembly lawmaker off the ballot in a recall election against a Democratic senator.

The state Government Accountability Board voted unanimously to leave Rep. John Nygren (R-Marinette) off the ballot in the July 19 recall election for Sen. Dave Hansen (D-Green Bay) in the 30th Senate District. The board found that Nygren fell just short of collecting the 400 valid nominating signatures needed to qualify for the ballot, finding he collected only 398 valid signatures.

The accountability board had initially found that Nygren had submitted 424 qualifying signatures from voters. But after a number of signatures were challenged by Democrats, the accountability board found that 26 of those were invalid.

Nygren says he will "pursue further legal options" to challenge the board's ruling. Until today, Sen. Dave Hansen's district was seen as the second best opportunity for Republicans to gain a seat. Hansen will still face a recall challenge by businessman David VanderLeest, who appears to be a somewhat weaker candidate than Nygren.