Wisconsin judge rejects attempt to revive recall targeting top GOP lawmaker

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A judge on Tuesday rejected an attempt to revive the recall effort targeting the longest-serving Wisconsin Assembly speaker in state history, saying signatures were wrongly collected under legislative boundary lines now barred from use in any election.

Supporters of former President Donald Trump had targeted Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos for recall after he refused calls to decertify President Joe Biden’s narrow win in the state. Biden’s win of about 21,000 votes has withstood two partial recounts, lawsuits, an independent audit and a review by a conservative law firm.

Vos further angered Trump supporters when he did not back a plan to impeach Meagan Wolfe, the state’s top elections official.

Vos recall organizers failed to submit enough signatures to trigger an election in their first attempt in May. The Wisconsin Elections Commission last month rejected a second recall attempt on a bipartisan vote, also finding that it fell short of the needed number of signatures.

Recall organizers appealed the decision to Dane County Circuit Court on Friday. On Tuesday, Dane County Circuit Judge Stephen Ehlke ruled that the organizers’ attempt to force a vote under old legislative maps violates the state Supreme Court’s order barring the use of those boundaries.

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