The Wisconsin Election Commission is examining whether a fringe recall effort against Assembly Speaker Robin Vos can even legally go forward in light of the liberal Supreme Court’s recent redistricting decision.
That would be a “Supreme” irony: If the transparently partisan effort by the liberal court to usurp legislative authority and likely target Vos in new maps prevents a simultaneous clownish effort to recall Vos.
“I wish to draw your attention to one legal consideration currently being examined by the Commission, in conjunction with the Wisconsin Department of Justice (‘DOJ’),” WEC’s legal counsel Jim Witecha wrote in a letter to Vos. Wisconsin Right Now obtained the letter from another source.
“The Court specifically ‘…enjoined the Wisconsin Elections Commission from using the current legislative maps in all future elections.’ Accordingly, the Court also noted that, ‘…new Wisconsin legislative district maps must be adopted…’ The Court went on to specify, by order, how these new proposed maps would be submitted and considered.”
The WEC’s legal counsel wrote: “Thus, the Commission must research whether an officeholder can be recalled, or in the alternative, whether a circulator can properly circulate a recall petition, when the current construct of the officeholder’s district lines have been ruled unconstitutional.”
We asked Rick Esenberg, president and chief counsel of the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty, if the recall of Vos can move forward due to the redistricting decision. Esenberg told us, “I don’t see how it can. The Court enjoined WEC from holding any future elections using the old maps. That would include a recall.”
Vos had a CPAC rating in 2022 of 94 which earned him the 2022 Award for Conservative Excellence. Vos has a lifetime rating of 92.32 from the conservative organization.
The recall was launched by a small outsider cabal of perpetually Vos-obsessed people, who have trolled him and fellow conservatives for years, often calling conservatives names in juvenile terms. It’s not even clear whether all of them are Republicans. They didn’t even spell Vos’s name right in a press conference announcement. Actually, they couldn’t even spell conference right. The “Recall Vos” X page has only 107 followers, some of them liberal media.
The page uses unprofessional language, referring to Vos as a “weasel.” Another post read, “Wishing you a healthy and prosperous 2024. Happy New Year to everyone except @repvos.”
The statement of intent was filed by Matthew Snorek, a Burlington man who works in pest control, who overwhelmingly lost a local election, and who was recently sued by the Town of Burlington.
Snorek is being “aided by Harry Waite who has been charged with election fraud. These same individuals were involved in my 2022 GOP primary where I defeated them. They continued their efforts with a write-in in the fall 2022 election where they also lost,” Vos wrote. The Hot Government X page associated with Waite writes things like, “Who has the default password for the Dominion Voting Machines in Racine County?” Another juvenile post says Vos was “stinking like a three-day-old dead fish.”
Jay Schroeder is also involved. Schroeder lost a campaign for Wisconsin secretary of state in 2022.
That pretty much explains who these people are.
Despite some journalists’ attempts to paint the recall as a serious effort by “Trump backers,” it’s actually being led by the isolated, fringe group of people who are considered goofs by many on the right. For example, conservative talk show host Meg Ellefson said Thursday that the effort is backed by a handful of non-credible “losers,” saying it will only help Democrats by distracting Vos at the very time he needs to be working to maintain under-assault Republican majorities. At stake: Control of the Legislature. If Democrats seize it, they would use it to ram through their wish list, turning Wisconsin into California or Minnesota.
The only real peril to Vos – the Republican Assembly leader who has successfully grown and maintained conservative majorities in the Legislature – is the fact that the Democratic Party is also promising to help with any recall. For example, the Walworth County Democrats wrote on social media, “Who wants to help?”
WEC stressed that it has not made a decision on the legal question, writing, “This legal examination is ongoing, and the Commission has NOT yet formulated its opinion on recall and viability in light of Clarke. However, we felt it was important to contact your office with this notice in a timely manner despite these pending questions. The Commission will continue conferring with the DOJ litigation counsel assigned to the Clarke case about the implications of this decision upon recall circulation and a potential recall election.”
Of course, DOJ is run by a partisan Democrat, Attorney General Josh Kaul.
Wisconsin Right Now has also obtained the “statement of intent to circulate recall petition,” which is a short, handwritten, and spelling error-written document that we labeled as having “all of the eloquence of a ransom note.”
“Wisconsin Statute § 9.10(3) details the procedures by which you may file a written challenge specifying any alleged insufficiencies to the recall processes and filings. The law does not require that you retain legal counsel, but it is certainly a right that you maintain,” WEC’s letter to Vos states.
The statement of intent, by Matthew Snorek, says, “Vos is blocking fair elections in WI. Vos mislead (sic) the WI Assembly in the impeachment of Megan (sic) Wolfe. Vos said he will ‘tru as hard as I can to make sure Donald Trump is not the nominee in 2024. Vos supported the unlawful drop boxes. Wisconsin must move ‘forward’ without Robin Vos in power.”
Vos recently beat back a primary election opponent backed by some of the same fringe people. He then beat back a write-in effort by the same candidate, Adam Steen.
There is currently an ongoing state ethics investigation into campaign finance issues involving Steen and some county parties in Wisconsin, based on reporting that first appeared in Wisconsin Right Now.
“The effort is no surprise since the people involved cannot seem to get over any election in which their preferred candidate doesn’t win,” Vos said in a statement, of the recall. “This recall is a waste of time, resources and effort. I’m proud of my record and the accomplishments that we’ve achieved this year.”
“These same individuals were involved in my 2022 GOP primary where I defeated them. They continued their efforts with a write-in in the fall 2022 election where they also lost,” Vos added. “While the backers of this recall effort want to focus on the past, I am going to keep my eyes focused on the future. We have elections to win in the fall. We have an aggressive spring agenda focused on returning our surplus to taxpayers and making key investments in priority areas.”
QAnon Ties?
In a social media post, the recall group shared a photo of the recall effort with the phrase,”WWG1WGALL.” Which is a QAnon rallying cry for “where we go one, we go all.”
About Matthew Snorek
Matthew Snorek, who filed the petition with WEC declaring his intent to circulate a recall petition against Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, goes by the name Matthew Allen on Facebook.
He started Guaranteed Gone pest & wildlife control. Snorek is a certified and licensed WI Trapper with WI License# 205307-CA.
The Town of Burlington filed a lawsuit against Snorek on Tuesday, seeking $12,850.00.
He ran for Town of Burlington Chairperson in 2021 and lost to Jeff Lang almost 2:1.
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