Trump supporters hoping to oust Wisconsin leader say they have enough signatures to force recall

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Backers of an effort to oust Wisconsin Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos from office over his opposition to former President Donald Trump announced Sunday that they’ve collected enough signatures to force a recall vote.

Supporters of the recall campaign plan to present signatures Monday to the Wisconsin Elections Commission, saying they have more than the required 6,850 signatures from voters in Vos’ southeast Wisconsin district.

“With more than 10,000 signatures on our recall petition, they’ve said it loud and clear: they’re tired of the status quo and demand new representation,” Matt Snorek, who started the campaign in January, said in a statement.

Vos has dismissed the recall attempt as a waste of time and resources, which he reiterated in a statement Sunday. He questioned the group’s tactics and the validity of the signatures, promising that a team he had assembled would “evaluate each individual signature.”

The recall effort targeting him highlights continued frustration among Trump’s supporters in battleground Wisconsin over his loss in the 2020 election and how Vos responded to it. That includes how Vos refused attempts from Trump and his supporters to decertify Biden’s win and how he didn’t move forward with impeaching Wisconsin’s top elections official.

Trump narrowly won Wisconsin in 2016 but lost to President Joe Biden by a similar margin of about 21,000 votes in 2020. The result has withstood two partial recounts, numerous lawsuits, an independent audit and a review by a conservative law firm.

The recall campaign’s announcement Sunday comes after the Wisconsin Supreme Court declined Friday to take up Democratic Gov. Tony Evers’ request to clarify if Wisconsin’s new legislative district maps apply to elections before November, leaving uncertainty about whether signatures for the recall attempt should be collected in Vos’ new district.

Snorek said Sunday that they took the court’s move as a signal that their efforts in Vos’ current district were correct.

First elected in 2004, Vos is the longest-serving Assembly speaker in state history, holding the post since 2013.