The Democrats collected enough signatures to force a recall election of State Senator Dan Kapanke of La Crosse. He is one of the eight Republican state senators that the Democrats want to oust for supporting the governor’s law that would ban the labor bargaining rights of the public employees.

Wisconsin-Democrats The recall supporters have managed to collect 21,700 signatures but it would take at least a month for the state election officials to verify the names on the list. If the Government Accountability Board finds at least 15,588 signatures to be valid then it would lead to the fifth recall of a state official in history of Wisconsin. It would also be the 21ist recall of a state official in United States history.

The board has 31 days to verify the signatures but Kevin Kennedy said that the board will ask the court to extend the verification period to take into consideration the signature challenges and other petitions from across the state.

The other Republican legislators who are facing similar recall challenges are Randy Hopper of Fond du Lac, Robert Cowles of Green Bay, and Luther Olsen of Ripon.

On the other side of the fence, the Republicans are preparing their recall campaign against eight Democratic state senators.