The2012 Wisconsin lieutenant gubernatorial recall election was held on June 5, 2012 to decide whether to retain or recall thelieutenant governor of Wisconsin. Voters decided to retain incumbent Republican lieutenant governorRebecca Kleefisch over recalling her in favor of the Democratic candidateMahlon Mitchell. Kleefisch's retention made her the first lieutenant governor in U.S. history to run in and survive a recall.[1] Primary elections took place on May 8, 2012.[2]
The lieutenant governor is established within Article V of the Wisconsin Constitution as the first person in theline of succession ofWisconsin'sexecutive branch, and serves as governor in the event of the death, resignation, removal, impeachment, absence from the state, or incapacity due to illness of thegovernor of Wisconsin.[3]
Gubernatorial succession came into focus during the recall, as under Wisconsin law, the lieutenant governor is "acting governor" whenever the governor leaves the state. This arrangement, paired with the recall election, could have led to a scenario where the governor was of one party, and the lieutenant governor was of another party.[4]
While acting as governor, the lieutenant governor has all the powers of the governor, though the impacts would be limited as the governor, upon their return, can immediately reverse any actions taken in their absence.[5]
Despite speculation, such a scenario never came to pass as Kleefisch won re-election by 5.9%.
Despite holding an office with little to no actual power, serving an almost entirely ceremonial purpose, Kleefisch faced similar anger from Wisconsinites regarding her role in Walker's efforts toweaken collective bargaining rights. Similar to Walker, Kleefisch had low favorability ratings, with one Marquette poll leaving her around 25% favorability, compared with 31% unfavorability.[6]
Similarly to Gladys Huber in the Democratic gubernatorial primary, in this primary, the Republican Party supported a "placeholder" candidate, Isaac Weix, a perennial candidate who had previously ran in the 10th Senate district's Democratic recall election primary. The purpose of Weix running was to force Democrats to hold a recall primary for lieutenant governor and give Republicans more time to campaign for the general election.[8] Democrats also opposed candidates such as Weix because they felt that such candidates would only confuse voters.[9]
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