MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The effort to salvage an attempt to recall Republican Wisconsin Assembly Speaker Robin Vos from office suffered another legal defeat on Tuesday.
The Wisconsin Supreme Court, without comment, refused to hear an appeal of a lower court’s ruling rejecting an attempt to revive the recall effort, which was led by supporters of former President Donald Trump.
That means if the case is to proceed, it first must be heard by a state appeals court.
Dane County Circuit Judge Stephen Ehlke in July ruled that signatures collected on petitions circulated in an attempt to recall Vos were wrongly collected under legislative boundary lines now barred from use in any election. His ruling came after the Wisconsin Elections Commission also rejected the petition.
Trump supporters had targeted 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 in 2020 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.
Those who organized the recall attempt had originally wanted to force an election in August, a week before the primary. Even if they had succeeded, Vos would only have been recalled from office for the remainder of this calendar year. It’s unclear when any election would be held if they were to prevail in court.
Vos won his primary in August after the other Republican on the ballot dropped out of the race. He faces Democrat Alan Kupsik on Nov. 5. The winner will serve a two-year term starting in January.
Attorneys for the recall organizers and Vos did not immediately return emails seeking comment Tuesday.
Vos is the longest-serving Assembly speaker in Wisconsin history. He has held the post since 2013.
