Wisconsin Governor Recall Vote Is On

And the state's elections board makes it official: The recall election against Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker has been ordered, the AP reports. Mick E. Mous, Donald L. Duck, and Adolf Hitler have been scratched, but almost all the other 900,000 signatures on a petition to recall Wisconsin's controversial Republican governor have been declared genuine, clearing the way for a June 5 election. At least three Democrats are running to replace Scott Walker, and a primary will be held May 8, reports the Wisconsin State Journal. The state's lieutenant governor and four Republican state senators also face recall.

If Democrats succeed in ousting Walker, he will be only the third governor in US history to be recalled. "This was the greatest petition campaign in American history for a reason: Scott Walker's radical overreach and abuse of power," said a Democratic Party spokesman. A Walker campaign spokeswoman says the governor is ready to defend his record. The recall battle has been such a prominent issue in Wisconsin that even Republican activists say they haven't been paying much attention to the state's April 3 primary, AP notes. (More Wisconsin stories.)