'Fake Democrats' Scheme to Cost Wisconsin $428K

Ah, fiscal responsibility. Wisconsin Republicans‘ convoluted plan to create phony Democratic primaries will wind up costing taxpayers more than $428,000, election clerks tell the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel—and that figure is probably on the low side, since it doesn't count five counties. And even if the Republicans abandon the plan in some of those districts, Democrats now say they'll run candidates of their own, just to keep all the elections on the same schedule.

Republicans are planning to field fake Democratic candidates in the July 12 recall elections in a bid to trigger primaries, and hence buy themselves time to campaign for the general election. They say they got the idea when a fake Republican ran against Democrat-turned-independent Bob Ziegelbauer last year. “I’m glad I’m an independent so I don’t have to apologize for either party,” Ziegelbauer says. (More Wisconsin stories.)