Effort to recall Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker begins

MADISON, Wis., Nov. 16 (UPI) -- The Democratic Governors Association said it would aid financially efforts to recall Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker if enough petition signatures are collected.

Organizers of the effort to recall the Republican first-term governor began their 60-day campaign to collect signatures at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday, The Badger Herald, the University of Wisconsin-Madison's newspaper, reported.

"If we have an opportunity to replace a narrow-minded, ideological and ineffective governor with a Democratic governor that gets things done, we'll be in there with both feet," Maryland Gov. Martin Amalle, DGA chairman, said in a statement.

Mike Tate, chairman of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, said more than 9,000 people have been trained.

"I fully anticipate there will be signatures collected in every single Wisconsin county," Tate said. "I hope to collect at least 600,000 signatures by the deadline."

Walker said in a statement Monday he was trying not to get caught up by the recall effort but remain focused on fulfilling his 2010 campaign pledge to grow jobs in the state by 250,000 before the end of his four-year term.

The Wisconsin Survey conducted for Wisconsin Public Radio and St. Norbert College indicated more people disapprove of the job Walker is doing that approve and would recall him if given the chance.

Results indicate 38 percent of Wisconsinites either "strongly approve" or "approve" of Walker's job performance while 58 percent said they "strongly disapprove" or "disapprove" of the job Walker's done so far.

Fifty-eight percent also said they'd vote to remove Walker from office if a recall election were held now; 38 percent said they would vote to keep him in office.

Results are based on a telephone survey of 482 adult Wisconsin residents conducted Nov. 1-10. The margin of error is 5 percent.