Fitzgerald: Senate Will Oust Elections, Ethics Administrators If They Don’t Resign

Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald said Friday the state Senate will likely vote to oust the heads of the state Ethics and Elections commissions if they don’t voluntarily leave their posts.

Fitzgerald, R-Juneau, and Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, called for Elections Commission Administrator Mike Haas and Ethics Commission Administrator Brian Bell to resign Thursday.

Their calls come in the wake of a report from the state Department of Justice that was critical of Haas and Bell’s former employer, the now-defunct Government Accountability Board.

“Absent resignations, I will take up administrators Haas and Bell’s appointments during the Senate’s January floor period, and senators will have the opportunity to be responsive to their constituents and cast an up or down vote,” Fitzgerald said in a statement Friday. “Since the release of the (state) Department of Justice report, and through subsequent conversations with legislators, it has become abundantly clear to me that as appointees, administrators Haas and Bell will never receive the votes necessary for Senate confirmation, which has been the case throughout their tenures.”

The DOJ report looked into the leak of secret government documents from the so-called John Doe II investigation into possible illegal coordination between Gov. Scott Walker’s campaign and conservative groups.

The report called out the GAB for what it characterized as “systemic and pervasive mishandling” of evidence from the John Doe investigation.

Haas issued a statement Friday indicating his intent to stay in his job. Bell had not made a public statement as of late Friday afternoon.

In an interview with WISN Radio, Vos reaffirmed his own commitment to removing Haas and Bell from their posts, arguing former GAB employees shouldn’t be allowed to oversee elections in the state.

“I’m not saying they shouldn’t work for state government, but what I am saying is this role is so important they really have to question if they can do it in an impartial way with the confidence of both sides of the aisle,” Vos said.

Speaking with reporters in Madison, Walker declined to weigh in on the issue.

“The report clearly defined what they thought about the folks involved there,” Walker said. “I think it speaks for itself.”

Democrats pushed back on the calls for Haas and Bell to resign, saying their ousters would compromise the administration of Wisconsin elections.

“This move will throw our elections into chaos at a time when we need to improve security, combat hacking threats and protect public access to the polls,” said Senate Minority Leader Jennifer Shilling, D-La Crosse.

Editor’s Note: This story was updated with original reporting from WPR at 4:17 p.m. Friday, Dec. 15, 2017.