Sen. Van Wanggaard, R-Racine, will not file a court challenge to the results of a recount confirming his June 5 recall election loss to Democrat John Lehman.
In a statement issued Tuesday morning Wanggaard said the five-day deadline to file a challenge was not sufficient for his campaign to consider all the evidence and mount an effective strategy.
“This is not enough time to fully investigate the mountains of evidence and answer the questions that have arisen,” Wanggaard said in a statement released Tuesday morning.
Once the deadline passes at 5 p.m. today, the Government Accountability Board could move as soon as Wednesday morning to certify the results of the election.
Lehman, also of Racine, won the election by 834 votes – a number that was trimmed by 15, but stood up during the recount process, which wrapped up last week.
While both sides praised the recount process as efficient, Wanggaard and his supporters have said it shed a light on several voting irregularities that they believe could have had an impact on the election.
Wanggaard lamented the suspension of the state’s Voter ID Law and said supporters will keep looking into the matter. “The investigation will continue and evidence discovered will be provided to law enforcement,” he said.
State Senate Democratic Committee Executive Director Zac Kramer said he was pleased by Wanggaard’s decision.
“We applaud Van’s decision to forego an expensive and frivolous lawsuit at this time. We are excited for Senator-elect John Lehman to join his Democratic Senate colleagues in the near future – so we can actually get Wisconsin back to work, and move forward.”
Lehman was scheduled to address the media from his home at 1 p.m. Tuesday.
Click on the following link for the full text of Wanggaard’s statement:
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