Scotty tried to hide from democracy, and now Eric Holder's on his case.

It's nice to finally see some people with big money behind them holding our amoral Governor to account.

Eric Holder's group is suing Scott Walker over his refusal to call special elections to fill two open legislative seats. https://t.co/13ZtGNIC46

— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) February 26, 2018

As a reminder, these two seats in the State Legislature became vacant on December 29, 2017, when Rep. Kevin Ripp and Sen. Frank Lassee resigned to cash in with higher-paying state jobs. This should have triggered this provision in state law, and I've emphasized a few parts that apply in this specific case.

The date for the special election shall be not less than 62 nor more than 77 days from the date of the order except when the special election is held to fill a vacancy in a national office or the special election is held on the day of the general election or spring election. If a special election is held concurrently with the spring election, the special election may be ordered not earlier than 92 days prior to the spring primary and not later than 49 days prior to that primary. If a special election is held concurrently with the general election or a special election is held to fill a national office, the special election may be ordered not earlier than 122 days prior to the partisan primary or special primary, respectively, and not later than 92 days prior to that primary.

(b) If a primary is required, the primary shall be on the day 4 weeks before the day of the special election except when the special election is held on the same day as the general election the special primary shall be held on the same day as the partisan primary or if the special election is held concurrently with the spring election, the primary shall be held concurrently with the spring primary, and except when the special election is held on the Tuesday after the first Monday in November of an odd-numbered year, the primary shall be held on the 2nd Tuesday of August in that year....

Any vacancy in the office of state senator or representative to the assembly occurring before the 2nd Tuesday in May in the year in which a regular election is held to fill that seat shall be filled as promptly as possible by special election. However, any vacancy in the office of state senator or representative to the assembly occurring after the close of the last regular floorperiod of the legislature held during his or her term shall be filled only if a special session or extraordinary floorperiod of the legislature is called or a veto review period is scheduled during the remainder of the term. The special election to fill the vacancy shall be ordered, if possible, so the new member may participate in the special session or floorperiod.

Note that part about the Spring Elections in the 2nd paragraph? Keep that in mind when you read this pile of BS from the Governor's office.

Governor Walker’s spokeswoman Amy Hasenberg said his decision is “consistent with the law.”

“Voters are already going to the polls this year to elect new representatives in these districts. This D.C.-based special interest group wants to force Wisconsin taxpayers to waste money,” Hasenberg said in a statement.

100% FALSE, and not just because the law requires an election to take place.

The "extra expense" line from WalkerWorld is a flat-out lie, because those elections could have taken place with a primary during the Feb 20 Supreme Court primary, and the General Election would be on April 3, just like with the Supreme Court. All places in Wisconsin would be holding elections anyway, so it wouldn't have cost anything extra if Walker chose to follow the law responsibly.

It's almost like Scotty is scared of higher turnout in that Supreme Court election, and that more people voting would sink any chance of the WMC/NRA puppet of winning that race. Almost....(hold that thought)

Then look at this excuse that Scotty tried to trot out today.

Under state law, a special election for a vacant seat in the legislature cannot be called at this time until after 4/3. The Legislature will be done for the year by then and nomination papers for the fall elections come out 4/15.

— Governor Walker (@GovWalker) February 27, 2018

Well, if your crooked ass would have followed the law and called the election SOME TIME IN THE LAST 8 WEEKS, we wouldn't be in that situation, now would we? What a classically scummy move - slow-walk what you should do and then say "Oops, now it's too late! Can't do anything about it now!"

By the way, while Walker is a law-breaking sleazebag in this case, I do want to point out that I was calling for a lawsuit as far back as New Year's Day, because I could see this coming a mile away.

Also, those special elections could/should coincide with this Spring's Supreme Court election in April (if the special election was called in mid-January, then it could be held on the same day (lessening costs to these communities). Higher Dem turnout in those special election races would also make it likely that a non-GOP hack would win that Supreme Court seat and cut into the WMC-bought majority.

If Dems or anyone else that believes in democracy is awake in this state, the Walker Admin's attempt to avoid the election should be the subject of a lawsuit as soon as people get back to work tomorrow. My guess is that Gov "Unintimidated" and his crew would back down really fast. 2018 is here, whether WisGOP likes it or not, and they should man up and deal with the electoral consequences that will be inflicted on them.

Maybe if Eric Holder and/or the Wisconsin Dems had stepped up and sued when Walker first broke the law 8 weeks ago, then we actually would be having these seats filled and would be guaranteeing that 230,000 Wisconsinites get the representation in Madison that they deserve.

But then again, maybe Walker's lawless denial of democracy wouldn't be considered as much of an outrage and embarrassment if he had been forced to back down 8 weeks ago. And that might be a good thing for all of us in the long run. It's also hilarious to see Walker now try to play the victim, after being dragged into court to try to defend his clearly dishonest and illegal act.

Just as we warned, the D.C. special interest group of former Obama AG Eric Holder is targeting us in WI. They will likely use this lawsuit to raise more money to use against us in the fall. https://t.co/Ye1drPcPjz

— Scott Walker (@ScottWalker) February 27, 2018

See that ratio between "likes" and "comments"? Yeah, I don't think the people are buying it, Scotty.

It also looks like Scotty is scared of the idea that the big money and voter sentiment might be on the other side in 2018, which would be the first time that the professional grifter would have to work uphill to win an election in Wisconsin. And Walker's not good enough to win a race he has to work uphill in (as we saw in his joke of a presidential campaign). Of course, if Walker wants Eric Holder to butt out of the 2018 elections, then maybe he should fill these legislative seats AS REQUIRED BY LAW, and demand independent redistricting become the law in Wisconsin.

At that point, I'm sure Holder wouldn't care what Scotty does. So what's keeping Scotty from doing it?