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Spivak & Bice
Recall group set to file 15,000 signatures
By CARY SPIVAK AND DAN BICE of the Journal Sentinel staff
Wednesday, April 30, 2003
The group trying to oust Sen. Gary George expects to file this afternoon with the state Elections Board more than 15,000 signatures -- nearly double the number needed -- on petitions calling for a recall election.
Jerrel Jones, commander and financier of the effort, said he decided to file the signatures now, more than one month before the deadline, because he was tired of spending money on the drive. Jones, a central city media mogul, paid petition circulators a buck a name and has already dropped about $15,500. Jones, who had a self- imposed cap of $20,000, still owes Yolanda Staples-Lassiter, his hand-picked manager, a few thousand dollars.
"I was running out of money," joked Jones, who owns Courier Communications, which publishes the Milwaukee Courier and owns radio station WNOV-AM (860).
If the board OKs 8,071 signatures, it would force George to face a recall election, by far the most serious threat he's faced from voters during his lengthy career in the state Senate.
Jones launched the recall after George opposed Gov. Jim Doyle's right to expand Indian casino gambling -- a vote that came shortly after the Democratic governor agreed to a major expansion...