As Wisconsin Democrats mobilize recall campaigns against Republican state Senators, in response to Gov. Scott Walker’s newly-passed law curtailing public employee unions, one targeted GOP legislator is facing a negative side story: A messy divorce — and claims by his estranged wife that he “now lives mostly in Madison” after having an affair.
As the local NBC affiliate in Milwaukee and the CBS affiliate in Madison report, state Sen. Randy Hopper’s (R) wife Alysia Hopper has written a letter stating:
“It is correct that my husband, Randy Hopper, started an affair in January 2010 with a then-25-year-old Republican aide. This affair has caused great emotional pain for my children and me. Randy moved out, without attempting marital counseling, as of May 2010 and now lives mostly in Madison.”
Randy Hopper’s campaign spokesman Jeff Harvey told the Milwaukee NBC station: “Senator Hopper maintains an apartment in the district where he lives and works. He and his wife separated roughly a year ago and are divorcing, which is a private family matter.”
The state Democratic Party has vowed to recall the Republican members of the state Senate who are eligible, under the state law requiring at least one year of a term to be have been completed, and then to go after Walker next year.
Recently, the Dems claimed that they are almost halfway to their goal on signatures, after only two weekends of canvassing out of a two-month window for gathering signatures.
Eric Kleefeld
Eric Kleefeld joined TPM as an intern for the final months of the 2006 midterm elections, and then kept showing up for work. His other interests include guitars, old comic books and the politics of various English-speaking countries.
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