VIDEO: Target Met to Recall Wis. GOP Leader Fitzgerald 1/17/12

VIDEO: Fitzgerald Recall 6pm 1/13/2012

UPDATED Tuesday, January 17, 2012 --- 11:52 a.m.

MADISON, Wis. (AP) -- Petitioners say more than enough signatures are being submitted to force a recall election against Republican state Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald of Juneau.

Organizers said that they are turning in 20,600 signatures on Tuesday. At least 16,742 must be valid in order for there to be an election.

Fitzgerald says in a statement he is "ready to face this challenge." He says he's received a lot volunteer support since the recall drive began in November.

Fitzgerald is the most prominent of four Republican senators being targeted for recall. He has served as leader of the Senate's majority party since 2011 and has been a champion of Gov. Scott Walker's agenda.

Republicans have a narrow one-seat majority in the Senate.

Copyright 2012. The Associated Press

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UPDATED Friday, January 13, 2012--5:50p.m.

MADISON-- We'll know soon if the fall recall attempts are successful.
Petitions are due on Tuesday for recall efforts against four Republican state senators, the lieutenant governor--and of course Governor Walker.

Those seeking to recall Senator Scott Fitzgerald announced today that they've got the signatures to do it.

Organizers say the magic number of signatures was 16, 742. They say they've hit that mark--but aren't commenting on where their total tally stands.

They say they're excited to file on Tuesday, but will be keeping us in suspense for a few more days on that number.

They also say plenty of people came together to round-up the necessary number of signatures. "We can say though that last weekend alone over 500 individuals signed up for volunteer shifts participated in district and were out just last weekend," said Kristen Crowell, of 'We Are Wisconsin.'

NBC15 did stop by Senator Fitzgerald's office Friday morning.
They declined to comment on the announcement.

As we said: Petitions for the recall effort against Governor Walker are also due on Tuesday. Organizers need just over 540,000 signatures to force the recall. In mid-December, they said they were very close-- with more than 507,000. They have not offered any updated numbers since then.

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UPDATED Friday, January 13, 2012 --- 11:30 a.m.

MADISON, Wis. (AP) -- A group working to recall state Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald says it has collected more than enough signatures to force an election.

The group needs 16,742 names by Saturday. Lori Compas, the group's chairwoman, called a news conference at the state Capitol Friday to announce she had collected more than enough signatures, although she declined to reveal how many.

Democrats and their allies have been working for the last two months to gather enough signatures to force Republican Gov. Scott Walker, Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch, Fitzgerald and three other GOP senators into recall elections. The Democrats are angry over legislation Walker introduced that stripped most public workers of nearly all their union rights.

A Fitzgerald spokesman didn't immediately return a message Friday.

Copyright 2012. The Associated Press.

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UPDATED: Friday, January 13, 2012 --- 10:20 a.m.

From NBC 15's Rachelle Baillon: Organizers say they have enough signatures for a recall of Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald .

We'll bring you more on this story as it becomes available.

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Posted Thursday, January 12, 2012 --- 3:37 p.m.

MADISON, Wis. (AP) -- Republican Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald says petition circulators hoping to recall him from office have been given too much time to gather signatures.

Fitzgerald on Thursday filed a complaint with the Government Accountability Board, saying the 60-day window for signature collection ends Friday at 5 p.m.

The board said at the outset of the recall effort on Nov. 15 that the clock didn't start ticking until the day after registration, which means signatures can be collected through Saturday.

They are due the next business day, which is Tuesday because of the Martin Luther King, Jr., holiday.

The Democrats' attorney Jeremy Levinson called Fitzgerald's complaint "pure circus and nothing more."

Fitzgerald circulators plan a Friday news conference to make a "special announcement."

Copyright 2012. The Associated Press