In the nearly 40 years since Wisconsin created an ethics panel to try judges for misconduct, charges had been filed only twice against members of the Wisconsin Supreme Court. Justice David Prosser became the third on March 16, when the Wisconsin Judicial Commission announced that wrapping one's hands around the neck of another justice would establish probable cause of judicial misconduct. Under normal procedures, the complaint would now go to a three judge panel picked by the Court of Appeals who would then make a recommendation to the Supreme Court itself for final action. However, in his most recent move, Prosser has demanded his fellow justices recuse themselves from any final action.

The Center for Media Democracy contacted Governor Scott Walker and the four candidates who have filed to run in the recall election against him. We asked them all to comment on the influence of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) on the state of Wisconsin and what they might do about it as governor.

Three Democrats and one Independent have announced that they are running against Governor Walker; a primary is likely May 8. There is speculation that other candidates may still announce their intentions to run. The general election is expected to be June 5.

Governor Walker did not respond to our request, but the other candidates did. Below we reprint their comments in full.

Mahlon Mitchell announced today that he is running for the position of Lt. Governor of Wisconsin in the upcoming recall election against the current Lt. Governor, Rebecca Kleefisch. Mitchell is the president of the Professional Fire Fighters of Wisconsin and a familiar face from the Wisconsin uprising.

Firefighters joined the struggle to preserve collective bargaining rights last year, even though firefighters were exempt from the collective bargaining bill. Firefighters saw it as their duty to stand up for their unions brothers and sisters: "We have a fire in the house of labor, we are here to put it out," Mitchell was fond of saying during the 2011 winter protests.