By Kirsten Adshead | Wisconsin Reporter

MADISON — This much seems clear: If Gov. Scott Walker is recalled, Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch will not take over.

Instead, the winner of the recall election — likely, a Democratic opponent — will.

But if Walker resigns before he is recalled, it is uncertain whether Kleefisch will become the new governor and invalidate efforts to oust Walker and replace him with a Democrat.

Chuck Bennett, 50, of Mineral Point, said the question of succession is one of his biggest concerns.

“I’m hoping people were educated to realize they had to sign both petitions for this thing to be 100 percent effective,” he said, adding that he is “somewhat confident” Kleefisch will be recalled along with the governor.

State law requires that the governor and the lieutenant governor be recalled in separate petition initiatives.

The Government Accountability Board’s recall manual — published in June 2009 before Walker was elected governor — indicates that, at this point, a recall effort will proceed, regardless of what Walker does, even if his name isn’t on the ballot.

But Marquette University law professor Richard Esenberg said, “I think heads would explode around the state” if Walker was to resign so Kleefisch could step in.

“You want to say that that won’t work, that to permit that to happen would be to frustrate the recall rights of the people that is set forth (in the state constitution),” the constitutional law expert said Wednesday. “But I don’t know that there’s anything in either (the constitution) or the statutes, which addresses what happens when the person subject to recall leaves office prior to the completion of the recall.”

Article 5 of the Wisconsin Constitution states that “Upon the governor’s death, resignation or removal from office, the lieutenant governor shall become governor for the balance of the unexpired term.”

A recall election, however, doesn’t constitute removal from office in that sense, said Reid Magney, spokesman for the Government Accountability Board, or GAB, which oversees the state’s elections.

“You’re basically recalled to another election,” Magney said. “So, assuming that the Democrats have enough signatures, and the (Government Accountability) Board calls another election, then the governor is still in office but is recalled to stand for office again. So basically it’s just another election.”

Recall organizers have until Jan. 17 to submit 540,208 valid signatures to recall the governor and, separately, need the same number to trigger a recall against the lieutenant governor.

Organizers said last month that they had collected more than 507,000 against Walker, but they have remained mum on the number of signatures collected to recall Kleefisch, other than to indicate they are on track.

Like Walker, Kleefisch is a conservative Republican.

But while she publicly supports Walker’s initiatives, including limiting collective-bargaining for most public employees to cost-of-living salary adjustments, Kleefisch has spent most of the past year in the shadows of the governor. However in the past few months, Kleefisch has been running campaign web-based ads, including one that addresses recalls head-on.

“Signing a recall petition is like saying you’re OK with the government taking more of your money to spend on another special election,” Kleefisch says in the ad.

Attempts to contact Kleefisch late Wednesday were not successful

At the beginning of the recall effort, “people were, like, ‘Who? Rebecca who?’” said Peggy McDowell, a 57-year-old Tomahawk artist who has been collecting recall signatures against both officials. “But I think we have gotten educated.”

“What I have told people is that from my understanding is if Scott Walker chose to step down before there was an election she could be governor and we would have to wait a year” before attempting to recall Kleefisch, McDowell said.

The Wisconsin Constitution protects elected officials from facing a recall until after they have been in office one year. Walker and Kleefisch marked one year in their respective positions Tuesday.

Theoretically, Walker could resign at any point and, based on the succession provisions, Kleefisch would become governor.

If he resigns before the recall petition is filed, the recall election would proceed once the signatures are validated, according to the GAB, although it’s unclear on which statute or constitutional provision the GAB based its conclusion.

Magney said late Wednesday that he would check with the GAB’s legal experts and is expected to provide an answer Thursday.

If a recall petition is filed against Walker and he was to resign within 10 days after that filing, the recall election would proceed with an open seat, Magney said.

And, according to state law, Walker’s name would remain on the recall ballot if he resigned more than 10 days after the recall petition was filed.

So, according to the GAB, a recall election could proceed regardless of whether Walker is on the ballot, and the winner would be the next governor.

Esenberg said he isn’t sure the law is that clear, but this debate may be unnecessary because Walker isn’t about to step down.

“First of all, I don’t know that would be in character for him,” Esenberg said. “I don’t see the governor deciding that he can’t win and then resigning.”

Walker’s campaign did not respond to a message asking whether Walker would consider resigning if that meant keeping the governor’s office in Republican control.