Democratic Wisconsin election commissioner, appointed by former Gov. Scott Walker, resigns

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A Democratic member of the commission that oversees Wisconsin elections plans to resign.

Wisconsin Elections Commissioner Julie Glancey announced on Friday that she plans to step down on Monday.

The 72-year-old Glancey, a former Sheboygan County clerk, was first appointed to the six-member bipartisan commission by then-Gov. Scott Walker, a Republican, in 2016 to fill one of three Democratic seats. Democratic Gov. Tony Evers reappointed her to serve a five-year term ending in 2026.

Glancey said in a statement that it’s time for her to make way for someone with a fresh perspective. Evers will appoint a successor from a list of Democrats who were former local government clerks to serve the remainder of Glancey’s term.

Glancey was a founding member of the elections commission after Walker and his fellow Republicans formed the agency in 2015 to replace the Government Accountability Board, a panel of retired judges that oversaw elections. Republicans dismantled the board after it launched an investigation into coordination between Walker’s 2012 recall campaign and outside groups.

Republicans, who support Donald Trump’s baseless conspiracy theories that Joe Biden somehow stole Wisconsin during the 2020 presidential election. have heaped criticism on the elections commission in recent months.

A recount and multiple court decisions have affirmed Biden’s victory in the state and found no evidence of widespread fraud.