Another two-year session of the Wisconsin Legislature has begun — this time with 37 new legislators.
Not a recent record — 38 newbies started the 2011-12 legislative session.
But it’s a lot of turnover due to the new legislative maps resulting from a redistricting forced by a liberal state Supreme Court.
In all, there are six new state senators in the 33-member chamber, thanks to a Dem sweep in November of top seats. The six new Democratic members narrow the GOP advantage to 18-15.
And in the 99-member Assembly, 31 new members — 23 of them Dems as the minority party, narrows the GOP margin to 54-45.
But some of those new Assembly members have been state representatives before:
• Dan Knodl, R-Germantown, served in the chamber from 2009-23 and is now going back, after less than two years in the Senate, after he was drawn into a district with fellow GOP state Sen. Duey Stroebel, who lost on Nov. 5.
• Former GOP Rep. Dean Kaufert served 14 years in the Assembly before leaving in 2015 following his election as Neenah mayor, only to be wooed back for a run in a Dem-leaning seat.
• Rob Kreibich, R-New Richmond, who served 1993-2007, is back after leading the new Richmond Chamber of Commerce as executive director.
Back in 2011, the freshman class played a role in a big political drama — remember Act 10?
Since then, because of GOP-dominated redistricting, Republicans have held the power in the Legislature. The new maps are changing that.
Legislative experience is greater now in the Assembly than it was a decade ago.
In all, just 15 members of the Assembly walked in the doors in early January, 2015, with at least a decade of experience in the chamber. This time around, it’s about a quarter of the members.
Over in the Senate, meanwhile, the story is different.
There will be seven members who first won a Senate race by 2014, compared to 14 who’d been there at least a decade when the 2015-16 session started.
That includes former state Sen. Fred Risser, D-Madison, who first started serving in the chamber after a 1962 election and would go on to be the longest-serving state legislator in U.S. history.
Former state Sen. Rob Cowles, of Green Bay, who was the longest-serving member of the Senate, decided to retire after fellow Republican Eric Wimberger opted to run in the new 2nd Senate District that the veteran lawmaker had held since a 1987 special election. His departure means Sen. Bob Wirch, D-Pleasant Prairie, is now the longest-serving senator, marking his 28th year in the chamber.
For more, go to www.wispolitics.com/2024/wisconsin-legislature-new-members-departures/
The Capitol Report is written by editorial staff at WisPolitics.com, a nonpartisan, Madison-based news service that specializes in coverage of government and politics, and is distributed for publication by members of the Wisconsin Newspaper Association.
Comments
No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here