Senate Democrats at a press conference on Nov. 12. (Baylor Spears | Wisconsin Examiner)
With elections over, the Wisconsin State Legislature is beginning to organize itself for the coming term. Assembly Republicans reelected Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester) Tuesday to serve another term in the position and Senate Democrats reelected Dianne Hesselbein (D-Middleton) as Senate minority leader.
Vos is the longest serving Assembly speaker in Wisconsin history, having first been elected to the position in 2013. He was challenged Tuesday by Rep. Scott Allen (R-Waukesha) but held on to the top position. The caucus was closed to press, and the vote count wasn’t shared.
Vos will continue in the position with a smaller caucus after Democrats won 10 additional seats this month. He said that Wisconsin’s split election results are a message that voters want lawmakers to “focus on what’s important to them.”
“If you talk to most folks, they know the price of groceries. They know that rent is higher, and the cost of just about everything is higher,” Vos said. “We have a record surplus… we are not in a rush to spend that.”
Democrats in the Assembly and Senate were able to compete more closely for seats because of new voting maps in Wisconsin that went into effect this year. The maps were passed by Republican lawmakers and signed into law by Democratic Gov. Tony Evers in February after the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled that the previous maps were an unconstitutional gerrymander. Republicans have held a majority in the state Legislature since 2011.
Assembly Majority Leader Tyler August (R-Walworth), who was elected to another term in his leadership position, said Democrats had an “atrocious” election night after the new, more competitive voting maps were “engineered to put themselves in the majority.”
When asked whether he would approach the job any differently with the slimmer margins, Vos said the caucus would still be seeking to get “consensus” from the majority of its members before bringing proposals to a vote, and that for some issues it could be harder to bring proposals forward. For example, he said a proposal on an issue such as legalizing medical marijuana could be more difficult.
“Reducing the size of government, not expanding welfare, making sure we invest in our priorities, returning the surplus back to taxpayers — I think the vast majority of things that we put on the table will be things that all 54 people in our caucus will unite behind,” Vos said.
Lawmakers will spend considerable time in the coming months debating the next two-year state budget and how to use the state’s $4.6 budget surplus. Assembly Republicans said they want to cut taxes as a way of returning the money to Wisconsinites and don’t want to grow the size of government.
Vos said the budget surplus only exists because Evers vetoed Republicans’ tax cut proposals in the last budget, and that one proposal they will likely look at again is a tax cut for retirees. He also said the proposal put forth by Department of Public Instruction Superintendent Jill Underly to dedicate an additional $4 billion to public education in the state budget wasn’t “serious.”
Other members of the Assembly Republican leadership include:
- Rep. Scott Krug (R-Nekoosa) will serve as assistant majority leader.
- Rep. Kevin Peterson (R- Waupaca) will serve as speaker pro tempore.
- Rep. Rob Summerfield (R- Bloomer) will serve as caucus chair.
- Rep. Cindi Duchow (R-Town of Delafield) will serve as caucus vice-chair
- Rep. Treig Pronschinske (R-Mondovi) will serve as caucus sergeant-at-arms.
- Rep. Nancy VanderMeer (R-Tomah) will serve as caucus secretary.
Hesselbein leads Senate Democrats
Hesselbein will lead Senate Democrats again in the upcoming term. She was first elected to the leadership position in December 2023 to replace Sen. Melissa Agard, who was just elected to serve as Dane County Executive.
Senate Democrats are entering next year with four additional members to the caucus, including Jodi Habush Sinykin, Sarah Keyeski, Jamie Wall and Kris Alfheim. That increases the number of Democratic-held seats to 15 and cuts the Republican majority to 18 seats.
Hesselbein said she was “absolutely devastated” that President-elect Donald Trump won a second term in office and carried Wisconsin, however, she said that her growing caucus is proof that Democrats worked hard and won over voters. She added that Senate Democrats have a path to winning a majority in 2026 when the odd-numbered Senate seats will be up for election.
“This is the state of Wisconsin. Just a few years ago, [on] the same night we elected Tony Evers and Ron Johnson,” Hesselbein said. “This is nothing new to the state, but going forward in two years, it’ll be a new dawn and a new day.”
Until then, Hesselbein said that she is looking forward to more conversation and compromise with Republicans going forward.
“Right now, we’re sitting on billions of dollars in our state coffers. A record number of schools this year went to referendum because we’re not funding schools adequately,” Hesselbein said. “We need to stop that trend and we need to fund K-12 schools in the state of Wisconsin. We need to be investing in public universities and our technical colleges, working to keep tuition affordable.” She also promoted investing in young families, infrastructure, transportation systems and protecting the state’s natural resources.
“We will fight tirelessly to get that job done,” Hesselbein said.
Her “door is open” for Republican lawmakers, she said.
Sen. Jeff Smith (D-Eau Claire) was elected to continue serving as assistant minority leader, Sen. Mark Spreitzer (D- Beloit) was elected to serve as caucus chair and Sen.-elect Dora Drake (D-Milwaukee) was elected to serve as caucus vice-chair.
Last week Senate Republicans reelected Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu, who has led the caucus since 2021. Assembly Democrats plan to meet next week to hold leadership elections.
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