MADISON, Wis. — Several state legislators won’t be returning to Madison next year, either to run for other offices or retire from public service altogether.
Attrition is inevitable, but new legal maps are playing a role and redistricting is impacting hiring.
According to WisPolitics, more than a third of the Democratic caucus in Congress is currently expected to switch sides by the next two years. Democrats currently hold 35 seats compared to 64 for Republicans. But current minority leaders aren’t too worried about hiring new people.
“This is my second election cycle as party leader, and last time I made a lot of calls, and this time I’m getting a lot of calls,” said state Rep. Greta Neubauer, D-Racine. Told. .
Neubauer said things are different now with the new maps and more people are excited about the possibility of Democrats picking up more seats.
Assembly Minority Leader Greta Neubauer (D-Racine) speaks on the floor. (Spectrum News 1/Mandy Haig)
“At this point, I think we’re getting hundreds of calls from people all over the state who want to run for vacant seats that people are leaving, or for other positions, really competitive seats. . These are parts of the state that haven’t had a legislative election in many years, like Sheboygan, Wausau, the Green Bay suburbs and Hudson,” Neubauer said.
A far smaller number of Republicans are also not seeking re-election, and Speaker Robin Vos knows the party will return next year with fewer seats.
“[Democrats] It’s probably going to come back, my guess is around 45 seats, because that’s what we’re predicting when we look at everything, so it’s certainly going to be closer, but what my Democratic colleagues don’t realize is The closer the seats are, the more margin there is, the harder compromise actually becomes. ”
After the WisPolitics luncheon, Assembly Speaker Robin Vos will take questions. (AP photo)
At the WisPolitics luncheon in March, Vos made some predictions, telling the audience that Republicans would likely start with 46 seats with approval ratings of 55% or higher.
Factoring in the remaining three seats that tilt slightly in favor of Republicans, the party would only need to win one competitive race to maintain its majority.
Vos seems confident in these numbers, but it all comes down to the candidate.
“We typically try to find maybe a local elected official,” Voss explained. “We’ll probably find people who are small business owners or retirees who have had successful careers. That’s one of our secret sauces. We find people who represent our community. Masu.”
Come November, the community will ultimately decide which party controls the Wisconsin Legislature.
