Shilling Takes Over As Wis. Senate Democratic Leader
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin Democrats reshuffled their legislative leadership on Tuesday, with a state senator from La Crosse taking over as minority leader in the Senate after Republicans increased their majority in last week's election.
Assembly Democrats were meeting Tuesday to decide whether to oust their leader after Republicans made gains that give them the biggest majority since 1957.
Sen. Chris Larson, Democratic Senate minority leader the past two years, decided to bow out of the race after Sen. Jennifer Shilling, of La Crosse, announced she was challenging him.
Larson declined to say whether he had enough support to win in the vote scheduled for Wednesday, saying his decision was based on wanting to spend more time with his family.
"This was honestly a personal decision," Larson said in a telephone interview. "It just became evident when I was doing the phone calls courting votes, setting up an agenda and lining up the next two years, my wife was looking at me and hoping I wouldn't succeed. That's not a recipe for long-term success."
In the Assembly, Democratic minority leader Rep. Peter Barca, of Kenosha, faced a challenge from Rep. Evan Goyke, of Milwaukee.
Republicans hold a 19-14 majority in the Senate, up from 18-15 last year. Republicans have at least a 62-36 majority in the Assembly.
On Tuesday, state Rep. Mandy Wright, D-Wausau, conceded she lost to Republican challenger Dave Heaton by 84 votes. If preliminary results showing Republican Todd Novak beat Democrat Dick Cates for an open seat in southwestern Wisconsin's 51st District hold up, the GOP majority would grow to 63-36.
The increased Republican control in the Legislature comes as Gov. Scott Walker won re-election to a second term. Walker, who was meeting with Republican legislative leaders on Tuesday to discuss his agenda, has said he wants to be aggressive in the opening months of his second term.
Moving quickly and smoothly could help bolster Walker's argument that real leadership is coming from governors and not Congress, as he eyes a presidential run in 2016.
Walker said Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press" that governors make much better presidents than members of Congress. Building on that theme, Walker told Assembly Republicans on Monday that Wisconsin could stand as a counter to the "dysfunctional" federal government.
Walker and Republican priorities include further cutting property and income taxes, writing new academic standards, expanding the private school voucher program and requiring drug tests for those seeking food stamps and unemployment benefits.
Larson, who was first elected to the Senate in 2010 after serving on the Milwaukee County Board, has been an outspoken critic of the Republican agenda. As Democratic minority leader the past two years, he's led the charge against Republicans both publicly and behind the scenes in recruiting candidates to run and overseeing those campaigns.
Shilling issued a statement thanking Larson and saying that Senate Democrats are united in fighting for public schools, small business growth and improving the economy.
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