Assembly Majority Leader Stepping Down to Join PSC

Assembly Majority Leader Scott Suder (R-Abbotsford) is resigning his elected office to become administrator of the Public Service Commission’s Water Compliance and Consumer Affairs Division. The No. 2 leader in the Assembly, who has represented the 69th Assembly District for 14 years, will step down Sept. 3.

Suder released the following statement regarding his resignation:

Today I am announcing my retirement from the Wisconsin State Assembly. After fourteen years of proudly serving the 69th Assembly District, I will be stepping down on September 3, 2013 to pursue an opportunity in Governor Walker’s Administration. I want to thank my constituents for entrusting me to represent their best interests as a member of the state Legislature. I look forward to serving citizens all across the state of Wisconsin in Scott Walker’s Administration.

I am proud of the work that has been done fighting on the behalf of my constituents and ensuring that they kept more of their hard-earned dollars, had stronger protections against predators to create a safer environment for their children, received access to resources ensuring that their small businesses could grow, and that their voices were not ignored by state agencies.

Some of our hard-fought legislative victories include Jessica’s Law, which ensured tough mandatory minimum sentences for first degree child sexual offenders and the Rural Jobs Act that provided millions in tax credits to help locate and grow rural businesses. The Mining for Jobs Act passed this legislative session will provide strong environmental protections for our natural resources and create thousands of family-supporting jobs.

Throughout the many legislative sessions that I have been a part of, we were able to enact budgets that eliminated the structural deficit without raising taxes, reshape state government to make it more business friendly, and create a substantial state surplus as a result of our bold reforms.

I also want to thank my colleagues for entrusting me to serve as Assembly Majority Leader for the past two sessions. I am humbled by their support and am proud of the successful reforms we’ve passed to protect taxpayers across the entire state. I wish all of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle the best and encourage them to keep moving Wisconsin forward. I will always cherish the friendships I have made on both the state and national levels.

I want to give special thanks to my family for their understanding , sacrifice and patience. Politics can be a rough business, and through thick and thin they have always supported me in so many ways, I cannot thank them enough. In addition, I have been blessed with the opportunity to work with some of the most dedicated professionals I could have hoped for as members of my staff. Without their hard work, I could not have had such a successful career.

Finally, I want to again give thanks to my friends and neighbors throughout the entire 69th Assembly District, otherwise known as ‘God’s Country’, for their constant, unwavering support throughout these 14 years. I am blessed to have had this unique opportunity to serve the great people of North Central Wisconsin and our great state as an elected member of the Wisconsin State Assembly. It has truly been an honor and a privilege to serve and I thank them for their trust.

Gov. Walker will call a special election to fill the vacant seat, meanwhile the Republican members of the Assembly will choose a new majority leader from within their ranks. Assembly Speaker Pro Tem Bill Kramer (R-Waukesha) and Rep. Dean Knudson (R-Hudson) are both angling to take over the leadership position.