Sen. LeMahieu
On Thursday Nov. 5, Senate Republicans met to determine who will be the Senate leadership for the 2021-22 legislative session. With Sen. Scott Fitzgerald being elected to Congress, the Senate Majority Leader position was open with two Senators running – Sen. Roger Roth (R – Appleton) and Sen. Devin LeMahieu (R – Oostburg). Many political insiders thought Sen. Roth – the current Senate President – was the likely heir apparent, however Senate Republicans agreed Sen. LeMahieu is to be the new Senate Majority Leader.
For Senate President, Sen. Kapenga (R – Delafield) prevailed over Sen. Darling (R – River Hills). The other leadership positions are: Sen. Dan Feyen, (R – Fond du Lac), was reelected assistant majority leader, Sen. Pat Testin (R – Stevens Point) was elected president tempore, Sen. Van Wanggaard, (R – Racine), was reelected caucus chair and Sen. Kathy Bernier (R – Lake Hallie) was elected caucus vice-chair.
Sen. Bewley
The week after the election, Senate Democrats held their leadership positions and announced Sen. Janet Bewley (D – Mason) will continue as Minority Leader into the 2021-22 session. Other minority leadership positions include: Assistant Minority Leader – Sen. Janis Ringhand, Caucus Chair – Sen. Jeff Smith, Assistant Caucus Chair – Sen.-elect Melissa Sargent.
Speaker Vos
Assembly Republicans held their leadership positions as well and as expected, Rep. Robin Vos (R – Rochester) will remain as Assembly Speaker. Other Republican Assembly leadership positions include: Speaker Pro Tempore – Rep. Tyler August, Majority Leader – Rep. Jim Steineke, Assistant Majority Leader – Rep. Kevin Petersen, Caucus Chair – Rep. Tyler Vorpagel, Assistant Caucus Chair – Rep. Cindi Duchow, Caucus Secretary – Rep. Jessie Rodriguez and Caucus Sergeant at Arms – Rep. Sam Kerkman.
Rep. Hintz
Assembly Democrats also kept things the same for their leadership, reelecting Rep. Gordon Hintz (D – Oshkosh) as Minority Leader. Other Assembly Democrats in leadership positions include: Assistant Minority Leader – Rep. Dianne Hesselbein, Caucus Chair – Rep. Mark Spreitzer, Assistant Caucus Chair – Rep. Lisa Subeck, Caucus Secretary – Rep. Beth Meyers and Caucus Sergeant at Arms – Rep. Kaylan Haywood.
JFC Chairs Announced
Sen. Marklein
During the week of Nov. 9th, Sen. LeMahieu announced that Sen. Howard Marklein (R – Spring Green) will serve as the co-chair on the Joint Finance Committee (JFC) – the powerful budget-writing committee. Sen. Marklein replaces Sen. Alberta Darling as the co-chair, who has served for the last six sessions
Rep. Nygren
Speaker Vos reappointed Rep. John Nygren as the co-chair of the JFC for the Assembly. Rep. Nygren has served on the JFC committee since 2011 and as co-chair since 2013.
On November 19, Minority Leader Bewley announced the reappointment of Sen. Jon Erpenbach (D – Middleton) and Sen. LaTonya Johnson (D – Milwaukee) to the Joint Committee on Finance. The Assembly Minority Leader Hintz also announced the reappointment of Rep. Evan Goyke (D – Milwaukee) to JFC. Hintz also appointed Rep. Greta Neubauer (D – Racine) to the committee.
The remaining Republican JFC members are expected to be announced in the coming weeks.