MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin Republicans on Tuesday re-elected Robin Vos as speaker of the State Assembly, a position he has held longer than anyone in the state’s history and which he reclaimed despite a challenge from a more conservative legislature and Democratic gains in the state. the election.
The speaker is the most powerful position in the Assembly and Vos, who has held the position since 2013, will preside over the smallest Republican majority in eighteen years. Vos was challenged by Rep. Scott Allen, who supported removing the state’s nonpartisan election chief. Vos was against impeachment.
The vote on Vos took place in secret and he did not say at a press conference how the vote went. Allen was not present at the press conference.
Vos overcame opposition from some conservatives in his party and a stormy relationship with newly elected President Donald Trump. Vos has clashed regularly with Trump, especially after his defeat in 2020, when Vos refused to decertify President Joe Biden’s victory. Trump supported a Republican challenger to Vos in 2022 and Trump backers made failed recall attempts against Vos this year.
Vos backed new legislative maps drawn by Democratic Gov. Tony Evers this year, partly out of fear that Wisconsin’s liberal-controlled Supreme Court could issue something even worse for Republicans. The Legislature approved the Evers map, allowing Democrats to cut into the Republican majorities in the Senate and Assembly, but not enough to flip control.
Some Democrats had hoped to gain a majority in the General Assembly, but Republicans won enough key districts to maintain control. Under the new maps, the Republican majority in the General Assembly fell from 64-35 to 54-45 and in the Senate from 22-11 to 18-15. During Vos’ time as chairman, the Republicans had between 60 and 64 seats.
Republican Assembly Majority Leader Tyler August said Democrats had a “horrible” election because they couldn’t take control “on a map they designed to put themselves in the majority.”
Still, the smaller majorities could lead to more compromises between the Legislature and Evers. But Vos said Republicans would continue to advance issues where there is broad consensus among them, such as cutting taxes, but that others where there is less agreement, such as legalizing medical marijuana, would be more difficult .
Evers, who rarely met with Republican legislative leaders during the last legislative session, said he hoped there would be more compromises.
“Fair maps matter,” Evers posted Monday on the social media platform
Evers will submit a new two-year state budget early next year. Evers and Republicans were able to reach an agreement last session to increase state aid to local governments and extend the lease on American Family Field to keep the Milwaukee Brewers in Wisconsin.
Evers signed a budget last year that cut taxes, but not as much as Republicans had proposed, and he used his veto power to increase school funding, a move Republicans challenged in court. Evers has pushed for a wide range of policy and funding proposals that Republicans have blocked, including expanding paid family leave and Medicaid, legalizing marijuana and raising the minimum wage.
Senate Republicans last week re-elected Sen. Devin LeMahieu as their majority leader. Senate Democrats re-elected Senator Dianne Hesselbein as minority leader on Tuesday. Assembly Democrats met on November 19 to elect their leaders.
