MITCHELL SCHMIDT and KIMBERLY WETHAL Wisconsin State Journal
Assembly Speaker Robin Vos said Thursday he will not seek re-election next year, ending a more than decade-long career as one the the most influential Republicans in the state.
Vos, 57, the longest-serving Assembly speaker in state history, choked up as he addressed fellow lawmakers and staff on what is anticipated to be the Assembly’s final floor session of the year, saying his career has been “the greatest professional honor of my life.”
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Assembly Speaker Robin Vos. OWEN ZILIAK, STATE JOURNAL ARCHIVES |
The Rochester Republican was first elected to the Assembly in 2004 and has represented portions of Racine and Walworth counties. He has led the chamber as speaker since 2013.
His tenure in the Assembly has spanned a plethora of notable moments in Wisconsin politics, including the passage of Republican then-Gov Scott Walker’s controversial Act 10, which dramatically limited collective bargaining powers in the state, and multiple high-stakes presidential elections.
Vos said the decision on whether to run again had been weighing on him for months, but having a mild heart attack in November was part of his decision. Vos is fine, he said, but it his doctor told him he needed to reduce his stress levels.
“Let me tell you, this job is stressful,” Vos said. “It was a sign from God that convinced me I needed to choose a different path.”
Vos told the Wisconsin State Journal at the end of December he would decide in February whether to pursue another term.
Vos’ retirement means that two of Wisconsin’s most influential politicians won’t be in the Capitol come January. Democratic Gov. Tony Evers, a longtime foil of Vos and his Republican agenda, announced his intent to retire in July, after this year’s budget was finalized.
Vos’ retirement means that two of Wisconsin’s most influential politicians won’t be in the Capitol come January. Democratic Gov. Tony Evers, a longtime foil of Vos and his Republican agenda, announced his intent to retire in July, after this year’s budget was finalized.
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Assembly Speaker Robin Vos said the decision to retire had been weighing on him for months, but a mild heart attack in November helped him make the decision. JOHN HART, STATE JOURNAL ARCHIVES |
Evers said in a statement Vos’’ “retirement marks the end of an era in Wisconsin politics, and I’m grateful to have served as governor during Speaker Vos’ tenure.”
“Although we’ve disagreed more often than we didn’t, I respect his candor, his ability to navigate complex policies and conversations, and his unrivaled passion for politics,” Evers said.
“Being in public service is challenging and can be thankless work, most especially when you’re responsible for getting things done,” Evers added. “I understand that better than most. For your sacrifices and your service over the years, thank you, Mr. Speaker.”
Prior to joining the Assembly, Vos was a Racine County supervisor for 10 years. A graduate of UW-Whitewater, a relative powerhouse for churning out influential Wisconsin Republicans, Vos worked as a legislative assistant for Rep. Jim Ladwig, and his successor and wife, Bonnie Ladwig, as well as a district director for Republican U.S. Rep. Mark Neumann.
Outside of state government, Vos owns both a food processing company and a real estate company that largely rents student housing in Whitewater.
Vos’ decision comes as state lawmakers head into the November elections under new, more Democratic-friendly maps signed in early 2024. Vos was a key player in the legislative redistricting fights that took place in 2010, when GOP lawmakers used their legislative majorities to redraw the state’s congressional and legislative maps to favor Republicans. There are currently two legal challenges before the state Supreme Court, which holds a 4-3 liberal majority, seeking to redraw Wisconsin’s congressional boundaries.
Under new legislative maps, liberals are feeling especially bullish on their chances to wrest control of the state Senate and Assembly away from their Republican colleagues.
Republicans say the measures they’ve been able to get across Evers’ desk, including more than $1 billion in tax cuts in the state’s two-year spending plan, should encourage voters to keep the party in control of the Legislature in 2027.
The election also hosts the first open race for Wisconsin’s executive office in 16 years. Republican Congressman Tom Tiffany is the frontrunner on the GOP side, while more than half a dozen Democratic candidates are running.
Vos has often been a thorn in the side of both Evers and his Democratic colleagues in the Legislature due to his ability to lead the Assembly Republican caucus as one of the most influential conservatives in the Capitol. But he’s also clashed with members of his own party at times, including President Donald Trump.
While Vos hired former state Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman in 2021 to lead a taxpayer-funded review of Wisconsin’s 2020 presidential election — following pressure from Trump to substantiate his baseless claims that the election had been “stolen.”
Trump lost to Joe Biden in Wisconsin by almost 21,000 votes that year, an outcome that has been substantiated through a recount, court decisions and multiple independent reviews.
The relationship between Gableman and Vos soured over the course of the seven-month review, with Vos ultimately firing Gableman in August 2022 and later calling him “an embarrassment to this state.
Vos closed out his speech saying he hopes the Legislature as an institution will remain strong, especially against the two other branches of government, and offered a reminder that the Legislature is not meant to be “fast, convenient, or easy.”
“I’ll miss the clowns, but not the circus,” Vos said, echoing Linda Upmeyer, former Speaker from Iowa, who said something similar upon her retirement in 2020.
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