Second top Republican retires in battleground Wisconsin, fueling Democratic hopes

Two top Republican leaders in Wisconsin announced on Thursday they will not seek reelection this fall, signaling a seismic shift in the state’s politics as Democrats grow hopeful about winning a majority.

“Second top Republican retires in battleground Wisconsin, fueling Democratic hopes MADISON, Wis”

Associated Press

Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu became the latest GOP leader to retire, announcing Thursday that he would not seek a fourth term, after Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, the longest-serving speaker in Wisconsin history, announced his retirement last month.

Associated Press

The retirements come as district boundaries were redrawn in favor of Democrats, heightening expectations that a Senate majority could flip.

Democrats need to pick up just two seats to have a majority in the Senate and five in the Assembly, aided by district boundaries redrawn in Democrats’ favor after the court overturned the GOP maps and new lines signed into law in 2024 by Democratic Gov. Tony Evers.

The governor’s race is open for the first time in 16 years thanks to Evers’ decision to retire.

Associated Press

Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, who has President Donald Trump’s endorsement, is the presumptive GOP nominee.

There are seven high-profile Democrats running, and the primary is in August.

Governor Evers praised LeMahieu’s 'patience and persistence,' saying he was able to put politics aside and focus on 'doing the right thing.'

“Second top Republican retires in battleground Wisconsin, fueling Democratic hopes MADISON, Wis”

Associated Press

Just this week Evers signed bills into law that LeMahieu supported to expand Medicaid coverage for postpartum mothers and cover additional cancer screenings for women with dense breast tissue.

LeMahieu and Republicans also worked with Evers to spend money on fighting PFAS chemicals, expand state funding for local communities and keep the Milwaukee Brewers baseball team in Wisconsin.

But under LeMahieu the state’s premiere land conservation program died this year due to lack of funding as did a bipartisan deal to continue funding a public affairs network that is Wisconsin’s version of C-SPAN.

Republicans took control of the Legislature in 2011 and newly elected Republican Gov. Scott Walker signed new legislative maps into law that year that allowed the GOP to grow their majorities over the next decade.

Wisconsin became the center of the nation’s conservative movement in the 2010s, with Walker and the Republican Legislature enacting a wide range of conservative priorities, including effectively ending collective bargaining for most public workers, slashing taxes and requiring photo identification to vote.

Associated Press

But liberals were able to win a majority on the Wisconsin Supreme Court in 2023, and in December that year the court overturned the GOP-drawn legislative maps.

The new lines signed into law in 2024 by Democratic Gov. Tony Evers allowed Democrats to chip into the majorities with the goal of flipping one or both houses this year.