Senate Democratic leader Shilling won't seek re-election
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The leader of Wisconsin's state Senate Democrats announced Thursday that she won't seek re-election this fall, a setback for her party as it tries to gain ground on the chamber's Republican majority.
Jennifer Shilling faced another tight race with perennial GOP rival Dan Kapanke after beating him by just a handful of votes in 2016. The La Crosse Democrat said in a statement that she's quitting because she wants to spend more time with her sons. One is in high school and the other is starting middle school and she knows her time with them at home is running out, she said.
“I know it is time to put my family first and look to a future where I can put away my little red suitcase that has accompanied me on my weekly travels to Madison for the past 20 years,” she said.
Shilling’s decision means Democrats will have to defend another swing seat as they try to retake control of the Senate this fall. Republicans go into the November elections with a 19-14 edge.
Democratic Sens. Mark Miller of Monona, Dave Hansen of Green Bay and Fred Risser of Madison have already said they plan to retire. Miller and Risser's seats are in safe Democratic districts, but Hansen's seat is in a heavily Republican area. Luther Olsen is the only Republican senator so far to announce he won't run again.
Shilling, 50, often portrayed herself as a down-to-earth, folksy Midwestern mother. She once offered to smooth over differences between Democrats and Republicans on the Legislature's powerful budget committee by offering them Chex-Mix party snacks. She called the list of topics she wanted to discuss with Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald that she kept in her desk her “Fitz List.”
She first won election to the state Assembly in 2000. She won western Wisconsin's 32nd Senate District seat in 2011 when she ousted Kapanke in a recall election spurred by anger over Kapanke's support for then-Gov. Scott Walker's contentious law stripping public employees of their union rights. Her caucus elected her as minority leader in 2014. Her office said Thursday that she's the longest serving female leader in Wisconsin legislative history.
Kapanke went after the seat in 2016 and Shilling barely held him off, beating him by just 56 votes after a recount.
Shilling's parents and five employees were killed at her family’s restaurant in Palatine, Illinois, in 1993. She told their story to the state Assembly in 2002 during debate on a Republican bill legalizing concealed carry.
Assembly Speaker Robin Vos said he was saddened to hear Shilling is leaving the Legislature.
“I have a ton of respect for Jen and her efforts to make Wisconsin a better place,” he said. “In politics these days, it’s not often that you can call someone who supports the wrong side of almost every issue, a friend.”
Fitzgerald's spokesman, Alec Zimmerman, didn't immediately respond to a message.
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