Senator Pam Galloway Resigns Seat On Wisconsin Legislature, GOP Loses
Senate Control
Posted:
03/16/2012 4:00 pm Updated: 03/16/2012 5:48 pm
A
Wisconsin state senator facing a June primary election abruptly resigned
Friday, plunging the Senate into a tie and shaking up the state's political
landscape.
Sen.
Pam Galloway (R-Wausau) announced she would be resigning effective Saturday
from the seat she has held since her November 2010 election. In a statement on
her website and Facebook page, Galloway said that she was resigning in order to
deal with family issues.
"Today
I am announcing my retirement from the Wisconsin State Senate. After a great
deal of thought and consideration, I've decided to put the needs of my family
first," Galloway said. "My family has experienced multiple, sudden
and serious health issues, which require my full attention. Unfortunately, this
situation is not compatible with fulfilling my obligations as state senator or
running for re-election at this time."
Galloway,
the chairwoman of the Senate Public Health, Human Services and Revenue
Committee, was facing a competitive recall election vs. Rep. Donna Seidel (D).
When Seidel's candidacy was announced last month, Democrats were quick to trumpet her candidacy,
noting that her district gave her a boost in the Senate race.
Galloway
gave no hint of a potential resignation in a statement she posted on her
website March 2, where she questioned the validity of the recall signatures and
said there were "questionable signatures." In the statement she said
that many of the signatures were gathered by out-of-state residents who were
paid to force a recall against her.
The
recall election will remain in place, but as a special election to fill
Galloway's term, according to Reid Magney, spokesman for the state Government
Accountability Board. Magney said that since the board determined that the
recall committee had met the signature requirement to force an election against
Galloway, the race will proceed with a May 8 primary and June 5 election.
Candidates would need to file petition signatures to enter the Republican race.
A primary will not be held in the event one candidate enters from a party,
Magney said in an interview Friday afternoon.
"Essentially
the recall committee filed its signatures and the board found there to be
sufficient signatures," Magney told HuffPost.
In
the event that Galloway had resigned without the recall threat, Gov. Scott
Walker (R) would have been responsible for scheduling a special election for
her seat.
Galloway's
resignation also sets up a 16-16 tie in the Senate until the June 5 election.
Following last summer's successful recalls of several Republican senators,
Republicans controlled the Senate by a 17-16 majority. Senate Majority Leader
Scott Fitzgerald (R-Clyman) told the Wisconsin Radio
Network that he and Minority Leader Mark Miller (D-Monona) will
become co-Senate leaders. There is no precedent for breaking a tie in the
Wisconsin Senate.
The
Wisconsin tie comes as the Legislature ended its session earlier this week.
Wisconsin will be the second state in the country with a tied Senate. In
Virginia, while both parties hold an equal number of seats, with Lt. Gov. Bill
Bolling (R) casting the tie breaking vote. Tied legislative bodies have been
common in other states, with Democrats and Republicans sharing control of the
New Jersey Senate, including co-presidents, from 2002 to 2004.
According
to Galloway's campaign website, the Senate seat was her first public office. A
surgeon by profession, she ran on a primarily economic platform calling for job
creation, tax control and spending reduction. Among the legislation she
sponsored were bills to allow guns in public buildings, create a tax credit for
private school tuition and the prohibition of receiving, transporting or
selling fetal body parts.
In
addition to the election to fill Galloway's seat, Wisconsin voters will have
recall elections pending against Walker, Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch (R) and
three other state senators, including Fitzgerald.
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