Wisconsin Republicans will have the largest majorities in the state Senate and Assembly they’ve seen in decades as result of Tuesday’s election.
Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, state Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, said he is “ecstatic” about his house’s majority, which is the largest its seen since 1956.
The GOP gained one additional seat in the Assembly in Tuesday’s election, bringing their majority to 64 seats to Democrats’ 35.
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Republicans also gained one seat in the state Senate, bringing their majority to 20-13.
Vos credited Republican president-elect Donald Trump for the down-ballot success in Wisconsin.
“Donald Trump being on the ticket was a help,” Vos said. “I knew he would be a benefit for our candidates.”
Assembly Majority Leader Jim Steineke, R-Kaukauna, was a vocal opponent of Trump during the 2016 election cycle.
On Tuesday, Steineke said he is “excited” about moving forward with the president-elect and credited Trump for bringing “a whole group of new people” into the Republican Party.
“Donald Trump was able to connect with them on a level that maybe no other politician has been able to, at least in my lifetime, maybe outside of Ronald Reagan,” Steineke said.
In March, Steineke wrote an open letter to Trump supporters calling Trump a “fraud” and “a morally bankrupt con man.”
Vos and Steineke said they look forward to pursuing Assembly Republicans’ legislative agenda with their strengthened majority. The Assembly GOP released a blueprint of their legislative goals in September.
Those goals include issuing laptops to every high school freshman in the state, changing regulation of vacation rentals, and increasing jail time for serious crimes.
On Tuesday, Vos also mentioned further reforms to the state’s prevailing wage laws, closing the transportation budget gap, and legalizing concealed weapons in schools.
“If you have a legal concealed carry permit and you want to drop off your kids at school, under the current law, you’re committing a crime,” Vos said. “There should be people of good will who want to sit down and figure out what’s a common sense answer to this problem, so we don’t have folks concerned about getting arrested for doing something as simple as dropping off their kids.”
The new members of the state Legislature will be sworn in in January.
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