Top Stories Milwaukee

In Charlie Sykes’ selection of 10 “rising stars” among this year’s crop of freshman state legislators, there are many with business backgrounds, and many who jumped into politics saying they were goaded into running by federal health care reform or what they perceived as an overly aggressive left-wing agenda. Of the 10, just one is a Democrat.

michelle litjens

There’s State Rep. John Klenke (R-Green Bay), “a notorious workaholic” and former treasurer of Schneider National. (He also has a master’s degree specializing in taxation.) Klenke told Sykes, “We need more dollars in the private sector and less in the government.” The Assembly gained another expert accountant this year in State Rep. Howard Marklein (R-Spring Green), a white collar crime investigator. Also meet State Rep. Dale Kooyenga, an accountant who was awarded the Bronze Star for his service as an Army officer “in charge of economic development in Baghdad.” (Sykes suggests the formation of a “CPA caucus.”)

State Rep. Chris Kapenga (R-Delafield) apparently wins the young-gun award. One unnamed insider told Sykes, “He kind of came in wanting to be kind of the freshmen.” Another high-powered freshman is State Rep. Michelle Litjens (R-Oshkosh), a former official in the state Republican Party who played in key role in encouraging Ron Johnson to run for U.S. Senate last year.

Sykes selects two freshmen expected to be “leading GOP voices on health care” – ER doctor State Rep. Erik Severson (R-Star Prairie) and State Sen. Pam Galloway (R-Wausau), the surgeon who defeated former Assembly Majority Leader Russ Decker. The only other state senator (and the only Democrat) to make to the list by the conservative radio host was Tim Cullen (D-Janesville), a former Senate Majority Leader and health insurance executive.

paul farrow

Cullen is compromise-minded: He was a leader in negotiating with Gov. Scott Walker over changes to his Budget Repair Bill, changes that might have lured Democrats back to Wisconsin prior to its passage. Also, if we may dive for a moment into the Milwaukee Magazine archives, Sykes selected Cullen as one of the state’s ten best legislators in the 1986 inaugural edition of the magazine’s periodic Best Legislators feature.

Add another businessman to the bunch: State Rep. Mike Kuglitsch (R-New Berlin), who is said to have a “down-to-earth” style. Another charmer from Southeastern Wisconsin is State Rep. Paul Farrow (R-Pewaukee), son of former lieutenant governor Margaret Farrow, who “immediately endeared himself to his colleagues by hosting an ice-breaking hot-dog fry on the first day of the legislative session.”

“I think he can be governor someday,” said one insider. He’s off to a good start.

Read Sykes’ full piece for the Wisconsin Policy Research Institute’s Wisconsin Interest magazine here.

Post Footer automatically generated by Add Post Footer Plugin for wordpress.