Wisconsin Assembly Republican leader resigns months early

A key Republican leader in the state Assembly has decided to resign early rather than waiting until his term ends.

Majority Leader Jim Steineke announced in January he wouldn’t seek reelection. He announced Monday that he will resign on July 27 rather than serve out the remainder of his term.

He said the Legislature’s two-year session ended in March and lawmakers aren’t coming back to do anything before the new session starts in January so it makes sense to enter the private sector now.

The Kaukauna Republican was first elected to the Assembly in 2010 and just months later helped pass Act 10, then-Gov. Scott Walker’s plan to strip most public workers of their union rights. The GOP caucus made him assistant majority leader in 2013 and majority leader in 2015.

Republican Reps. Mike Kuglitsch and Tyler Vorpagel also resigned early after announcing they won’t seek reelection.

Michael Best Strategies announced it had hired Kuglitsch on June 14, about a month after Kuglitsch announced he wouldn’t run again. Municipal Electric Utilities of Wisconsin officials announced on June 6 that they had hired Vorpagel, just five days after he announced he wouldn’t seek reelection.

Republican Rep. Samantha Kerkman resigned on June 7 after she won election as Kenosha County executive in April.