Longtime Democratic Wisconsin Secretary of State Doug La Follette abruptly resigned Friday, saying he would go three months into his 11th straight term “to focus on my personal needs” after observing the office been deprived of its power in the last 50 years.
Governor Tony Evers appointed former Treasurer Sarah Godlewski, who ran unsuccessfully for the US Senate last year, to the four-year term. The Wisconsin Secretary of State has not been responsible for elections since 1974 and has almost no official duties.
“After many years of frustration, I have decided that I do not want to spend the next three and a half years running an office without adequate resources and staffing,” said 82-year-old La Follette in his resignation letter.
WI FOREIGN SECRETARY DOUG LA FOLLETTE HELP PAYING FOR A PLAQUE HONORING A FORMER STATE POLITICIAN
He did not immediately respond to a phone message left asking for comment.
Republican Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu called on Evers to hold a special election, saying Godlewski’s appointment was “an insult to Wisconsin voters and our democratic process.”
Evers, also a Democrat, defended the appointment.
“In a critical position that has not seen a change in decades, it could not be more important to maintain continuity with a leader who is willing and committed to fulfilling the constitutional obligations of that office – and there is no one more unique qualified or better suited for this job than Sarah,” Evers said in a statement.
Godlewski, 41, was 1 year old when La Follette began his current career as Secretary of State.
Godlewski said she was humbled by the appointment. She becomes the third woman to hold this position in state history. She served one term as Treasurer from 2018 to 2022.
“I know how important this role and my responsibilities are and I look forward to getting to work,” she said in a statement.
Godlewski ran for the US Senate on a pro-abortion platform last year but dropped out before the August primary after falling double digits behind Democratic leader Mandela Barnes in public polls. Her name stayed on the primary ballot, but Barnes won the nomination. He then lost to Republican US Senator Ron Johnson.
Democratic Wisconsin Secretary of State Doug La Follette, a distant relative of national icon and 1924 presidential nominee Robert “Fighting Bob” La Follette, has resigned from his post to focus on “personal needs.” (AP Photo/Harm Venhuizen, file)
Godlewski, a native of Eau Claire, formerly worked on Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaigns in both 2008 and 2016.
Before running for treasurer in 2018, Godlewski led a bipartisan coalition opposing a measure on the ballot this spring that would have eliminated the post of treasurer. Voters rejected it, leaving the office of state treasurer, but with few official duties.
Wisconsin Republican Party leader Brian Schimming said Godlewski will “self-promote and use the office to prepare for her next campaign.”
“Now we see why Godlewski withdrew from the US Senate race, apparently having been promised a soft landing,” he said.
La Follette was first elected Foreign Secretary in 1974. After a failed attempt to become Lieutenant Governor in 1978, he regained the post of Secretary of State in 1982 and was re-elected ten times.
Republicans gradually stripped the office of nearly all duties and staff, relegating La Follette to a cramped office in the Capitol basement. Since the 2020 presidential election, however, Republicans have been considering shifting election oversight to the secretary of state.
La Follette won re-election in November against Republican Amy Loudenbeck, who wanted to shift voting duties into office. La Follette said before the election that he was running again to ensure Republicans couldn’t use the office to overturn a Democratic presidential victory in the state in 2024.
Loudenbeck criticized his resignation on Friday.
Wisconsin Treasurer SARAH GODLEWSKI exits the Wisconsin Democratic U.S. Senate primary
“This move, coming so soon after the election, once again raises questions about the tactics being used by those in power who will do whatever it takes to retain that power,” she said in a statement.
La Follette has not campaigned very intensely and said he was afraid of contracting COVID-19 while campaigning. However, those fears didn’t stop him from vacationing in Africa in June. In the end, his notoriety was enough to lead him to victory as he had for years.
La Follette is a distant relative of Robert “Fighting Bob” La Follette, a progressive Wisconsin governor and presidential candidate in 1924. A Madison high school is named for Bob La Follette, and state Democrats still consider him a progressive champion today.
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Earlier this year, Doug La Follette led a fundraiser to place a plaque on the bust of Bob La Follette at the state capitol.
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