MADISON, Wis. (AP) 鈥� , who has led the Republican charge in Wisconsin during his record-long stint as state Assembly speaker and blocked much of the Democratic governor’s agenda, announced Thursday that he will retire at the end of the year.
Vos, who also drew President Donald Trump’s ire for not aggressively challenging Trump鈥檚 loss in the battleground state in 2020, made the announcement from the floor of the Assembly. Vos is in his 22nd year in the Assembly and 14th year as speaker.
Vos has served during a tumultuous time in , in which the swing state became a national leader in , was a in presidential elections and was at the center of redistricting fights over championed by Vos.
To his political opponents, Vos has been a shadow governor who shrewdly used his legislative majority to create a dysfunctional state government focused on advancing the conservative agenda and denying Democrats any victories they could tout.
To his supporters, Vos has been a shrewd tactician who outmaneuvered his political foes, sometimes within his own party, to become one of the state’s most influential Republicans in a generation.
Vos told The Associated Press that he suspects Democrats will be 鈥渉appy that I’m gone.鈥� But he had a message for his conservative detractors: 鈥淵ou’re going to miss me.”
Vos worked to curb union power, fight Democrats
Vos was a close ally of former Republican Gov. Scott Walker and helped pass key parts of his agenda, including the 2011 law known as Act 10 that effectively ended collective bargaining for most public workers. Vos also led the fight to pass several , a 鈥� 鈥� law and a voter ID requirement 鈥� legislation strongly opposed by Democrats.
When Democrat Tony in 2018, and after the top Republican in the Senate won election to Congress two years later, Vos emerged as the leader of Republicans in state government and the top target for those on the left.
Vos successfully thwarted much of Evers鈥� policy agenda the past seven years. He Evers even before Evers took office in 2019 by passing a series of bills in a that weakened the governor鈥檚 powers.
鈥淚’ve been tenacious and I’ve fought for what our caucus wants,鈥� Vos said.
Vos and fellow Republicans Evers called and successfully his powers during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Vos to overturn Evers鈥� stay-at-home order, resulting in Wisconsin becoming the first state where a court invalidated a governor鈥檚 coronavirus restrictions.
Vos angered some fellow Republican
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Vos angered some within his own party, most notably Trump, who criticized him for not doing enough to investigate his 2020 loss in Wisconsin. a former conservative Wisconsin Supreme Court justice to look into the election, but later fired him amid over his effort that put forward discounted conspiracy theories and found no evidence of widespread fraud or abuse.
The episode amounted to a rare misstep for Vos, who is now advocating for revoking the former justice鈥檚 . Vos has repeatedly said that hiring Gableman was the biggest mistake he ever made.
Trump endorsed Vos’ primary challenger in 2022 and his supporters mounted multiple unsuccessful efforts to recall Vos from office. Vos decried those targeting him as and he held on to extend his run as Wisconsin’s longest-serving speaker, eclipsing Democrat Tom Loftus, who held the position from 1983 to 1991.
Democrats eyeing a majority
Vos grew the GOP majority under Republican-drawn legislative maps before the state Supreme Court ordered in 2023, resulting in Democratic gains in the last election. The Republicans held as many as 64 seats under Vos, but that dropped to 54 in what will be Vos鈥檚 final year.
Democrats are optimistic they can take the majority this year, while Vos said he remains confident that Republicans will remain in control even without him as speaker.
Vos, 57, was first elected to the Assembly in 2004 and was chosen by his colleagues as speaker in 2013. He became Wisconsin鈥檚 longest-serving speaker in 2021.
Vos said he had a mild heart attack in November that he didn’t reveal publicly until Thursday, but that’s not why he’s leaving.
鈥淚t was the tap on the shoulder that I needed to make sure that my decision is right,鈥� he said.
Vos said it was 鈥渦nlikely鈥� he would run for office again, but he didn’t rule it out.
Vos was college roommates with , who was chair of the Republican National Committee in 2016 and served as Trump鈥檚 first White House chief of staff.
End of an era
The governor, who had a sometimes contentious relationship with Vos, said his retirement 鈥渕arks the end of an era in Wisconsin politics.鈥�
鈥淎lthough we鈥檝e disagreed more often than we didn鈥檛, I respect his candor, his ability to navigate complex policies and conversations, and his unrivaled passion for politics,鈥� Evers said.
Democratic U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan, who served with Vos in the Legislature and remained friends with him even though they鈥檙e political opposites, called him a 鈥渇ormidable opponent鈥� and 鈥減robably the most intelligent and strategic Assembly speaker I have seen.鈥�
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