Republicans Badly Divided in Final Senate Session

Steve Nass

Anything can happen on the final day of a legislative session in the Wisconsin Assembly and Senate. And on March 17, that was never more true than in the final hours of the Senate.

It was a four-surprise day.

First, the 18 Republican senators gave up control over one of the most controversial bills of the two-year session. It would allow online betting but only on servers or at casinos operated by the state’s 11 tribes.

No matter which party has controlled the Senate, it has had a “rule of 17.” That required a 17-member majority of that party’s senators to pledge to vote for a specific bill or it would not be brought up for a vote. The rule has allowed the majority party to impose its will on the full 33-member Senate.

Because Republicans had an 18-15 Senate majority last session, just two Republican objectors to a bill kept it from a vote.

But 12 Democrats and nine Republicans passed the online gaming bill, with nine Republicans and three Democrats voting against it on March 17. Only one of the 12 Democrats who voted for it — Jeff Smith — faces a tough reelection bid in November; four of the nine Republicans who backed it will face voters this fall.

The irony: Democratic Gov. Tony Evers has not promised to sign the online gaming bill into law, even though the votes of Democratic senators put it on his desk.

In a statement one week later, Republican Sen. Steve Nass, who is not seeking reelection, criticized “the corrosive impact of excessive special-interest influence over the leadership of our caucus as seven bills without the support of 17 GOP senators” were considered on March 17.

Second, Democratic Sen. Dora Drake, of Milwaukee, had to switch her vote to pass another controversial bill, which would pay $14.6 million to maintain Universities of Wisconsin buildings so student-athletes can be paid under new NIL (name, image, likeness) rules that have reinvented college sports. The bill would also exempt details of those NIL deals and how college sports are funded from the state open records law.

The breakdown of the 17-16 vote that passed the NIL bill is fascinating: 11 Republicans and six Democrats voted yes; seven Republicans and nine Democrats voted no. It was the second controversial bill whose future was decided by Democrats.

Third, Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu brought up and voted for both those controversial bills despite a warning from a bloc of his fellow Republicans that it would cost him his leadership role if he was reelected in November and tried to remain Senate leader.

In an interview on WISN-TV’s UpFront show before the Senate’s final session, GOP Sen. Chris Kapenga said, “Precedent has always been you’ve got to have the rule of 17. So I hope [LaMahieu] doesn’t go there. I think it’s very dangerous for him if he does go there, so I just hope it doesn’t happen.”

Discussing the online gaming bill, Kapenga, a former Senate president, added, “It’s shameful that when you look at the money that’s behind this, and you don’t have a [majority] of the Republican votes, that’s very concerning to me, so I hope it does not go to the floor.”

Kapenga and five other Republicans — Julian Bradley, Rob Hutton, Andre Jacque, Rob Stafsholt and Nass — voted against the online gaming and NIL bills. Hutton is also not seeking reelection.

Fourth, LaMahieu then surprised the Capitol by announcing that he would not run again in November. Republican senators elected the three-term Oostburg Republican as their leader after former Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald was elected to the U.S. House in 2020.

The 53-year-old LaMahieu said it was time to do something else. “I am looking forward to spending more time with my wife in our new Madison-area home and, for the first time since 2006, rooting for bold conservative reform from the sidelines.”

LaMahieu is the fourth Republican senator to retire, joining Nass, Hutton and Racine Sen. Van Wanggard, who was recalled after his 2011 vote for Act 10 but reelected in 2014.

March 17 in the Wisconsin Senate only continued the many surprises of the 2025-2026 legislative session. Another example: In mid-2025, Republican Sen. Mary Felzkowski may have been the first Senate president to vote against the two-year budget drafted by her party. It was the first hint of the GOP division to come.

Steven Walters started covering the Capitol in 1988. Contact him at stevenscotwalters@gmail.com.