Overview
- LeMahieu announced Thursday he will leave the Senate at the end of his term, citing a move to the Madison area and a desire to spend more time with his wife.
- The decision follows Assembly Speaker Robin Vos’s retirement and Gov. Tony Evers’s choice not to seek a third term, setting up new leadership across state government.
- Under new maps adopted in 2024, Democrats flipped four Senate seats, narrowing the GOP majority to 18–15 and putting control of the chamber in play for 2026.
- LeMahieu’s district is likely to stay Republican, with President Donald Trump carrying it by about 16 points in 2024 and Evers losing it by about 14 in 2022, according to Marquette analysis.
- His tenure paired aggressive use of GOP power, including blocking Evers appointees, with bipartisan deals that relied on Democratic votes, most recently on online sports betting and NIL.