The end of the Vos Era, finally

The longest serving Assembly Speaker in state history represented the worst in our politics.

The Recombobulation Area is a 19-time Milwaukee Press Club award-winning opinion column and online publication founded by longtime Milwaukee journalist Dan Shafer. The Recombobulation Area is now part of Civic Media.

Robin Vos announces he’ll be retiring at the end of his term in a Feb. 19 speech. Screenshot via Wisconsin Eye.

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Over the last 15 years, the most consequential politician in the state of Wisconsin has been Robin Vos. In an Assembly floor speech on the afternoon of Thursday, Feb. 19, he announced he will not be seeking re-election in November, retiring from the Assembly at the end of his term.

For the good people of Wisconsin, this is true cause for celebration¹.

The enormity of what Vos’ pending retirement means for state politics in Wisconsin cannot be overstated. Vos is the longest-serving Assembly Speaker in state history, and his tenure has spanned two multi-term governors, a time of tremendous political upheaval in the state. Pull any thread — be it in the Walker years of trifecta Republican control, or in the Evers era of divided government — and you’ll find your way back to Robin Vos.

That is not a compliment. The era he’s presided over has been destructive and damaging for Wisconsin, and he’s been at the heart of it all. Wisconsin is unequivocally worse off for his years of leadership in the state. His calculating, power-consolidation-at-all-costs approach has held the state back time and time again. His clear disdain for his opposition, lacking even a baseline level of respect, is abhorrent. The way he’s deployed a politics of dismissive cruelty to blue cities like Milwaukee has been repulsive. His stubborn refusal to act at a moment of genuine crisis in 2020 was cataclysmic, and is one of endless examples when he’s put politics over people. He’s been a singular force against good governance throughout his time as Assembly Speaker. The way he operates is the antithesis of everything politics should be.