Madison, WI – The State Legislature passed 2023 Senate Joint Resolution 21 (SJR 21), a call on the governor to hold a special election to elect someone to serve as Secretary of State. Pursuant to Wis. Stat. 8.50(4)(c), the governor has the authority to call a special election to fill this vacancy. State Sen. Duey Stroebel (R – Cedarburg) issued the following statement:
“Evers appointed former State Treasurer and unsuccessful U.S. Senate candidate Sarah Godlewski to serve the remainder of outgoing Doug La Follette’s term. La Follette’s retirement conveniently comes just three months into a four-year term after his November re-election.”
“Evers’ action deliberately bypassed the democratic process after he hand-picked a Democrat colleague to serve out the remainder of the term. Because the Secretary of State is an elected position, voters should have the opportunity to vote for their preferred candidate for the position. However, Evers clearly has an ulterior motive: remove voter’s ability to elect a new Secretary of State after a very close election this past November.”
“While this shouldn’t be a partisan issue, SJR 21 passed both the Senate and Assembly with no Democrats voting in favor of the resolution.”
Sen. Duey Stroebel represents the 20th Senate District which includes portions of Ozaukee, Washington, Fond du Lac, Sheboygan and Calumet counties.
