Scott Walker Lost His Senate Majority Today

The Scott Walker family

No one expected Wausau's right-wing state Senator Pam Galloway to be in the Senate next year, but that's because she would have been likely to lose her recall in June. But she won't have to worry about any recalls. Yesterday she suddenly resigned from the legislature, citing “multiple, sudden and serious health issues” in her family.

Galloway’s resignation will create an even split in the state Senate, with 16 members each for Democrats and Republicans.

Galloway was elected in Nov. 2010, defeating incumbent state Sen. Russ Decker, D-Weston, joining a national and statewide Republican wave.

During her time in the Senate, Galloway championed legislation allowing gun owners to carry concealed weapons in Wisconsin.

The Senate will now have two co-leaders, Fitzgerald and Minority Leader Mark Miller. Remember, a year ago Republicans had a 19-14 majority in the Senate, which was reduced to 17-16 after two of them were recalled in August. The recall can't be stopped at this time because the signatures have already been submitted. State Reps. Jerry Petrowski and Mary Williams are the two most likely Republicans to run and Rep. Donna Seidel is the Democrat in the race. There are three other Republican senators up for recall: Scott Fitzgerald (who's being opposed by Blue America fave Lori Compas), Terry Moulton of Chippewa Falls and Van Wanggaard of Racine. Although Mike Ellis will still be Senate president, the committee that controls the agenda, which now has 2 Democrats and 3 Democrats will get a third Dem, Julie Lassa of Stevens Point.

Democratic Party of Wisconsin Chair Mike Tate explained how this will hurt the one percent agenda being pushed by Scott Walker. "For more than a year, Wisconsin has been subject to job loss, division and rollbacks of historic freedoms. Scott Walker's agenda has been disastrous for our state, and it has been enabled by lapdogs in the Legislature... Some 29,000 people in Pam Galloway's district, after all, had asked for her to be recalled. No matter whether this resignation was an attempt at avoiding accountability, today's developments are welcome relief to people who want Wisconsin to be Wisconsin again."

Tate also had something else to say about Walker's one-percent agenda. From the time Walker got into office, Wisconsin lost 12,500 jobs, even as the nation as a whole added jobs for 17 straight months. "We have never led the nation in job loss and today we have evidence that Scott Walker has led Wisconsin to this ignominious mark. Whether it's failed leadership on mining legislation, destroying high-tech industries, salting the earth for vocational training, cutting spending on 21st Century education or turning his back on infrastructure investment, Scott Walker has shown the nation how NOT to create jobs. This shameful fact is one more reason he must be replaced."