Committee assignments in both houses of the legislature continue to trickle out and the Assembly Housing and Real Estate Committee will again be led by Representative John Murtha (R-Baldwin).

Murtha has been a longtime partner with WBA since his election to the State Assembly in 2006 and since he was named Housing Committee Chair in 2009.  We are looking forward to again working with Representative Murtha on the housing committee this session.

This session a freshman legislator has again been selected to be the Assembly Housing and Real Estate vice-chair with Representative-Elect Joe Sanfelippo (R-West Allis) getting the nod this session.  Last session freshman Representative Michelle Litjens (R-Oshkosh) was the vice-chair of the committee and likely would have continued to serve on the committee had she not selected to not run for reelection in 2012.

Sanfelippo is the founder and former owner of Sanfelippo Environmental Landscaping which employed over 60 people and performed landscape construction and maintenance on residential, commercial and municipal projects. Representative-Elect Sanfelippo sold the landscaping business in 2005 after 19 years.

Three additional GOP members and two Democrat members still need to be named to the committee in the coming weeks.  We are hopeful that Representative Leon D. Young (D-Milwaukee) will return as the ranking Democrat on the committee for 2013-2014.

In the state senate it was announced that State Senator Frank Lasee (R-De Pere) would again chair the Senate Committee on Insurance and Housing and would be joined by GOP members Olsen (R-Ripon) and Schultz (R-Richland Center).

Full committee assignments by the Democrats and Republicans in both houses are expected before January 1.

As expected the State Senate returned to GOP control yesterday with victories in senate districts 12 and 18.  The GOP will return to the majority in the State Senate with an 18-15 margin, which was the goal for this election cycle.

As many on both sides of the aisle predicted State Senator Tom Tiffany (R-Hazlehurst) handily bested democrat Susan Sommer 56 to 40%.  In his third run for the seat Tiffany had a strong showing in the open state senate seat in northeastern Wisconsin that was being vacated by the retirement of Senator Jim Holperin (D-Conover).  The seat that the GOP has coveted for the last two decades finally flipped in their favor.  Tom Tiffany has been a stalwart on Builder issues dealing with wetland, regulation and administrative rule reform and will be a welcome addition to the “housing caucus” in the senate.

Most of this summer and fall all eyes were on the 18th Senate District where Senator Jess King (D-Oshkosh) was challenged by Fond du Lac City Council President Rick Gudex (R-Fond du Lac).  King took out Senator Randy Hopper (R-Fond du Lac) in a recall election in the summer of 2011 after Hopper defeated her in the general election of 2008.

In this historically GOP seat the conventional wisdom played out at the polls with the district returning back to its GOP roots with Gudex besting King by just under 600 votes in a closer than expected race at the end. 

The third race that was on both parties radar screen was the 30th Senate District where State Senator Dave Hansen (D-Green Bay) survived a challenge by first time candidate John Macco (R-De Pere) 54% to 46%.  The GOP continues to target Senator Hansen every four years and to date he has always been able to return with a pretty strong showing each election cycle.

Even the most diehard, dedicated partisans on both sides of the political aisle are ready for the election to be over.  I think the previous statement goes double for anyone living in Wisconsin after what has been close to a two-year election cycle since November 2010. 

Since the general election two years ago we’ve been inundated with political races here in Wisconsin. We have had a contentious statewide Wisconsin Supreme Court race (Prosser vs. Kloppenburg) and nine state Senate recall elections in 2011, and this year  we’ve experienced a GOP primary race for President, four more state Senate recall elections, Governor Walker’s recall election and a spirited GOP primary for the U.S. Senate.

Four more days and the mailings and door hangers – along with the radio and television ads – will turn back to selling consumer products and not a candidate for elected office.

Both political parties and WBA have been encouraging people to vote early in the two weeks leading up to the election on next week.  In-person absentee voting comes to a close this afternoon so you still have time to vote via that route if you choose.

We encourage everyone who has not early voted to get to the polls on Tuesday, November 6, and cast your ballot.

You may remember that WBA has endorsed both the Romney-Ryan ticket for President and Tommy Thompson for U.S. Senate. We encourage you to consider those choices as well in this all-important election.

Not so long ago it was called “absentee voting” and you technically had to have an excuse as to why you were not able to vote in person on Election Day.  Now it is called “early voting” and all you need to do is show up at your local municipality during the times they are open to the public to vote.

The theory, for both political parties, is to get votes “in the bag” as soon as early voting begins so those can be counted on in advance of the election. 

In addition to early voting, people are also encouraged to vote by mail for the same reason, getting those votes locked down well before the election.  In past election cycles, the GOP has focused more on voting by mail while the Democrats have traditionally concentrated more on getting supporters to vote early and have spent a lot of time rounding up supporters on Election Day and driving them directly to the polls to vote.

So, if you have made up your mind and want make sure your vote is in the bag for the candidates you support, you should contact your local municipality to see when you can swing by and early vote this fall.

Most pundits said the majority in the state senate would ultimately be decided in the 21^st Senate District which featured a “do over” from 2010 where current State Senator Van Wanggaard was facing former State Senator John Lehman.  Those pundits were right on.  The other three state senate seats stayed Republican while it appears that Wanggaard was defeated by Lehman by just under 800 votes.

As of this morning, Lehman leads Wanggaard by 779 votes to be exact and Lehman has claimed victory while Wanggaard has yet to concede the race.  It looks like the GOP is taking a look at the returns and will make a determination to request a recount of the results at some point very soon.

If the Lehman victory holds, and with a 779 vote lead that is very likely, the senate majority will flip to the Democrats 17-16 for the time being.  The legislature is adjourned for the time being so it is unlikely the body will meet until January 2013 after the fall general election.

All of the focus is now on two key races this fall that will likely again determine the majority in the state senate.  District 12 in northeastern Wisconsin, which has been a GOP target for the past 20 years, is the most likely target that the GOP has to take back the senate.

Senate District 18, represented by former Senator Randy Hopper before his recall defeat in 2011 and currently held by Senator Jessica King, will be another hotly contested race this fall.  Before King’s win, the 18^th Senate District had been represented by Senator Carol Roessler (R-Oshkosh) since the 1980’s and has traditionally been a GOP seat.