Senate GOP leaders have fired Chief Clerk Linsay Hale after 10 months on the job, with Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu only saying she didn’t have enough support in his caucus to continue in the role.
Hale, the first woman to serve as Senate chief clerk, was appointed to the position in January and officially took over the role in February. The appointment was subject to a vote by the full Senate, which had yet to vote whether to confirm Hale.
“After deliberation, it was clear that interim-Chief Clerk Hale did not have the commensurate support in the Senate Republican caucus to continue in her role,” LeMahieu said in a statement to WisPolitics yesterday without detailing why.
Minority Leader Dianne Hesselbein, D-Middleton, said she was told of the decision Tuesday afternoon, but wasn’t given a reason.
“This was a decision made without my knowledge or consent,” Hesselbein said in a statement. “I am really disappointed that once again, Senate Republicans are firing a highly-qualified professional from their post for no good reason, at least none that was communicated to me.”
Prior to her appointment, Hale had worked in various positions in Oregon’s state government. She is a native of Wadsworth, Ill., who graduated from college in Portland before beginning government work in 2005, according to the chief clerk’s office. That includes administrative positions with the state Department of Corrections and later with the Oregon Government Ethics Commission.
She later went to work for the Oregon Department of Public Safety Standards and Training, eventually becoming the director of Professional Standards, working with a 24-member board to carry out policies affecting public safety providers.
She was hired after Mike Queensland resigned from the position in September 2023. That followed Senate leaders putting him on leave the month before amid an investigation into allegations of sexual assault that were later found to be credible.
In all, Queensland served two years and eight months in the post, while Hale was in the job for 10 months.
Prior to that, Jeff Renk served in the role for nine years, Rob Marchant for nearly eight years and Don Schneider for more than 25 years from his election in 1977 through his retirement in July 2003.
A LeMahieu spokesperson said Rick Champagne, director and general counsel of the Legislative Reference Bureau, will serve as interim chief clerk. He also served in that role after Queensland’s resignation.
