News that Sen. Devin LeMahieu won’t seek reelection means a new governor, Assembly speaker and Senate majority leader will rule Wisconsin’s Capitol for the first time in 16 years come January.

LeMahieu, 53, will remain in his leadership position through the remainder of the 2025-26 session, his office said yesterday.

“I am looking forward to spending more time with my wife in our new Madison-area home and, for the first time since 2006, rooting for bold conservative reform from the sidelines,” said the Oostburg Republican, who purchased a home in Fitchburg in November.

His decision comes a month after Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, announced he wouldn’t seek reelection after nearly 22 years in the chamber and almost 14 as its top leader, a record. Dem Gov. Tony Evers, meanwhile, announced in July that he wouldn’t seek another term.

The last time all three leadership positions turned over was following the 2010 elections, when Scott Walker won an open race for governor and Republicans flipped both chambers of the Legislature in a GOP wave. The current legislative leadership structure came into usage in the 1960s, and the Legislative Reference Bureau couldn’t find an example since then of all three leaders deciding against seeking reelection in the same year.

Evers said he enjoyed working with LeMahieu “and his quiet and polite but frank approach to our work together. While we haven’t always seen eye to eye on every issue all of the time, I’ve never doubted his commitment to doing what he believes is best for the folks and families in Sheboygan County and across our state.”

Vos in a statement praised LeMahieu, saying, “I have always said that being Senate Majority Leader is the hardest job in the Capitol but Devin approached each challenge deliberately and with the goal to move our state forward.”

LeMahieu has been criticized by some in his 18-member caucus for putting bills on the floor that lacked 17 GOP votes, requiring Dem support to pass. Sen. Chris Kapenga, R-Delafield, on Sunday’s “UpFront” show said LeMahieu could face a leadership challenge if he put on the floor legislation to allow online gaming and one to provide UW-Madison state money to free up funds to pay athletes. 

The online gaming bill was backed by nine of the chamber’s 18 Republicans, while 11 supported the NIL bill.

According to the Legislative Reference Bureau, 10 bills cleared the 33-member Senate this session with fewer than 17 GOP votes, including the state budget.

Four such bills cleared the chamber in the 2023-24 session. A spreadsheet LRB prepared for LeMahieu’s office showed dozens of examples of bills going back to 2003 that were approved by the Senate with fewer than 17 votes.

The only session without one was 2021-22, LeMahieu’s first session as leader.

Kapenga dropped out of the race for Senate president following the 2023-24 session after Mary Felzkowski, R-Tomahawk, announced plans to seek the post. He had several clashes with LeMahieu while in that post and wrote in a text message to WisPolitics that he was “excited for new, principled Republican leadership. 

“It takes hard work and good communication to build consensus. And when your caucus isn’t unified, it’s easy to stray from your core values,” said Kapenga, who plans to seek reelection this fall. “You see that in the increasing number of bills prioritizing special interests over taxpayers and the votes requiring Democrats for passage.”

LeMahieu, first elected to the Senate in 2014, is the fourth GOP member of the state Senate to decide against seeking reelection this fall. The others are: Rob Hutton, of Brookfield; Steve Nass, of Whitewater; and Van Wanggaard, of Racine.

The next GOP leader will be only the third for Senate Republicans since 2007, when Scott Fitzgerald took over. He served in the role until he ran for Congress in 2020 and was succeeded by LeMahieu as leader.