Madison – This week, the nonpartisan Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau released a memo highlighting the frequency with which each individual member of the Wisconsin State Senate cast a roll call vote with a majority of members of the opposing political party on passage or concurrence of bills during the 2025-2026 legislative session. Of the 33 members, State Senator Sarah Keyeski (D-Lodi) had the second most bipartisan voting record.
Senator Keyeski shared the following statement in response:
“This memo is evidence of what I have promised my district – I will not be a political ‘lemming’ that always votes party line. Instead, as the representative of the 14th Senate District – one of the most purple districts in the state – every time I took a floor vote, I both took a stand for what was right and for what my constituents were asking me to do.
“In order for me to do this, I sometimes had to stray away from what my fellow Democratic colleagues were doing, and I was proud to do so when necessary. Please know that I will continue to be very discerning for every single vote of my career. This is not the ‘easy’ way to do politics, but it is the most principled way for me to represent you.
“With this legislative session coming to an end, I’d like to thank all my constituents for putting their trust in me as their State Senator. While no one will agree with me all of the time, I hope it is clear that I’m working hard to represent the diversity of voices across my district. Since day one, I have said I will work across the aisle and support good policy, regardless of party – and I am happy to show I have done just that.”
Attached is the LRB memo on Senate voting patterns. Below are examples of bills in which Sen. Keyeski broke with Democrats and voted “yes” with the Republican majority this session. This is not a comprehensive list.
Senate Bill 36 (“no tax on tips”) – “relating to an income tax exemption for cash tips paid to an employee.
Senate Bill 176 – “relating to an income and franchise tax exemption for broadband expansion grants and for federal high-cost program funding for broadband expansion.”
Assembly Bill 461 (“no tax on overtime”) – relating to an income tax subtraction for certain overtime compensation.
Senate Bill 622 – “relating to fees related to animal markets, animal dealers, animal truckers, and animal transport vehicles.”
Assembly Bill 673 – “relating to banning the use of genetic software from foreign adversaries in medical and research facilities, the storage of any human genome sequencing data within the borders of a foreign adversary, and providing a penalty.”
