What to know about Robin Vos, his businesses, role as Speaker, relationship with Trump and more
MADISON — Assembly Speaker Robin Vos is one of the most prominent and powerful Republicans in Wisconsin, from organizing lawmakers on conservative priorities to determining committee assignments. Here's what to know about the Republican from Rochester.
Who is Robin Vos?
Robin Vos is the speaker of the Wisconsin Assembly, the lower house in the state Legislature. He was first elected to the Assembly in 2004.
Vos is from Burlington and graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, where he served as a student representative to the UW Board of Regents. Before being elected to the Assembly, he worked as a legislative assistant, was a district director for a congressman and served on the Racine County Board.
Vos recently returned as the president of the National Conference of State Legislatures, a bipartisan organization that provides research and assistance to state lawmakers and their staff.
What businesses does Robin Vos own?
Vos owns several small businesses, according to his legislative biography. Those include a popcorn factory in Burlington, which has expanded into a food packaging company. He also owns a car wash in Union Grove and rental properties in Whitewater. He previously owned Knights Popcorn in Milwaukee.
What district does Robin Vos represent in Wisconsin?
Vos represents the 63rd Assembly District, which takes up most of the southern part of Racine County. The district includes the communities of Rochester, Burlington, Yorkville, Dover, Union Grove, Mount Pleasant and Sturtevant.
What is the role of the Assembly Speaker?
As speaker, Vos guides the Assembly's activities, including determining what bills are taken up during floor sessions, assigning lawmakers to certain committees, and making staffing and budget decisions for the chamber.
Vos is also the presiding officer of the Assembly, meaning he addresses lawmakers on the floor and members must direct their speeches to him.
Vos is the longest-serving Assembly speaker in state history. He was first chosen by Assembly members for the role in 2013, making him the 75th person to hold the position.
The Assembly speaker is the only lawmaker who receives more than the $57,408 salary each member earns, plus per diem expenses. Vos receives an additional stipend of $25 per month, according to the Legislative Reference Bureau.
Does Robin Vos plan to run for another office?
Vos, 55, has said he does not plan to seek another office, such as running for governor or a seat in Congress. When interviewed by POLITICO for a 2021 profile, he said he was "at peace" with saying his current seat is the last elected position he would hold.
Vos' former counterpart in the Senate, Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald of Juneau, clinched a U.S. House of Representatives seat in 2020. Fitzgerald's leadership role in the state Senate is now filled by Sen. Devin LeMahieu, R-Oostburg.
Vos has won his Assembly seat — which is up every two years — by large margins. Last November, he won with 73% of the vote, despite facing a primary, and later write-in, challenger. In 2020 and 2018, he won by 17 percentage points and 22 percentage points.
What is Robin Vos’ relationship with Gov. Tony Evers?
Vos and other Republican leaders' relationship with Democratic Gov. Tony Evers has long been strained, from making decisions about spending federal government aid during the COVID-19 pandemic to addressing the state's workforce and child care challenges.
Vos — along other GOP leaders — and Evers frequently say they go weeks or months without talking to each other.
More: Republican leaders secretly recorded by Gov. Tony Evers' staff, infuriating GOP lawmakers
Still, Vos and his GOP colleagues have found some areas of compromise with the governor, especially when they want to avoid vetoes of major legislation.
This summer, the Republican-controlled Legislature approved a deal to avoid a fiscal crisis in Milwaukee and boost shared revenue for other counties and municipalities. In turn, Evers signed funding boosts for private voucher schools into law.
What has Donald Trump said about Robin Vos?
Former President Donald Trump and his supporters who falsely assert that he won Wisconsin's presidential contest in 2020 previously criticized Vos for not doing more to investigate their claims of voter fraud.
"Don't fall for their lies! These REPUBLICAN 'leaders' need to step up and support the people who elected them by providing them a full forensic investigation," Trump said of Vos and state Senate leaders.
Vos said Trump was misinformed and quickly announced he had hired former state Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman to perform a taxpayer-funded review of the election. He flew in a private plane with Trump to an Alabama rally two months later and said he shared details about the investigation with the former president.
Vos fired Gableman about a year later, and his investigation turned up no evidence of significant fraud — the same conclusion from recounts, court rulings and an audit from a conservative group. The review's nearly $2.5 million cost includes legal fees associated with ongoing lawsuits to release records from the investigation.
Has Robin Vos ever faced a primary challenge?
In 2022, Vos narrowly survived a primary challenge backed by Trump, which symbolized tensions within the state Republican base over false election claims. Some in the state party called on him to resign from his leadership position after he disciplined former Rep. Timothy Ramthun, at the time one of the Legislature's most vocal election deniers.
In his statement endorsing Vos' challenger Adam Steen, Trump called Vos a "RINO" — a term used by conservatives to admonish a "Republican in name only."
In the primary, Vos won by fewer than 300 votes over Steen. In the general election, Steen received 2,112 write-in votes — about 9%, compared to Vos' 73%.
More: 'Sore loser' bill bars candidates who falter in primaries to run write-in campaigns
What issues is Vos focused on?
With Gableman and false election claims largely in his rearview, Vos' focus has been pushing GOP tax cut proposals, probing grounds for impeaching new liberal state Supreme Court Justice Janet Protasiewicz and backing a Republican effort to implement nonpartisan redistricting after opposing the idea for years.
One of Vos' top priorities this summer was curbing diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, especially in the state's higher education system. He is poised to block pay raises for 41,000 UW System employees if his demands to dismantle the offices are not met.
Vos has a powerful role within his party's caucus and can build consensus on issues like medical marijuana, which he has said more Republicans are beginning to support.
What has Robin Vos said about impeaching Janet Protasiewicz?
Shortly after Janet Protasiewicz was sworn in as a Wisconsin Supreme Court justice in August Vos warned that she could face impeachment proceedings if she didn't recuse herself from lawsuits challenging the state's legislative boundaries. Republicans say comments she made during her election campaign that the election maps are "rigged" indicated she had "prejudged" the issue.
Vos later softened his tone on impeachment when he released a bill to change the redistricting process in Wisconsin. After Democratic Gov. Tony Evers signaled his opposition to the bill, Vos responded that he was consulting with former state Supreme Court justices on the idea of impeaching Protasiewicz.
How do I contact Robin Vos?
The phone number for Vos' legislative office is (608) 237-9163 and his email is [email protected].
Vos' official Twitter handle is @SpeakerVos and his personal account is @repvos.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: What to know about Robin Vos, longest-serving Wisconsin Speaker