Wisconsin Assembly Speaker Robin Vos to retire after longest tenure in state history

wpr.org · Feb 20, 2026 · Collected from GDELT

Full Article

The powerful speaker of the state Assembly, who shaped the GOP’s agenda in Wisconsin for the better part of two decades, announced Thursday he won’t seek reelection, marking the end of an era in state government and Republican politics. Robin Vos, 57, is the longest-serving speaker in Wisconsin history, having served in that job for 13 years. In that position, he’s dealt with two governors — one Republican and one Democrat — and several legislative leaders. Depending on the circumstances, they each got to know Vos as a partner, adversary, dealmaker or general thorn in the side. There had been widespread speculation about the powerful speaker’s plans since the current legislative session began. He told his colleagues Thursday he reached his decision last November when he had a mild heart attack. News with a little more humanity WPR’s “Wisconsin Today” newsletter keeps you connected to the state you love without feeling overwhelmed. No paywall. No agenda. No corporate filter. “Luckily, my doctors say I am perfectly fine, but I do need to reduce my stress,” Vos said. “And let me tell you, this job is stressful.” There were audible gasps in the chamber when Vos shared his news, and many of his GOP colleagues were wiping away tears. Vos himself became choked up as he talked about what the job had meant to him, and how he’d miss it. “I am struck by how much this work has shaped me, how honored I am to have played a small part in democracy, and how proud I am that the state of our Legislature is strong,” Vos said, his voice wavering. The speaker said he would serve out the remainder of his term until a new class of legislators is sworn in next January. Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, announces he will not seek another term in office on the floor of the Wisconsin State Assembly on Thursday, Feb. 19. Vos is the longest-serving Assembly speaker in Wisconsin history, serving in that role since 2013. Anya van Wagtendonk/WPR Vos’ rise to power coincided with the Republican takeover of state government, after they flipped control of the Assembly, Senate and governor’s office in the 2010 election. While Republican Gov. Scott Walker grabbed the national spotlight that year with his push to break up public employee unions, it was Vos, with his penchant for details, who handled much of the heavy lifting. Vos co-chaired the Legislature’s powerful Joint Finance Committee in 2011, which hammered out the details on many Walker initiatives, including the collective bargaining law now known as Act 10. He was also instrumental in that year’s round of redistricting, when Republicans drew legislative maps that cemented the power they hold to this day. Vos was elected speaker in 2013, the first session after the new maps took effect. The Assembly GOP majority grew to 64-35 by 2017, just shy of a supermajority. There were moments in Walker’s second term when he and Vos were openly at odds. During the 2017 budget debate, for example, Vos made an aggressive push for more road funding against Walker’s wishes. When a handful of Senate Republicans cut a deal with the governor to go against Vos, the speaker accused Walker of “negotiat(ing) with terrorists.” Wisconsin Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, left, and Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald tell reporters that Republicans who control the Legislature are working together on a variety of tax cuts, Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2020, in Madison, Wisconsin. Vos and Fitzgerald spoke after appearing at a Wisconsin Counties Association event. Scott Bauer/AP Photo Some of the speaker’s most brutal fights played out against members of his own party. He was an early critic of President Donald Trump for the way Trump criticized U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan of Janesville. He also criticized the way Trump fired former White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus, who was Vos’s college roommate. After the 2020 election, Vos himself felt the ire of Trump, who lashed out at the speaker repeatedly. Trump chastised Vos for not doing more to overturn Trump’s 2020 loss in Wisconsin, prompting Vos to hire former Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman to investigate the election. After that costly investigation that turned up no evidence of widespread fraud, Vos fired the ex-justice, saying that hiring Gableman had been “the single biggest embarrassment that I have ever had.” Wisconsin Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos tells reporters after a meeting with advocates for decertifying the 2020 election won by President Joe Biden, that his mind was not changed and that it is impossible to undo Biden’s win on Wednesday, March 16, 2022, in Madison, Wis. Scott Bauer/AP Photo Trump, Gableman, and other conservative critics backed a 2022 effort to recall Vos from office, with Trump himself campaigning against the speaker at a rally in Wisconsin that year. Vos narrowly prevailed, was reelected speaker, and proclaimed after the midterm election that the party should move on from Trump. After another group of Vos critics launched a second, failed recall in 2024, Vos lashed out at them, calling the organizers “whack jobs,” “morons” and “fraudsters” who had waged their campaign in the name of “grift.” Still, for all the heat he took from Trump and a handful of outspoken conservatives, Vos was widely viewed as the chief architect of the Republican message in Wisconsin, and the chief nemesis of the left. When Democratic Gov. Tony Evers was elected in 2018, Vos passed legislation in a lame duck session that increased the power of the Legislature and undercut the governor. A 2021 Politico profile dubbed Vos Wisconsin’s “shadow governor,” saying he had “used his GOP majority to block, thwart or resist nearly every significant move” by Evers. Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, right, stands next to U.S. Rep. Bryan Steil, left, during the 1st District GOP Fall Fest on Saturday, Sept. 24, 2022, at the Racine County Fairgrounds in Union Grove, Wis. Angela Major/WPR But Vos and Evers cut numerous deals, passing bipartisan budgets, a sweeping overhaul of local government funding, a bill to keep the Milwaukee Brewers in Wisconsin and — in a surprising twist — new, competitive legislative maps. Even under those maps, in 2024 Vos’s Assembly Republicans won a 54-46 majority, preserving Republican power in Madison. In a written statement, Evers, who is also retiring and will leave office at the same time next January, said he was glad to have served as governor during Vos’s tenure, despite their frequent disagreements. “I respect his candor, his ability to navigate complex policies and conversations, and his unrivaled passion for politics,” Evers said. “Robin’s one-of-a-kind, so I wish whoever becomes the next Assembly Speaker well. They’ll no doubt have their work cut out for them.” Assembly Speaker Robin Vos watches as Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers speaks during the annual State of the State address Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2023, in Madison, Wis. Morry Gash/AP Photo Vos’s pending departure comes at a time when Republicans could be facing their most difficult election cycle in decades. By all outward appearances, he’s remained active in running Assembly Republicans’ campaign arm, which had vastly outraised Assembly Democrats in the early going of the election cycle. His retirement announcement came at the start of what could be the last day of the Assembly’s session, largely due to a deadline imposed by Vos. With hours of debate ahead, he told colleagues that he hoped they’d remember the Legislature was not designed to be convenient. “It’s meant to be independent and it’s meant to be strong,” Vos said. “If this institution remains strong, Wisconsin will remain strong.” Wisconsin Public Radio, © Copyright 2026, Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System and Wisconsin Educational Communications Board.