State Senator Dave Hansen (D-Green Bay) will not seek reelection this fall. Hansen was first elected to represent the Green Bay-area 30th District in 2000.
The 72-year-old Democrat announced his retirement on Thursday.
“On December 18th I turned 72. And as much as it has become a cliché in politics, I truly am retiring to spend more time with my family. I have no fears about my chances for reelection having survived an attempted recall in 2011 and winning handily in a district that Republicans told me they gerrymandered specifically to defeat me. I believe had I chosen to run again I would win.
But as anyone who knows me will tell you, Jane and my family are the most important people in the world to me and it is important to me that I spend more time with them at this stage of our lives.”
Hansen, a Green Bay native, won reelection in 2016 with 51.3 percent of the vote. Republicans, who already hold a 19-14 majority in the state Senate, are looking to pick up additional seats. Hansen’s term ends in January of 2021.