Rep. Keith Ripp (left), Sen. Frank Lasee (right)
A pair of state lawmakers are leaving the Legislature to take jobs with Governor Scott Walker’s administration.
The Department of Workforce Development announced Friday that the state Senator Frank Lasee (R-De Pere) is joining the agency as the new administrator of the Division of Worker’s Compensation. State Representative Keith Ripp (R-Lodi) is leaving the Assembly to become the Assistant Deputy Secretary of the Department of Agriculture, Trade, and Consumer Protection.
Lasee, who represents the state’s First Senate District in northeastern Wisconsin, has been in and out of the Legislature since 1994. He served as a state representative from 1996-2006, then was first elected to the Senate in 2010.
Ripp represents the state’s 42nd Assembly District, a largely rural district just northeast of Madison. He was first elected to the Assembly in 2008.
Both lawmakers were up for reelection next year. A spokesman for the governor said no special elections will be called to fill the vacant seats, which means they will remain empty until after the November 2018 election.