Assembly Democrats elect Greta Neubauer as leader, moving to younger members to lead caucus
MADISON – Assembly Democrats elected Rep. Greta Neubauer as their leader Monday after Rep. Gordon Hintz decided last week to give up the post.
They also selected Rep. Kalan Haywood as their assistant leader after Rep. Jimmy Anderson dropped out of the race because he said many of his colleagues had questioned whether his disability would hamper whether he could do the job. Anderson is paralyzed from the chest down and uses a wheelchair.
Deep in the minority, Assembly Democrats chose young colleagues to lead them. Neubauer, of Racine, is 30 and Haywood, of Milwaukee, is 22.
Hintz, of Oshkosh, began leading the Assembly Democrats in 2017. He announced last week he was stepping down from the post but not his Assembly seat. He said he would decide later whether to seek re-election next year.
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Soon after, Rep. Dianne Hesselbein of Middleton announced she was leaving her position as assistant minority leader so she could concentrate on her run for state Senate.
That meant the top two positions in the caucus were open, and Democrats met in the Capitol on Monday to fill them.
Neubauer was unopposed and her colleagues quickly rallied behind her.
Four members were nominated for assistant minority leader. Before the vote, Anderson, of Fitchburg, dropped out of the race, telling his colleagues in a speech that many of them had asked him whether he was capable of doing the job because of his disability.
"Many of you broke my heart this weekend," Anderson told them.
Anderson had a high-profile dispute in 2019 with Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, over what accommodations the Assembly would provide him. Anderson noted he prevailed and said that victory showed he could achieve the goals the Democrats set.
"I think I can safely say I'm the only person in this room who got Robin Vos to do something that he did not want to do," Anderson said.
Anderson said his fellow Democrats asked him about his health rather than his accomplishments. Their response prompted him to decide to withdraw from the leadership race, he said.
"During these calls that I was having with you all, there were insinuations that I was putting my own hubris, my own desires, ahead of what I was capable of doing — instead of trusting me to know what my limitations were," he said.
Anderson was paralyzed on his 24th birthday in 2010 when a drunken driver crashed into the vehicle he and his family were riding in. His parents and 14-year-old brother died in the accident.
Contact Patrick Marley at patrick.marley@jrn.com. Follow him on Twitter at @patrickdmarley.
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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Assembly Democrats elect Rep. Greta Neubauer as leader
