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MADISON, Wis. — Whether a fresh or familiar face to the Wisconsin State Capitol building, all the recently elected lawmakers in both the State Senate and State Assembly were sworn into office Monday as the new legislative session got underway.
That included four new state senators and 30 new state representatives in the Assembly who hadn’t already held elected office.
For newly sworn in State Rep. Angelito Tenorio, a Democrat from West Allis, serving in the legislature isn’t just an honor, it’s history-making too as Wisconsin’s first Filipino American state representative.
“I never saw people who look like me, who look like our community,” Tenorio explained. “Climate change is my top issue and a top issue that I heard from my district as I was knocking on doors. People really care about protecting our environment, making sure that we have a healthy, clean environment for all people from every background.”
Other freshman legislators, including State Rep. Duke Tucker, R-Grantsburg, are getting ready to retire from their regular job.
“When I think about retirement, it’s about service,” Tucker said. “I never really thought about being in politics before, never allowed political signs in my yard, but we’ve got to do a little better job at getting along and getting things done for the people. That’s what drove me to get into politics.”
While there are seven new Republican lawmakers in the Assembly, all the new state senators are Democrats, including Sarah Keyeski of Lodi, who hopes her day job working as a therapist can help.
“I love what I do already, but when I thought about what it means to work, instead [of] just one-on-one with people on my couch, maybe the families that I work with or the couples that I work with, or individuals, I got to do something even more profound; maybe help the legislature do good things for the common people.”
