Wisconsin’s longtime Democratic Secretary of State Doug La Follette abruptly resigned on Friday, saying he was leaving three months into his 11th consecutive term “to focus on my personal needs” after watching the office be stripped of its power over the past 50 years.
Gov. Tony Evers appointed former Treasurer Sarah Godlewski, who ran unsuccessfully for U.S. Senate last year, to fill out the four-year term. Wisconsin’s secretary of state has not been in charge of elections since 1974 and has almost no official duties.
“After many years of frustration, I’ve decided that I don’t want to spend the next three and a half years trying to run an office without adequate resources and staffing levels,” the 82-year-old La Follette said in his resignation letter.
He did not immediately return a telephone message left seeking comment.
Republican Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu called on Evers to hold a special election, saying the appointment of Godlewski was “an insult to voters of Wisconsin and our democratic process.”