Senate Democrats Could Lose Majority Before November Elections
Despite the Legislature not being in session until January, Democrats hold the majority in the state Senate. Now, that might change without a single ballot being cast in an election.
Just a couple of weeks after securing the majority in the state Senate, Democrats could lose it even before the November elections.
Sen. Tim Cullen (D-Janesville) announced Tuesday he will leave the Democratic caucus and may become an Independent, according to a story from The Wisconsin State Journal.
After Sen. John Lehman (D-Racine) unseated Republican Van Wanggaard in a recall election in the 21st Senate District, Democrats gained the majority in the Senate with a 17-16 sway.
Senate Majority Leader Mark Miller announced committee appointments just hours after Lehman was sworn in on July 16. A Twitter post from Wisconsin Report says that Cullen wasn't happy with Miller for not offering Cullen a chair position on any committees.
"Sen. Tim Cullen leaves Democratic caucus, citing a riff with Sen. Majority Leader Mark Miller, who did not offer Cullen a committee chair," the post reads.
Associated Press reporter Scott Bauer also posted on Twitter, saying that Republican Sen. Rich Zipperer (Pewaukee) is stepping down so even with Cullen's party change, the Democrats still have a majority.
"GOP Sen. Rich Zipperer is leaving Senate next month, so even if Dem Sen. Tim Cullen becomes independent, Dems would have 16-15-1 majority," Bauer posted.
Cullen was one of 14 Democratic senators who left the state last year to try and prevent a vote on what would become Act 10, the budget repair bill.
Brad Wojciechowski of the State Senate Democrats said the committee does not have a comment at this time.
Bren
4:04 pm on Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Tantrum?
atthec44
4:58 pm on Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Tantrum and Wisconsin Democrat seem to go together like peanut butter and jelly.
James R Hoffa
4:43 pm on Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Are there any concrete facts in this 'story,' or is it just pure speculation, gossip, etc?
Heather Asiyanbi
4:46 pm on Tuesday, July 24, 2012
The fact is that Cullen is leaving the Dem caucus and becoming an Independent. What doesn't seem factual about that?
James R Hoffa
4:49 pm on Tuesday, July 24, 2012
@Heather A -
"A Twitter post from Wisconsin Report says that Cullen wasn't happy with Miller for not offering Cullen a chair position on any committees.
"Sen. Tim Cullen leaves Democratic caucus, citing a riff with Sen. Majority Leader Mark Miller, who did not offer Cullen a committee chair," the post reads."
Was the information contained within the Twitter post confirmed with Cullen or his office?
CowDung
9:55 am on Wednesday, July 25, 2012
The story does seem to be reporting Twitter posts rather than confirmed facts. Did Morninmist become a Patch writer or something?
James R Hoffa
12:24 pm on Wednesday, July 25, 2012
@CowDung -
Brilliant association! Thanks for the laugh ;-)
Rees Roberts
3:33 pm on Wednesday, July 25, 2012
Heather's article in fact said " A Twitter post from Wisconsin Report says that Cullen wasn't happy with Miller for not offering Cullen a chair position on any committees." Notice the words "Wisconsin Report. This was reported correctly. I hate to kill your humor at Heather's expense but please understand this came from the following source:
"Wisconsin Reporter @wisconsinreport
An online news organization covering Wisconsin state politics and government. We follow back! Like us-- http://www.facebook.com/WisconsinReport
http://www.wisconsinreporter.com/";
Rees Roberts
3:48 pm on Wednesday, July 25, 2012
I did a Twitter search and found the exact one:
Wisconsin Reporter (@wisconsinreport)
7/24/12 3:25 PM
Sen. Tim Cullen leaves Democratic caucus, citing a riff with Sen. Majority Leader Mark Miller, who did not offer Cullen a committee chair
James R Hoffa
4:04 pm on Wednesday, July 25, 2012
@Rees:
Actually, the humor was at morninmist's expense, but was done in good faith and with a light heart.
Straight From Cullen:
"As of the sending of this email, I am no longer a member of the Senate Democratic Caucus. I will decide over the next few days or weeks whether to become an Independent. I will not become a Republican."
So, he's no longer a part of the Democratic Caucus, but still a Democrat as he's not yet an Independent. How exactly does that work?
And the Dems have the nerve to complain about Romney's status at Bain!
Greg
4:16 pm on Wednesday, July 25, 2012
Is that like being a little pregnant?
Rees Roberts
4:28 pm on Wednesday, July 25, 2012
Alias Hoffa
Who is morninmist? I see no reference to this name except when it was said by Alias CowDung. So how can it be at morninmist expense. The humor was about Heather's alledged lack of proper reporting of the story according to Cowdung's comment. Please enlighten me. Thanks.
Steve ®
4:34 pm on Wednesday, July 25, 2012
Rees - http://whitefishbay.patch.com/users/morninmist
Greg
4:44 pm on Wednesday, July 25, 2012
Morninmist is like Beetlejuice, never say it 3 times in a row, you will end up in hell's waiting room.
James R Hoffa
4:52 pm on Wednesday, July 25, 2012
@Rees -
morninmist is a regular Patch commentator, or at least he/she used to be a frequent commentator up until the June 5th recall election, that consistently re-posts anti- Walker / Republican / conservative tweets and blogs on the Patch boards. Rarely has morninmist ever posted any original commentary of his/her own, instead choosing to perpetuate the party line propaganda, rhetoric, and talking points. morninmist also has a tendency to call those who don't agree with the Democratic Party line juvenile names.
Steve ® has provided a link to morninmist's Patch user account so that you can review his/her postings and judge Hoffa's assessment of such for yourself.
I hope that this information has enlightened you!
Steve ®
4:45 pm on Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Can we play musical chairs again and waste more taxpayer money and time?
http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/senate-democrats-push-republicans-out-of-best-capitol-space-lc66e0i-163100686.html
Jay Sykes
4:54 pm on Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Vuvuzelas and Bongos at the ready.....
Avenging Angel
4:57 pm on Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Fitzgerald offered him a Chair if he came over to the Republicans.
David Pol
5:27 pm on Tuesday, July 24, 2012
If the Senate is not going to meet until after the elections, does it matter in the slightest?
NObama 2012
5:30 pm on Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Can you blame Cullen? Barry Barack Soetoro Hussein Hopenchange Obama loses in November. Tim Cullen knows that all the millions of corrupt labor union dollars and all the dead voters combined cannot stop the inevitable. November will be a landslide for Republicans and Mitt Romney. Wisconsin and the rest of America has made its judgment of Obama and the Democrat Party. Tim Cullen is reading the tea leaves. Democrats will soon be out of power across the nation.
Steve Ebbie
7:42 am on Wednesday, July 25, 2012
NO,
What are you liike six years old. Still calling people names???
I wonder why kids loose respect for anyone in authority, oh yeah it's because of their juvenile parents that they listen to at home.
Disagree with policy, offer concrete solutions.
Full of rhetoric without any substance. Dead voters???
Get a clue.
ma kettle
7:13 pm on Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Little Boy Mike Tate and his Walmart golf shirts with Graham 'crazy eyez' Crackers are the reason the Democrats in Wisconsin will never see a majority.
Greg
9:42 pm on Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Dale Schultz and Tim Cullen are joined at the hip. Schultz held the Republican Senate hostage and Cullen is trying to do the same to the Democrats. Voting purely on party lines has given these two goofs too much power.
Shorelander
10:34 pm on Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Why is the headline "Senate Democrats Could Lose Majority Before November Elections" .. ?
If you read the article, the answer is no, Democrats could NOT lose majority before November, since Zipperer's departure is certain.
AWD
6:19 am on Wednesday, July 25, 2012
Zipperer's departure is NOT certain as reported yesterday.
Walker
7:18 am on Wednesday, July 25, 2012
"Associated Press reporter Scott Bauer also posted on Twitter, saying that Republican Sen. Rich Zipperer (Pewaukee) is stepping down . . . ."
Dale
9:05 am on Wednesday, July 25, 2012
Tim Cullen is truly one of the most thoughtful people in the Assembly. Why he ever left the state with the fleeing, ignorant, nauseous Dem's is beyound reasonable logic. He will be a competent independent.
Greg
11:47 am on Wednesday, July 25, 2012
How would the Senate control work if it was 16-16-1? I know there is a thing called google, but I thought this may be an interesting subject.
James R Hoffa
4:39 pm on Wednesday, July 25, 2012
If it works like the US Senate, wouldn't the Lt. Governor constitute the tie-breaker?
Good question and I'm not quite sure.
Research is required.
Todd Marohl
12:08 pm on Wednesday, July 25, 2012
To me this reflects poorly on the leadership of the Democratic Party. Tim Cullen, while a fleebagger, has proven he can work both sides of the aisle. Mark Miller on the other hand, has always come off to me as an incoherent dufus! He couldn't even make a point when he was on television every night from his hideout in Illinois. He had to have Lena Taylor, Chris Larson, and others speak because he wasn't even capable of blurting out a coherent sentence.
C. Sanders
1:18 pm on Wednesday, July 25, 2012
Cullen remains an infantile coward. He leaves the party because he doesn't get his way. Not much different than when he left the State because he hadn't gotten his way. Who are the people that vote for this putz?
James R Hoffa
4:02 pm on Wednesday, July 25, 2012
The new motto of the DPW:
If you don't get your way - run away!
Keith Best
4:43 pm on Wednesday, July 25, 2012
If I was a moderate like Cullen I would run away from the far-left extremists the Democrats from Madison have become as well.
SkinnyDude
5:16 pm on Wednesday, July 25, 2012
Clearly Cullen is in a more moderate area and IN his shoes he sees Miller lack of respect as an insult . Which it likely is. He knows that if he is a Independant Alot of things will go through him as a result. The left is going to take a hit in the fall and his status as a Independent will surely make his vote on Marginal legislation a much more valuable one. The majority really has no meaning til after the fall elections anyway. But Cullen put his party on notice and this development is a benefit overall for conservatives.
Gregory Kluck
5:56 pm on Wednesday, July 25, 2012
Who did Miller offer chair positions to? That might be telling.
Greg
9:59 pm on Wednesday, July 25, 2012
I think Spencer Coggs got one, which is interesting because he also holds another full-time position as Milwaukee City Treasurer. Senator Zipperer should take this lead and work in the Governors office and still serve out his term.
Rees Roberts
6:29 am on Thursday, July 26, 2012
It just occurred to me that Tim Cullen's move might backfire on him. This move is something the people did not vote on. So, is he making this change going to help represent the voters of his district? He was voted in with a democratic majority in his district. And without any input from the people he represents (election process) he unilaterally announces he will change his affiliation. This can not be good for his representation of his people in his district who voted him in. I wonder if he even thought about that? It might be the beginning of the end for Tim Cullen.
GearHead
7:45 am on Thursday, July 26, 2012
Alias Rees, maybe Cullen realizes his party has careened soooo far to the left it no longer is representative of his constituency. It's a value thing, Rees. He is still there. But the party abandoned him. Thank Tate and Miller for that. So you should be applauding this, you being a self-anointed Patch moderator of civil discourse.