Wisconsin Democratic governor appoints new secretary of state

Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers (D) announced on Friday that he is appointing former state Treasurer Sarah Godlewski (D) to replace outgoing Secretary of State Doug La Follette (D), who has served in the position for more than four decades.

“Secretary of State La Follette’s retirement after more than 40 years of state service leaves an incredibly important role to fill, and I want to thank him for his years of dedication to the people of Wisconsin throughout his long career,” Evers said in a statement. 

“The people of Wisconsin placed their trust and faith in Sarah’s experience and values to serve as our state treasurer, and she’ll bring those same qualities to her new role as Wisconsin’s Secretary of State,” he added.

La Follette was elected in 1974 to serve as the secretary of state in Wisconsin and has served in that role off and on for more than four decades. The Wisconsin Democrat has previously run for lieutenant governor in 1978, U.S. Senate in 1988 and governor in 2012, though he lost all three bids. 

La Follette is retiring early from his term as Wisconsin secretary of state as his term expires in 2027.

Godlewski previously ran for Senate last cycle but ended her campaign early as Wisconsin Democrats ended up coalescing support around Democrat Mandela Barnes, who became the eventual Democratic Senate nominee against Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.). Barnes, however, lost his race to Johnson that November. 

“It was a privilege to serve the people of Wisconsin as state treasurer for four years, and I am humbled that Gov. Evers has called upon me to serve as secretary of state,” Godlewski said in a statement. “To become just the third woman in our state’s history to hold this office is the honor of a lifetime. I know how important this role is and my responsibilities are, and I’m looking forward to getting to work.”