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Assembly Majority Leader Likely To Lose Post Over Alleged Harassment

By
State Rep. Bill Kramer (R-Waukesha)
State Rep. Bill Kramer (R-Waukesha)

Assembly Republicans have scheduled a vote for Tuesday to oust Majority Leader Bill Kramer from his leadership post following allegations that he sexually harassed two women at a Washington, D.C. fundraiser. It comes just months after a fellow lawmaker warned colleagues about Kramer’s behavior.

The allegations against Kramer were first reported by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Friday night. By Saturday afternoon Kramer’s office announced he had checked into an unspecified treatment facility. Shortly after, Assembly Speaker Robin Vos’ office released a statement saying Kramer had lost the trust of GOP leaders and they would vote Tuesday to remove him as majority leader.

Kramer first won the majority leader job in September, but only after an unusually personal speech by fellow Republican Chris Kapenga urging colleagues to vote against Kramer and vote for state Rep. Dean Knudson instead. Kapenga said he had witnessed a pattern of “habitual” behavior by Kramer, including at a recent convention where Kapenga said Kramer, “did not represent well.”

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“That cannot happen, ever. We can’t have sexual innuendos, we can’t have bad language in the public,” Kapega said. “I don’t have any concerns with Dean. I don’t. None. I do have those concerns with Bill.”

Kramer’s blunt, sometimes abrasive style often stands out. As speaker pro tem, he regularly cracked jokes during debate and more than once cleared the public gallery when spectators violated the rules.