Angie Sapik of Lake Nebagamon was elected as a Republican to Wisconsin’s 73rd District Assembly seat in 2022.
Long held by Democrats, the districts shifted to the right after a Republican-led redrawing of the district map following the 2010 Census. Under pressure from the state Supreme Court, it was redrawn again in 2024, tipping the balance in favor of Democrats. Sapik decided against running for a second term in the new district last fall.
The surrounding 25th state Senate District, currently held by Sen. Romaine Quinn, R-Birchwood, still leans Republican. Quinn is among the Republicans reportedly considering running for the open 7th Congressional District. If he does, that would leave his Senate seat up for grabs, and Sapik could be a candidate.
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Sapik is a member of the nonpartisan Douglas County Board of Supervisors. Her book, “For the Good of the Party,” was just released this week. It focuses on the local political landscape of her district.
She told WPR’s “Morning Edition” the book is a look both forward and backward.
“There are a lot of stories about my political history and the things that I went through in the Assembly and the campaign process,” she said. “But with the gerrymandering of the lines back and forth, there is some opportunity for me to come back into the political scene. I have not made a definitive decision on that yet.”
The following interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.
RW: You write that you were always a conservative and convinced that President Trump would win reelection in 2020. You were surprised that he didn’t, but followed the lead of GOP Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, who refused a demand by Trump supporters that he overturn the state’s election results. You call Vos, who wrote the foreword to the book, one of your mentors. How has he inspired you?
AS: There is a lot of vitriol when it comes to who Robin Vos is. For me, as someone who really scrutinized that election pretty heartily, I didn’t want to come in with any preconceived notion of who he was without meeting him. So I did research and went down to Madison and met him.
Over the years, I’ve worked directly with him and he has been nothing but very helpful for me.
RW: Both Sen. Quinn and Rep. Chanz Green, R-Grand View, have been cognizant that they represent areas with wide swaths of blue, and they’ve been part of nonpartisan efforts for the betterment of the region, most notably Superior Days. I believe you were absent for the last two years. Should you have been there?
AS: I was absent for Superior Days. I don’t talk about Superior Days in the book, but I do talk about the issues that I had trying to raise a family — making it to wrestling practice, being there when your kids get sick and trying to run a business with my brother — while also being in Madison in the Assembly.
Although Superior Days is a positive thing, they were going down even when the session was not on. I made sure that everybody knew that I’m in Superior every single day. If anyone has anything that they want to talk about as far as what’s happening in current or future legislation that would help the city out, I’m always here.
In hindsight, I don’t think that was a mistake. I think that they are going to cancel Superior Days in the future because it’s just not as effective as it was in the very beginning.
RW: Your book mentions your support for the Blatnik Bridge replacement and also money for Amnicon Falls State Park, which Gov. Evers line-item vetoed. What’s your proudest legislative achievement?
AS: I would say that the Blatnik Bridge funding is monumental. That’s the absolute biggest thing. The governor didn’t veto the money for the state parks — that $3 million did go into a pot for (all the) state parks. He just took out the caveat that it would go to Amnicon Falls and Pattison state parks.
Editor’s note: This story has been corrected to reflect that Sen. Romaine Quinn currently lives in the 25th Senate District.
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