Former GOP Lawmaker Dean Knudson Appointed To State Elections Commission

A former GOP state lawmaker has been appointed to the bipartisan commission that oversees elections in Wisconsin.

Former state Rep. Dean Knudson was appointed by Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, on Monday to serve on the six-member state Elections Commission.

Commission members are appointed by legislative leaders and the governor.

Knudson was instrumental in the creation of the Elections Commission. While in the Assembly, he sponsored the bill that ended the nonpartisan Government Accountability Board and replaced it with two bipartisan commissions, the Elections Commission and Ethics Commission.

The legislation was fueled in part by Republicans’ anger over the GAB’s role in the John Doe investigation of Gov. Scott Walker’s recall campaign.

Knudson was in the Assembly from 2011 to 2017 and is replacing Steve King, who resigned in August after President Donald Trump appointed him U.S. Ambassador to the Czech Republic.

The Elections Commission is scheduled to meet this week to discuss a Trump administration request for information on voter fraud. It will also talk about election security, following news last week that Russian hackers unsuccessfully attempted to access Wisconsin’s online election systems.