Timothy Cullen (born February 25, 1944) is an American politician and former Majority Leader of the

Wisconsin Senate The Wisconsin Senate is the upper house of the Wisconsin State Legislature. Together with the larger Wisconsin State Assembly they constitute the legislative branch of the state of Wisconsin. The powers of the Wisconsin Senate are modeled after t ...

. He represented the Janesville-based 15th District between 2011 and 2015, and previously from 1975 through 1987.

Early life, education and career

Born in

Janesville, Wisconsin Janesville is a city in Rock County, Wisconsin, United States. It is the county seat and largest city in the county. It is a principal municipality of the Janesville, Wisconsin, Metropolitan Statistical Area and is included in the Madison–Jan ...

, Cullen graduated from Janesville High School and from the

University of Wisconsin–Whitewater The University of Wisconsin–Whitewater (UW–Whitewater) is a public university in Whitewater, Wisconsin. It is part of the University of Wisconsin System. Student enrollment in the 2014–2015 academic year was more than 12,000. The universit ...

. He was elected to the Janesville City Council. He is a former member of the Board of Education of the Janesville Public School District.

Wisconsin Senate first term

Cullen was first elected to represent the 15th district in the

in 1974, defeating incumbent

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

James D. Swan with 18,931 votes to 14,982 for Swan. He would serve in that position until 1987. He was Majority Leader 1981, 1983 and 1985.

After the Senate

In 1987 he was appointed by Republican

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Tommy Thompson Tommy George Thompson (born November 19, 1941) is an American Republican politician who most recently served as interim president of the University of Wisconsin System from 2020 to 2022. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served a ...

to head the Wisconsin Department of Health and Family Services; he was succeeded by Timothy Weeden. In 1988, he resigned from DHFS to become a vice-president for

Blue Cross Blue Shield Blue Cross Blue Shield Association (BCBS, BCBSA) is a federation, or supraorganization, of, in 2022, 34 independent and locally operated BCBSA companies that provide health insurance in the United States to more than 106 million people. It was ...

of Wisconsin.

Wisconsin Senate second term

On November 2, 2010, Cullen was again elected to represent the 15th district, succeeding Judy Robson. In September 2013, Cullen announced he would be retiring from the state senate. One of the factors he cited as a reason for his retirement was the increased partisanship within the legislature.

2011 Wisconsin protests

During the protests in Wisconsin, Cullen, along with the 13 other Democratic State Senators, fled the state to deny the State Senate a quorum on Governor Scott Walker's controversial "Budget Repair" legislation. Walker earlier referred to Cullen as "the only reasonable one" of the Wisconsin Democrats during the protests.

Governor's race in 2012

Cullen had initially announced that if the recall petition drive against Scott Walker was successful, he would run for the Democratic primary election to oppose Walker. Cullen later withdrew, stating that he was unable to find sufficient funding to compete with other Democrats "who are far better known than I am, have access to financial resources above what I can raise, and have better statewide networks".

Governor's race in 2018

Cullen indicated that he would be ready to announce a campaign to unseat Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker sometime in April 2017. However, on March 29, he announced that he would not run, citing an inability to gain the necessary funds to run an effective campaign. In April 2018, Cullen was elected to serve as the Chair of the State Governing Board of Common Cause in Wisconsin, the state's largest non-partisan political reform advocacy organization. He stepped down as Chair in September 2022 but remains a board member.

References

External links

Senator Timothy Cullen
at the Wisconsin State Legislature *
15th Senate District, Senator Cullen
in the

Wisconsin Blue Book The ''Wisconsin Blue Book'' is a biennial publication of the Wisconsin's Legislative Reference Bureau. The ''Blue Book'' is an almanac containing information on the government, economics, demographics, geography and history of the state of Wisc ...

(1985–1986) {{DEFAULTSORT:Cullen, Timothy Politicians from Janesville, Wisconsin Businesspeople from Wisconsin University of Wisconsin–Whitewater alumni School board members in Wisconsin Wisconsin city council members Democratic Party Wisconsin state senators 1944 births Living people 21st-century American politicians