Mary Lazich (born October 3, 1952) is an American Republican politician. She served five years in the

Wisconsin State Assembly The Wisconsin State Assembly is the lower house of the Wisconsin Legislature. Together with the smaller Wisconsin Senate, the two constitute the legislative branch of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The Assembly is controlled by the Republican ...

and 19 years in the

State Senate In the United States, the state legislature is the legislative branch in each of the 50 U.S. states. A legislature generally performs state duties for a state in the same way that the United States Congress performs national duties at ...

, and was President of the Senate for her final session (2015–2016).

Early life

Born in Loyal, Wisconsin, she graduated from Loyal High School and went on to earn her

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

from the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, graduating summa cum laude. She was a New Berlin city councilmember from 1986 through 1992, and a Waukesha County supervisor from 1990 through 1993.

Legislative career

In the Senate, Lazich represented the 28th District since winning a special election in April 1998. She was elected as president of the Wisconsin Senate in January 2015, the first female ever elected to that position. She was previously a member of the Wisconsin Assembly from 1992 through 1998. In 2004, Lazich was criticized for lying about her vote for Senate Majority Leader. On March 21, 2016, Lazich announced that she would not run for re-election in 2016.

2011 recall attempt

Senator Lazich was one of several Wisconsin state senators who faced a recall campaign in 2011 and 2012 due to her support for Governor Scott Walker's "budget repair bill", which removed

collective bargaining Collective bargaining is a process of negotiation between employers and a group of employees aimed at agreements to regulate working salaries, working conditions, benefits, and other aspects of workers' compensation and labour rights, rights for ...

rights from public employees. However, the recall attempt failed to get enough signatures to be put on the ballot.

Electoral history

References

External links

Senator Mary Lazich
at the Wisconsin State Legislature
constituency site
*
28th Senate District, Senator Lazich
in the Wisconsin Blue Book (2005–2006) 1952 births Living people Wisconsin city council members County supervisors in Wisconsin Republican Party members of the Wisconsin State Assembly University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee alumni Presidents of the Wisconsin Senate Republican Party Wisconsin state senators Women state legislators in Wisconsin 21st-century American women politicians People from Loyal, Wisconsin People from New Berlin, Wisconsin Politicians from Waukesha County, Wisconsin Women city councillors in Wisconsin 21st-century members of the Wisconsin Legislature 20th-century members of the Wisconsin Legislature 20th-century American women politicians {{Wisconsin-WISenate-stub