Mary Lazich
Mary Lazich (b. October 3, 1952) is a former Republican member of the Wisconsin State Senate, representing District 28 from 1998 to 2017. In 2003, she was the Majority Caucus Chairperson. She also served as President of the Senate from 2015 to 2017.
Lazich did not seek re-election to the Wisconsin State Senate in 2016.
Lazich served in the Wisconsin State Assembly from 1993 to 1999.
Biography
Lazich attended University of Wisconsin-Waukesha and earned a B.A. from University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Lazich was a Board member of Waukesha County from 1990 to 1993 and a member of the New Berlin City Council from 1986 to 1992.[1]
Committee assignments
2015 legislative session
At the beginning of the 2015 legislative session, Lazich served on the following committees:
Wisconsin committee assignments, 2015 |
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• Universities and Technical Colleges |
• Employment Relations, Co-Chair |
• Joint Legislative Audit |
• Joint Legislative Council, Co-Chair |
• Legislative Organization, Co-Chair |
2013-2014
At the beginning of the 2013 legislative session, Lazich served on the following committees:
Wisconsin committee assignments, 2013 |
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• Elections and Urban Affairs, Chair |
• Finance |
• Health and Human Services |
• Joint Finance |
• Joint Legislative Audit |
2011-2012
In the 2011-2012 legislative session, Lazich served on the following committees:
Wisconsin committee assignments, 2011 |
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• Audit |
• Labor, Public Safety, and Urban Affairs |
• Joint Legislative Council |
• Public Health, Human Services, and Revenue, Vice Chair |
• Transportation and Elections, Chair |
2009-2010
In the 2009-2010 legislative session, Lazich served on the following committees:
Wisconsin committee assignments, 2009 |
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• Public Health, Human Services, and Revenue |
• Small Business, Emergency Preparedness, Technical Colleges, and Consumer Protection |
• Audit |
• Audit |
Issues
2011 unemployment bill
Lazich was one of three Republican state senators, including Glenn Grothman and Rich Zipperer, who voted no on the Wisconsin State Senate's version of an unemployment bill in July 2011.
The bill, which could eliminate a newly instituted one-week waiting period on the receipt of unemployment benefits, passed in the Senate with a vote of 30-3. State officials said the one-week waiting period is a crucial part of the effort to root out fraud, but the bill works to eliminate it.
Democratic Senator Robert Jauch called the one-week waiting period “a 55 million dollar highway robbery of workers."[2]
After the initial Senate vote, the Assembly voted 81-16 to retain the one-week waiting period.[3] The Senate then moved to agree with the Assembly along party lines, with a 19-14 vote, retaining the one-week waiting period.[4]
Redistricting reform
In an opinion piece for the Wisconsin State Journal, Lazich argued that redistricting should stay in the hands of elected officials. She argued that having a nonpartisan panel draft redistricting maps, as Iowa does, would further remove voting citizens from the decisions of their government. "As government continues a troubling pattern of delegating decisions to unelected bureaucrats, we slip further away from representative government. The effect of removing politics from political decisions is a growing disinterest among citizens resulting in an unhealthy democracy," Lazich wrote. She also cited a 2012 study that found political polarization actually increased in states with nonpartisan redistricting.[5]
Sponsored legislation
The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according to BillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.
Elections
2016
- See also: Wisconsin State Senate elections, 2016
Elections for the Wisconsin State Senate took place in 2016. The primary election took place on August 9, 2016, and the general election was held on November 8, 2016. The candidate filing deadline was June 1, 2016. Incumbent Mary Lazich (R) did not seek re-election.
Dave Craig ran unopposed in the Wisconsin State Senate District 28 general election.[6][7]
Wisconsin State Senate, District 28 General Election, 2016 | ||||
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Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
Republican | ![]() |
100.00% | 70,269 | |
Total Votes | 70,269 | |||
Source: Wisconsin Elections Commission |
Dave Craig ran unopposed in the Wisconsin State Senate District 28 Republican primary.[8][9]
Wisconsin State Senate, District 28 Republican Primary, 2016 | ||
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Party | Candidate | |
Republican | ![]() |
2012
Lazich won re-election in the 2012 election for the Wisconsin State Senate, District 12 seat. She ran unopposed in the primary election and defeated Jim Ward (D) in the general election on November 6, 2012.[10]
2011 recall
The Democratic Party of Wisconsin began a recall campaign targeting Lazich and seven of her Republican colleagues in the Wisconsin State Senate in March 2011.[11] Organizers were unable to collect the necessary 20,973 signatures by the May 2 deadline to force a recall, falling about 2,000 short.[12]
2008
On November 4, 2008, Lazich won re-election to the Wisconsin State Senate, District 28. She was unopposed.[13]
Lazich raised $57,326 for her campaign[14]
Wisconsin State Senate, District 28 (2008) | ||||
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Candidates | Votes | |||
![]() |
74,951 |
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
Personal
Note: Please contact us if the personal information below requires an update.
Lazich is married and has three children. She is involved with the Waukesha County Republican Party.[1]
Scorecards
A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.
Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.
Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states. To contribute to the list of Wisconsin scorecards, email suggestions to editor@ballotpedia.org.
2016
In 2016, the Wisconsin State Legislature was in session from January 12 through March 15.
- Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce: 2015-2016 voting record
- Legislators are scored on whether they voted for or against MMAC's position.
- National Federation of Independent Business in Wisconsin: 2016 legislative voting record
- Legislators are scored on their votes on small business issues.
- The American Conservative Union: 2016 scorecard
- Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.
- Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to labor policy.
- Wisconsin Family Action: 2015-2016 legislative scorecard
- Legislators are scored by the Wisconsin Family Action on their votes on legislation related to "marriage, family, the sanctity of human life, or religious freedom."[15]
- Wisconsin League of Conservation Voters: 2015-2016 scorecard
- Legislators are scored on their stances on conservation issues.
- Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce: 2015-2016 voting record
- Legislators are scored on their votes on legislation WMC deemed as "most important issues for the business community."
- Wisconsin Professional Police Association: 2015-2016 report card
- Legislators are scored on their votes by the Wisconsin Professional Police Association on legislation related to Wisconsin's law enforcement community.
- Wisconsin Sierra Club: 2015-2016 scorecard
- Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to environmental issues.
2015
To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2015, click [show]. |
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In 2015, the Wisconsin State Legislature was in session from January 5 through December 31.
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2014
To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2014, click [show]. |
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In 2014, the Wisconsin State Legislature was in session from January 14 through June 4.
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2013
To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2013, click [show]. |
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In 2013, the Wisconsin State Legislature was in session from January 7 to December 31.
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2012
To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2012, click [show]. |
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In 2012, the Wisconsin State Legislature was in session from January 10 through March 16.
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Recent news
This section displays the most recent stories in a Google News search for the term "Mary + Lazich + Wisconsin + Senate"
- All stories may not be relevant to this legislator due to the nature of the search engine.
See also
- Wisconsin State Legislature
- Wisconsin State Senate
- Wisconsin State Senate Committees
- Wisconsin Joint Committees
- Wisconsin state legislative districts
External links
- Legislative Profile from Project Vote Smart
- Biography from Project Vote Smart
- Lazich on Facebook
- Lazich on LinkedIn
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Project Vote Smart, "Biography," accessed May 5, 2014
- ↑ "Amended Unemployment Bill Could Hamper Fraud Detection Efforts," MacIver News Service, July 20, 2011
- ↑ Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau, "Wisconsin Legislative Spotlight: The Week of August 1, 2011," November 19, 2012
- ↑ The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, "Senate leaves in place one-week wait for jobless benefits," August 1, 2013
- ↑ The Wisconsin State Journal, "Sen. Mary Lazich: Redistricting should stay in hands of elected officials," August 18, 2013
- ↑ Wisconsin Government Accountability Board, "Candidates on Ballot by Election - 2016 General Election - 11/8/2016," accessed November 4, 2016
- ↑ Wisconsin Elections Commission, "2016 Fall General Election Results," accessed December 2, 2016
- ↑ Wisconsin Government Accountability Board, "Candidate Tracking by Office," accessed June 20, 2016
- ↑ Wisconsin Elections and Ethics Commissions, "2016 Partisan Primary," accessed September 16, 2016
- ↑ Wisconsin Government Accountability Board "2012 Candidate List (dead link)
- ↑ AOL News, "Wisconsin Election Recall Reality Check," February 23, 2011
- ↑ Patch, "Efforts to Recall Mary Lazich Appear to Have Fallen Short," May 2, 2011 (dead link)
- ↑ Government Accountability Board, "Wisconsin State Election Results, 2008," accessed May 6, 2014
- ↑ Follow the Money, "2008 contributions," accessed May 6, 2014
- ↑ Wisconsin Family Action, "2015-2016 legislative scorecard," accessed May 31, 2017
- ↑ Wisconsin Family Action, "2015-2016 legislative scorecard," accessed May 31, 2017
Political offices | ||
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Preceded by ' |
Wisconsin State Senate District 28 1998–2017 |
Succeeded by Dave Craig (R) |
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State of Wisconsin Madison (capital) |
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