Assembly Republicans demonstrated unity Tuesday as they voted to remove Bill Kramer from his post as majority leader and replace him with the state's first woman majority leader.
Republicans voted unanimously to replace Kramer with state Rep. Pat Strachota, R-West Bend, according to The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Strachota is not running for re-election and will be replaced at the end of session in 2015.
The closed Republican caucus voted to remove the Waukesha representative after allegations surfaced that he groped a woman in Washington, D.C. last week during a fundraiser event and then later passed inappropriate remarks to a women on a plane.
Kramer has since checked himself into rehab, according to a release from his office.
Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, said he is confident in Strachota’s ability to handle her new responsibilities due to her decade of service on the Joint Finance Committee.
State Rep. Jessie Rodriguez, R-Milwaukee, said in a press release, mistreatment of women, especially from people in positions of power has no place in society. Rodriguez also said Kramer’s “poor judgment” should not be left out of politics.
“Any attempt to use what happened to score political points only serves to trivialize the problems that many women face,” Rodriguez said in the statement.
Kramer is already registered to run for re-election, according to Wisconsin Government Accountability Board records.
State Rep. Mary Williams, R-Medford, will fill Strachota’s spot on the Joint Committee on Finance for the remainder of the session.
