Stephen L. Nass | |
|---|---|
| Member of the Wisconsin Senate from the 11th district | |
| Assumed office January 3, 2015 | |
| Preceded by | Neal Kedzie |
| Member of the Wisconsin State Assembly | |
| In office January 7,2013 –January 3,2015 | |
| Preceded by | Chris Kapenga |
| Succeeded by | Cody Horlacher |
| Constituency | 33rd district |
| In office January 4,1993 –January 7,2013 | |
| Preceded by | Daniel P. Vrakas |
| Succeeded by | Amy Loudenbeck |
| Constituency | 31st district |
| In office January 7,1991 –January 4,1993 | |
| Preceded by | Margaret S. Lewis |
| Succeeded by | Steven Foti |
| Constituency | 38th district |
| Personal details | |
| Born | October 7,1952 Whitewater,Wisconsin,U.S. |
| Political party | Republican |
| Residence | Whitewater,Wisconsin |
| Alma mater | University of Wisconsin–Whitewater (BS,MSEd) |
| Profession | Politician |
| Website | Official website |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance | United States |
| Branch/service | Wisconsin Air National Guard |
| Rank | Chief Master Sergeant,ANG |
| Battles/wars | Gulf War |
Stephen Leonard Nass (born October 7,1952) is an American Republican politician from Whitewater,Wisconsin. He is a member of the Wisconsin Senate,representing the 11th Senate district since 2015. He previously served 24 years in the Wisconsin State Assembly,from 1991 to 2015,and served on the Whitewater city council from 1977 to 1981.
Nass was born in Whitewater,Wisconsin,on October 7,1952. [1] He was raised in Whitewater and has resided there for most of his life;he graduated from Whitewater High School in 1978 and attended the University of Wisconsin–Whitewater,where he earned his bachelor's degree in 1978. [1]
He later continued his education at UW–Whitewater and earned a M.S.Ed. in school business management in 1990. [1]
Nass was a member of the Wisconsin Air National Guard and deployed in Operation Desert Shield and Operation Desert Storm. [1] According to his legislative biography,he retired as a chief master sergeant,owns a rental property business,and formerly was a payroll benefits analyst. [2]
Nass was a member of the Whitewater City Council from 1977 to 1981 and a member of the UW-Whitewater Board of Visitors from 1979 to 1989. He was first elected to the Wisconsin State Assembly in 1990,from the 31st Assembly District,and was thereafter reelected. [1] [2] He remained a member of the Assembly until 2014,when he was elected to the Wisconsin State Senate from the 11th District. [2] Nass is one of the Senate's most conservative members. [3] [4]
Nass has become known for his adversarial relationship with the University of Wisconsin System, [5] [6] [7] which he accuses of "liberal indoctrination." [8] His opinion of the University took on greater significance in the 2007–2008 and 2011–2012 legislative terms,when Nass was chair of the Assembly's Colleges and Universities Committee. [5] In 2007,Nass worked to cut funds for specific University of Wisconsin programs that he disagreed with philosophically,including the Havens Wright Center for Social Justice in UW–Madison's sociology department and the UW–Extension School For Workers,saying that they are "too far to the left." [9] Paul Soglin,the mayor of Madison,Wisconsin,responded by calling Nass "the outlaw chairman of an Assembly committee that is designed to destroy the University of Wisconsin System." [10] Nass's grudge against the University continued into his time in the state Senate,where he served on the Senate Committee on Universities and Technical Colleges. In 2017,Nass accused UW of waging a "war on men" with an initiative about masculinity,and criticized a course offered by UW on white privilege. [6] [8]
In 2010,Nass said he would introduce legislation banning pavement markers designed to minimize conflicts between bicyclists and motorists. [11] [12] Nass accused "liberal extremists in Madison who hate cars and think everyone should bike to work" with "basically making it difficult to use an automobile." [12] Nass's position drew a caustic response from Madison mayor Dave Cieslewicz,who noted that Madison is 70 miles from the district that Nass represents. "Not having been able to solve a single significant state problem (which they actually got elected to do) in their combined 37 years in office these guys now want to micromanage the city of Madison. There's a way they can do that,of course. They can give up their seats in the Legislature and run for the Madison City Council." [13]
Nass is a supporter of Donald Trump. In 2017,Wisconsin taxpayers paid $966 to send Nass to Trump's first speech to a joint session of Congress, [14] and in 2019,during the Trump's first impeachment,he accused Trump's enemies of "vile efforts to effectuate a political coup of the president." [15] Nass has sponsored legislation to declare English the official language of Wisconsin. [4]
During the COVID-19 pandemic,Nass criticized public health measures put into place by Democratic Governor Tony Evers,and in April 2020,Nass accused the state Health Secretary,Andrea Palm,of promoting "excessive levels of fear." [16] In July 2020,after Evers issued an order requiring the wearing of face coverings in public indoor spaces to prevent the spread of the virus,Nass called the order "illegal and unnecessary" and urged the state legislature to convene an emergency session to repeal the order. [17] During the pandemic,Nass supported the termination of Evers' emergency declarations. [18] He also pushed to require state workers to return to physical offices,revoke funding for schools that did not hold in-person classes,restrict the power of state and local health agencies,and expand school choice programs. [3] He introduced legislation to block the University of Wisconsin from instituting COVID-19 testing,masking and vaccination protocols on its campuses across the state. [19] [7]
In 2025 Nass voted against the 2025–2027 state budget,which had been created through negotiations between governor Evers,Senate Republicans,and Senate Democrats,describing it as the "Vos-Evers orgy of spending". [20] [21]
| Year | Election | Date | Elected | Defeated | Total | Plurality | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | Primary [22] | Sep. 11 | Stephen L. Nass | Republican | 2,034 | 60.20% | Jacquelin J. Wood | Rep. | 1,345 | 39.80% | 3,379 | 689 |
| General [22] | Nov. 6 | Stephen L. Nass | Republican | 7,393 | 52.56% | William P. Edington | Dem. | 6,448 | 45.84% | 14,066 | 945 | |
| Wayne E. Harter | Ind. | 225 | 1.60% | |||||||||
| Year | Election | Date | Elected | Defeated | Total | Plurality | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1992 | General [23] | Nov. 3 | Stephen L. Nass | Republican | 14,294 | 61.06% | Shirley M. Wheeler | Dem. | 9,117 | 38.94% | 23,411 | 5,177 |
| 1994 | General [24] | Nov. 8 | Stephen L. Nass (inc) | Republican | 10,265 | 69.26% | Shirley M. Wheeler | Dem. | 4,557 | 30.74% | 14,822 | 5,708 |
| 1996 | General [25] | Nov. 5 | Stephen L. Nass (inc) | Republican | 14,214 | 61.55% | Shirley M. Wheeler | Dem. | 8,226 | 35.62% | 23,092 | 5,988 |
| Edward J. Frami | Tax. | 652 | 2.82% | |||||||||
| 1998 | General [26] | Nov. 3 | Stephen L. Nass (inc) | Republican | 11,620 | 64.85% | Shirley M. Wheeler | Dem. | 6,299 | 35.15% | 17,919 | 5,321 |
| 2000 | General [27] | Nov. 7 | Stephen L. Nass (inc) | Republican | 20,589 | 86.79% | Bernard T. Dalsey | Dem. | 3,103 | 13.08% | 23,723 | 17,486 |
| 2002 | General [28] | Nov. 5 | Stephen L. Nass (inc) | Republican | 13,883 | 86.78% | Leroy L. Watson | Dem. | 2,091 | 13.07% | 15,998 | 11,792 |
| 2004 | General [29] | Nov. 2 | Stephen L. Nass (inc) | Republican | 20,934 | 66.06% | Scott Woods | Dem. | 10,041 | 31.68% | 31,691 | 10,893 |
| Bruce Hinkforth | Grn. | 696 | 2.20% | |||||||||
| 2006 | General [30] | Nov. 7 | Stephen L. Nass (inc) | Republican | 15,494 | 63.99% | Scott A. Woods | Dem. | 8,129 | 33.57% | 24,212 | 7,365 |
| Ben Bourdo | Ind. | 579 | 2.39% | |||||||||
| 2008 | General [31] | Nov. 4 | Stephen L. Nass (inc) | Republican | 21,780 | 66.66% | Frank E. Urban | Dem. | 10,853 | 33.22% | 32,671 | 10,927 |
| 2010 | Primary [32] | Sep. 14 | Stephen L. Nass (inc) | Republican | 7,463 | 74.99% | Craig Peterson | Rep. | 2,480 | 24.92% | 9,952 | 4,983 |
| General [33] | Nov. 2 | Stephen L. Nass (inc) | Republican | 20,193 | 89.29% | Leroy L. Watson | Lib. | 2,378 | 10.52% | 22,614 | 17,815 | |
| Year | Election | Date | Elected | Defeated | Total | Plurality | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | General [34] | Nov. 6 | Stephen L. Nass | Republican | 18,891 | 62.79% | Scott A. Woods | Dem. | 10,229 | 34.00% | 30,087 | 8,662 |
| Terry Virgil | Ind. | 945 | 3.14% | |||||||||
| Year | Election | Date | Elected | Defeated | Total | Plurality | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | General [35] | Nov. 4 | Stephen L. Nass | Republican | 43,842 | 63.29% | Dan Kilkenny | Dem. | 25,377 | 36.63% | 69,271 | 18,465 |
| 2018 | General [36] | Nov. 6 | Stephen L. Nass (inc) | Republican | 59,512 | 95.89% | Steve M. Johnson (write-in) | Ind. | 53 | 0.09% | 62,066 | 57,011 |
| 2022 | General [37] | Nov. 8 | Stephen L. Nass (inc) | Republican | 44,974 | 58.31% | Steven J. Doelder | Dem. | 32,087 | 41.60% | 77,123 | 12,887 |