BURLINGTON (WKOW) -- Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester) announced Friday morning that he will not be running for the 1st Congressional District seat, to be vacated by House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wisconsin) in January.
Vos had previously said in an interview with the Associated Press, the seat could be a great opportunity, but he enjoys being speaker of the state.
In a statement, Vos said he wants to focus on work still to be done in Wisconsin.
“Since Paul announced his decision Wednesday, I’ve been overwhelmed at the outpouring of support from friends, colleagues and constituents who are encouraging me to run in the 1st Congressional District. While I know that our nation’s capital desperately needs more conservative reformers from Wisconsin, Michelle and I have decided that we can do more good continuing to push state-based conservative reforms. That’s why I will seek re-election in the state Legislature and continue to focus on maintaining the strong, historic majority in the Wisconsin State Assembly. I’m incredibly proud of the work that we’ve done in Madison and I know we have a lot more work to do in our state.
“I have always believed that states are the laboratories of democracy. In Wisconsin, we’re providing a roadmap for the nation on how conservative reforms can move a state forward. We’ve enacted bold welfare reforms, cut taxes by more than $8 billion, invested record amounts in our public schools, passed Wisconsin’s right-to-work law and Act 10, defended our Voter ID law and continued to chip away at burdensome regulations. We have a long list of accomplishments that other states and the federal government can emulate.
“It’s my hope that the federal government can give states more freedom to innovate. I look forward to having additional opportunities for Wisconsin to lead the way.”
Speaker Vos is currently in his third term as speaker of the Wisconsin State Assembly. He was first elected to office in 2004. Vos represents the 63rd Assembly District in Racine County.