Story originally printed in the Tomah Journal or online at www.tomahjournal.com
Published - Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Albers won't seek re-election to Assembly
A long-time veteran of the state Assembly won’t seek re-election this fall.
Sheryl Albers (R-Reedsburg) announced Friday that she won’t run for the 50th District seat she has held since 1991. She said recent knee surgery would have made it difficult to serve another two-year term.
“Now I simply cannot ‘run’ anymore, as my left leg is not in a condition to let me do what I’ve done in the past,” Albers said. “A torn ACL is just one of the problems disclosed by a recent MRI, and while I have scheduled myself to have surgery at the end of this month, even if successful, it is unlikely that I would be able to get out and ‘run’, as I always have.”
The district includes all of Juneau County and the village of Kendall and town of Glendale in Monroe County. Albers narrowly won the seat in a 1991 special election but has been re-elected by wide margins since then. In 2006, she defeated Democrat Will Buros with 57 percent of the vote. In 2004, she won 58 percent against both Buros and Libertarian Tom Kuester, who enjoyed the strong support of Tomah Mayor Ed Thompson.
An open seat, however, creates an opportunity for the Democrats. One Democrat, Tom Crofton of rural Rockbridge in Richland County, is already in the race.
Jim Smith, Director of the Assembly Democratic Campaign Committee, said voters in the 50th favored Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Russ Feingold in 2004 and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jim Doyle in 2006. George W. Bush won the district with just 52 percent of the vote in the 2004 presidential race.
“An open seat is always better than trying to defeat an incumbent,” Smith said. “There are 22 Republican districts that went for both Feingold and Doyle. It’s pretty far down on the list of 22, but the seat is definitely in play.”
Voters in two neighboring districts, the 49th and 50th, ousted Republican incumbents and replaced them with Democrats in the 2006 election.
Albers is the fifth Assembly Republican that won’t seek re-election this fall. Republicans hold a 52-47 lead in the Assembly.
Albers recently got her law degree and intends to practice law after leaving the state Legislature. She made her announcement at the Juneau County Justice Center in Mauston.
“I may be coming back to these court chambers, not as a legislator crafting laws, but as an attorney practicing the law, I look forward to seeing you all again and staying in touch with my many friends and family in the 50th Assembly District.,” Albers said.
All stories copyright 2006 Tomah Journal and other attributed sources.