Backstory: The iron man of state politics
Wisconsin Sen. Fred Risser has been a state legislator for 50 years, longer than any current lawmaker in the nation.
from the March 1, 2007 edition
Page 2 of 3
Risser is a tall man with thinning gray hair and a tight-cropped beard that give him the look of a genial grandfather, which he is, several times over. When he's not wearing his lycra cycling gear (he logged 100 miles on his 79th birthday – he wanted to bike his age but just kept going), he dresses in conservative suits and bright ties. During his tenure, he has served as Senate president four times, including again this year, as the parties have shifted power.
Risser, a Democrat, has been an unflagging liberal, reflecting the views of his district in Madison. He is not a firebrand, but is considered tenacious in fighting for causes he believes in. These include protecting abortion rights, regulating smoking, and securing funding for the state university system.
He sponsored one of the first gay rights bills in the country in 1982. A passionate champion of building preservation, he likes to point out – with notable irony – that the state is now demolishing buildings that he once voted to erect.
"One thing about Fred, he's been very consistent, even when the tides shifted right," says Jeff Mayers, president of WisPolitics.com, a newsletter. "Because he represents a very liberal constituency, he's been able to maintain his principles, from the environment to education. He hasn't wavered."
More than anything, Risser has been a master of legislative rules. He decided to immerse himself in the minutiae of parliamentary procedure shortly after first being elected to the Senate in 1962 as a way to move up.
"I'm not the greatest orator, and I'm not the greatest backslapper," Risser says. "So when I started out, I made my expertise the rules."
His strategy worked. By 1966, he'd become the senate minority leader. He set to work mes- sing with the GOP agenda, which they didn't always appreciate. Once, they disconnected the phone line at his Senate desk. Another time, a Republican member slammed Risser's telephone down in anger and broke his hand.
"He's really quite a remarkable legislator," says Brian Rude, who served as GOP Senate president when Risser was the minority leader. "A word that comes to mind for me is tenacious. When Fred got an issue, he would persist to try to get some action on it, and persist sometimes further than his minority status might indicate."
Risser became so adept at using the rules to thwart the opposition that he once inspired an unusual counterattack. "I argued so much against the rule changes the majority wanted, they just said, 'We don't need rules,' " he says. "So they operated for two years without rules."
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