Rejected appointees of Gov. Tony Evers raise concerns of a 'chilling effect' on service roles

MADISON — Two of Democratic Gov. Tony Evers' appointees who were fired by the Republican-led state Senate say they worry the spate of rejections will have a "chilling effect" on people with an interest in volunteering for public service.

The Senate on Oct. 17 took up 47 of Evers’ selections to various state commissions, occupational boards and councils — many of whom had already been serving for months on an interim basis. Republican senators voted to fire eight of those appointees, including four of his picks for the Natural Resources Board and the Democratic appointee to the Wisconsin Elections Commission.

Among those given the boot were Medical Examining Board chairman Dr. Sheldon Wasserman, an OB-GYN and former Democratic lawmaker who was previously confirmed to the board three times, and Council on Domestic Abuse member Melissa Baldauff, a domestic violence survivor and former spokeswoman for the governor.

Before the Oct. 17 votes, the Legislature had only rejected five executive appointees since 1981.

Both Baldauff and Wasserman believe they were rejected because of their political beliefs — Wasserman because of his support for abortion rights, Baldauff for public comments critical of Republican policies. Statements from lawmakers who voted against them vary in terms of their rationale and included concerns the nominees bring a political or activist agenda to their roles.

"It's really rewarding to be able to take your experience (as a survivor of domestic abuse) that was so awful, and harness that energy into helping other people and empowering other people," Baldauff told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "So I'm really worried about the message it sends, which is, if we don't like what you have to say, then we don't want you to be a part of this important work. I think that'll have a chilling effect on people's ability to speak up."

The votes left Wasserman wondering, "who in their right mind wants to serve on a board or committee?"

"These are all folks who are raising their hand to be of service. They don't get paid for this. These are volunteer positions, that people are going to participate in and sacrifice their time and their energy because it's important and they're passionate about it," Baldauff said. "And I think that's a really bad message to send to other folks around the state — if we don't like what you have to say personally about something, we're going to not let you be a part of public service."

The Senate and the governor have been at loggerheads over appointments since he first took office in 2019. Many of his Cabinet officials have served years without being confirmed. And Republican appointees to the Wisconsin Technical College Board stayed in their expired positions due to a court ruling that found a vacancy doesn’t exist until the Senate holds a confirmation hearing.

Historically, the chamber often defers to the governor, even when the branches are from opposing parties.

A review by the nonpartisan Legislative Reference Bureau shared with Senate Minority Leader Melissa Agard, D-Madison, found five executive appointments rejected by the state Senate since the 1981-82 legislative session:

• Brad Pfaff as Secretary of the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection in 2019. Pfaff was appointed by Evers and rejected by the GOP-controlled Senate. Republicans argued the manure storage rules Pfaff was developing would hurt farmers amid one of the worst downturns for the dairy industry, while Evers said the GOP was punishing Pfaff — who had been serving as secretary for nearly a year when he was fired — for publicly criticizing Republicans over holding back suicide prevention funds.

• Michael Rosen as a member of the Technical College System Board in 2006. Rosen was appointed by former Gov. Jim Doyle, a Democrat, and rejected by the Republican-controlled Senate.

• Francis "Bill" Murphy as a member of the Natural Resources Board in 1999. Murphy was appointed by former Gov. Tommy Thompson, a Republican, and rejected by the Democratic-controlled Senate. Racist and sexist jokes were part of the opposition to Murphy, the Wisconsin State Journal reported at the time.

• Terry J. Kohler as a member of the University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents in 1991. Kohler was appointed by Thompson and rejected by the Democratic-controlled Senate. Kohler was rejected after lawmakers expressed concern over his comments about minorities and LGBTQ people.

• Dom Gordon as a member of the Council on Domestic Abuse in 1988. Gordon was appointed by Thompson and rejected by the Democratic-controlled Senate.

“This is insanity, and this is an issue of democracy — Republicans have to stop doing this,” Evers said in a statement after the Oct. 17 votes. “These are good people they’re voting down today. These Wisconsinites are educators, health care professionals, survivors of domestic violence, advocates, and conservationists. And I don’t care if you’re a Republican, a Democrat, or otherwise, these Wisconsinites are completely qualified to do the job they’ve been asked to do, and they are volunteering their time, talent, and expertise without pay to serve their neighbors and our state."

Baldauff says it's 'essential' to have survivors on domestic abuse council

Baldauff, a member of the Shorewood Village Board, has a lengthy history in Democratic politics. In the last decade, she's worked as communications director for the Democratic Party of Wisconsin and former Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele, deputy chief of staff for Evers and a strategist for a progressive political firm.

She's also a survivor of domestic abuse, appointed to the state's Council on Domestic Abuse as a representative with domestic abuse knowledge. First appointed by Evers in 2019, she served her first term on the council without the Senate voting her up or down.

It's "essential" to have survivors involved in the council's work, Baldauff told the Journal Sentinel.

"So many of the people who are in the advocacy world, in domestic violence and sexual violence, are people who have experienced it, and having that lived experience is so essential to being able to support and empower other people," Baldauff said. "Because when you haven't been through it, you don't know what all the factors are that contribute to someone's decision to remain in an abusive relationship, or leave it, and everything that we should be doing is to help address those barriers."

Baldauff said she met with two of the three Republican members of the Senate Committee on Mental Health, Substance Abuse Prevention, Children and Families ahead of her confirmation hearing. She said she had no inclination her appointment would be rejected, even after a conversation with committee chairman Rep. Jesse James, R-Altoona, that started with questions about things she had tweeted — including a quip about a "mediocre white man in America."

Recounting the meeting, which took place over Zoom, Baldauff said James asked her if she hated all men and if she was emotional when she wrote some of her tweets. But after that, she said, they had a positive conversation she left without the sense she would be voted down.

“Melissa has a compelling personal story, but some of her views and more inflammatory public remarks raised concerns," James said. "We did not have confidence that Melissa would be willing to set aside her own partisan views and work across the aisle. Domestic violence should not be a partisan issue. We need nominees that will build bridges, not burn them.”

Baldauff acknowledged her political background, but said she doesn't "wear a political hat to domestic violence advocacy, because that's not helpful."

"At the same time, I stand behind calling out racism and misogyny and homophobia, and I'm not going to back away from that," she said.

The vote to oust Baldauff comes as a statewide homicide report from End Domestic Abuse Wisconsin found that Wisconsin broke a record for domestic violence deaths again in 2022 with 96 lives lost. It's the highest total since the advocacy organization began releasing the data in 2000 and a 20% increase from last year's total of 80 people.

The rising death toll comes as organizations across the state confront a 70% drop in federal funding that helps keep shelters open, hotlines staffed and advocates available to assist victims and their families with safety planning, securing basic needs and more.

"We need more protection. We need to have a 'red flag' law. We need to close the 'boyfriend loophole.' We need universal background checks. And we should reinstate the 48-hour waiting period. And they refuse to deal with any of those things," Baldauff said. "Instead, they are firing a lady they don't like because they don't like her big mouth about guns and racism and homophobia and misogyny."

Republicans cite concerns Wasserman pursued activist agenda

Wasserman, an elected member of the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors, also has a history in Democratic politics, having served in the state Assembly from 1995-2009.

His appointment under Evers was confirmed by the Senate in 2019 in a 27-6 vote, and he was confirmed three times before that after being appointed by Democratic former Gov. Jim Doyle.

During his hearing with the Senate health committee, Wasserman fielded questions from GOP lawmakers about his stance on abortion and on some health care providers' decisions to address COVID-19 with methods not recommended by federal health care officials.

"The purpose of the Medical Examining Board, for our state and every state, is to provide a safety net to the citizens of the state from physicians who don't practice with a minimum competency," Wasserman said.

He blamed his ouster on his and the Medical Examining Board's decision to join a lawsuit challenging an 1849 law interpreted as a near-total ban on abortion, which came into question after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in its 2022 ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization.

Wasserman said the decision to join the lawsuit was tied to a need for clarity on the law rather than a political agenda.

The board has not, in his tenure, taken up a case involving a doctor who provides abortions, Wasserman said. But, he argued, "you can read between the lines, and this is all about abortion."

Committee chairwoman Sen. Rachael Cabral-Guevara, R-Appleton, indicated abortion was not the top concern for her in her assessment of Wasserman, but she could not speak for others.

“During the public hearing, Dr. Wasserman referred to the Medical Examining Board as an ‘activist’ board, targeting physicians and other medical professionals alike,” Cabral-Guevara, a nurse practitioner, said. “The right thing to do was to stand with the patients of Wisconsin and vote ‘no’ on Dr. Wasserman’s appointment.”

Wasserman countered that his comments referred to the board's uptick in disciplining bad-acting doctors, citing rankings from the progressive consumer rights group Public Ctiizen that propelled Wisconsin from 24th to eighth among state medical boards by their annual averge number of serious disciplinary actions.

Committe member Sen. André Jacque, R-De Pere, noted that he voted against Wasserman's confirmation in 2019 before his most recent down-vote, citing "his history of past actions that cast doubt on his ability to carry out the duties of the board impartially, particularly with respect to disciplinary actions related to abortion."

"Sadly, my belief has been confirmed. I am disappointed that Dr. Wasserman has led an activist board, in its official capacity, into joining a lawsuit specifically seeking to eliminate state laws regulating the medical profession rather than enforcing them," Jacque said.

Referencing Planned Parenthood's decision to resume abortion services last month based on an order from a Dane County judge, Jacque said the Medical Examining Board "just looked the other way since the out-in-the-open illegal resumption of elective abortions in Wisconsin (and) it has actively failed to take prompt action on complaints properly filed in the absence of (the board) doing its job."

After being rebuffed by local law enforcement, an official with one of Wisconsin's largest anti-abortion groups filed complaints earlier this month with the state's licensing agency against doctors who provide abortions.

"Wisconsin deserves respect for the rule of law, not partisan and ideological gameplaying," Jacque said. "Due to Dr. Wasserman’s actions, the perception of the Medical Examining Board as objectively administering regulations for physicians in an evenhanded way was undermined, and required the rejection of his appointment to right its course."

Evers quickly appointed replacements for Wasserman and Baldauff

After the rejection votes, Evers appointed Dr. Steven Leuthner to replace Wasserman and Shannon Barry to replace Baldauff.

Leuthner is a neonatologist and a professor of pediatrics and bioethics at the Medical College of Wisconsin. He also serves as the medical director of the palliative care program at Children’s Wisconsin.

Barry is the executive director of the Madison-based Domestic Abuse Intervention Services. A survivor of intimate partner violence, she has also served as a social worker for the Madison Metropolitan School District and is a member of TEMPO Madison, the Dane County Commission on Sensitive Crimes and the Dane County Coordinated Community Response to Domestic Violence.

Jessie Opoien can be reached at jessie.opoien@jrn.com.

Hope Karnopp of the Journal Sentinel contributed.

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Rejected Evers appointees raise concerns about 'chilling effect'