Local state senators are alumni, and also re-election winners

Among the top vote-getters in the November 2008 elections are two Wisconsin state senators with UW-Green Bay connections.

Dave Hansen, class of 1971, was re-elected by a comfortable two-to-one margin. Rob Cowles ’75 was unopposed.

The two legislators are on opposite sides of the aisle, but share a common bond as early graduates of UW-Green Bay. Both are frequent visitors to campus for groundbreakings, ribbon cuttings and other special events, and they follow UW-Green Bay and UW System issues closely.

Hansen (at left in photo collage above) graduated from the institution in its third year of existence. He says he is proud his alma mater falls inside his 30th Senate District, which extends to Green Bay’s west side and north along the bayshore as far as Marinette.

“Ever since I graduated, I have felt a commitment, because it’s my university,” Hansen says. “I have been a schoolteacher, a truck driver and an elected official, and I have always valued that liberal arts education.”

Hansen is beginning his third four-year term in the Senate. His UW-Green Bay bachelor’s degree was in humanism and cultural change (Humanistic Studies).

Cowles (above, right) represents the 2nd Senate District covering Green Bay’s southern suburbs and rural areas west and north of the city. He was first elected to the state Assembly in 1983, and to the Senate in 1987.

At UW-Green Bay, he majored in science and environmental change.

“I think back to those early years,” Cowles says, “and UW-Green Bay was ahead of its time on sustainability. It remains well-positioned to educate future leaders for a complex world.”

A third state legislator with alumni ties, Rep. Frank Lasee, class of 1986, was defeated in his bid for re-election. He was seeking an eighth two-year term representing the 2nd Assembly District, which extends from Bellevue to Two Rivers.