10-10-13 senator jauch retiring

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Longtime Democratic state Sen. Bob Jauch, of Poplar, will retire and not seek re-election next year.  Jauch announced his intentions at a news conference Wednesday in the state Capitol. The 67-year-old Jauch was first elected to the Senate in 1986 after serving four years in the Assembly.

Jauch's Senate district covers the northwestern corner of the state along the Minnesota border and along the shores of Lake Superior.  Jauch was one of the 14 Senate Democrats who fled the state in 2011 in an effort to block passage of Republican Gov. Scott Walker's proposal effectively ending collective bargaining for public workers. More recently, Jauch has been an outspoken critic of the bill making it easier to open an iron ore mine in his district in the Penokee Hills.