Doug La Follette

Douglas J. La Follette (born June 6, 1940) is a retired American academic, environmental scientist, and Democratic politician from Wisconsin. He was the 28th and 30th secretary of state of Wisconsin, serving from 1975 to 1979, and from 1983 to 2023. With his 44 years as secretary of state, La Follette is the longest-serving statewide elected official in Wisconsin history, and at the time of his retirement, he was the longest-serving statewide elected official in the United States (excluding U.S. senators). Earlier in his career, he was a member of the Wisconsin Senate, representing Wisconsin's 21st Senate district during the 1973–1974 term. He was also the Democratic Party nominee for lieutenant governor of Wisconsin in 1978, and made unsuccessful bids for U.S. House of Representatives (in 1970 and 1996) and for governor of Wisconsin (in 2012).

Early life and career

A distant relative of the prominent Wisconsin La Follette family, La Follette was born in Des Moines, Iowa. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Marietta College, his Master of Science in chemistry from Stanford University, and his Ph.D. in organic chemistry from Columbia University. He began a teaching career as an assistant professor at University of Wisconsin–Parkside in Kenosha. La Follette also served as a research associate at University of Wisconsin–Madison. He also owned a small business.

Known as an environmentalist before running for public office, he was a Wisconsin organizer of the first Earth Day for Gaylord Nelson in 1970 and co-founded Wisconsin's Environmental Decade (now known as Clean Wisconsin) with Peter Anderson.

His great-grandfather has been described as an uncle of Robert "Fighting Bob" La Follette by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and Chemical & Engineering News, while Dissent Magazine referred to the great-grandfather as Robert La Follette's brother. WKOW News and WEAU News state that Robert La Follette was Doug's great-uncle. Robert's grandson, former Wisconsin Attorney General Bronson La Follette, has described Doug La Follette as a "second cousin, three times removed" from Robert La Follette. Alternatively, Milwaukee Magazine has noted Doug as a first cousin three times removed of Robert La Follette. According to professor and author Nancy Unger, Doug is a third cousin of Bronson. Doug went on to serve with Bronson from 1975 to 1979 and from 1983 to 1987.

Political career

La Follette first ran for office in the 1970 U.S. House of Representatives election, losing to Les Aspin in the Democratic primary for Wisconsin's 1st congressional district. La Follette served in the Wisconsin State Senate for Kenosha in 1973 and 1974.

La Follette was elected Secretary of State of Wisconsin in 1974. He unsuccessfully ran for Lieutenant Governor of Wisconsin on a ticket with Governor Martin Schreiber in 1978. In 1982, he was again elected secretary of state, defeating incumbent Vel Phillips in the primary.

During his time in office, the Wisconsin legislature repeatedly reduced the office's duties and budget.

In his campaigns for Secretary of State, among other campaigns, La Follette shunned fundraising in the style of former Wisconsin Senator William Proxmire. In 1990, his opponent, Madison attorney and radio personality Stuart Levitan, campaigned on a promise to eliminate the secretary of state's office, whose duties had been reduced and transferred to other agencies (including the State Board of Elections) by the state legislature, under La Follette's tenure.

Since being elected secretary of state, La Follette has run twice for federal office. In 1988, he ran for the U.S. Senate, losing the primary to Herb Kohl. In 1996, he made another bid for the U.S. House of Representatives, losing in the Democratic primary for Wisconsin's 1st congressional district to Lydia Spottswood, who went on to lose the general election to Mark Neumann.

In 2012, La Follette ran in the Democratic primary in the special election to recall Scott Walker.

In 2023, La Follette resigned as secretary of state. Governor Tony Evers appointed former State Treasurer Sarah Godlewski to the position. At the time of his retirement, La Follette was the longest serving non-federal statewide elected official in the United States holding the same office, having served from January 3, 1983 to March 17, 2023.

Other roles

La Follette is the author of the 1991 book The Survival Handbook: A Strategy for Saving Planet Earth.
He has also served on the board of directors of Friends of the Earth and the Union of Concerned Scientists.
In 2003 he ran for, and was elected to, the board of directors of the Sierra Club for a three-year term. He did not seek reelection in 2006.
He was a Fulbright Distinguished American Scholar in 2003.