Former state Sen. Pam Galloway on Sunday dismissed as “totally implausible” speculation that she resigned her seat to avoid a recall race. Galloway, a controversial Republican from Wausau, spoke publicly for the first time about her decision to leave the Senate. She made the surprise announcement on Friday. Her resignation was effective at midnight Saturday. Galloway’s father-in-law in Illinois and her brother in Virginia both are facing long-term, serious health problems, she said, and she decided that she could no longer fulfill the demands of her office and care for them at the same time. “I always said that my family comes first,” she said. Galloway, a former breast cancer surgeon, said she essentially made the decision on Monday, but that she had been wrestling with the decision since January. “It was a real struggle. … Could I serve my constituents at the level they deserved?” she said.
Before Friday, Galloway made no public indications that she was thinking of resigning. She spoke with the Wausau Daily Herald on Wednesday about the upcoming recall battle that would have pitted her against Democratic state Rep. Donna Seidel of Wausau.
“I think that when voters see (Seidel’s) voting record, which involves raising taxes on the middle class … and not being fiscally responsible, they’ll see that she hasn’t done a lot on job creation in the district,” Galloway said at the time. She insisted today that she would have prevailed in the election: “My values better represent the district.”
Full Article: Wausau Republican: I didn’t quit Senate to avoid recall election | Green Bay Press Gazette | greenbaypressgazette.com.