Earlier today I wrote about Republican State Sen. Randy Hopper’s extramarital affair, noting that protesters outside Hopper’s house in Fond Du lac this week were told Hopper doesn’t live there and that he was living with his mistress in Madison. I didn’t touch on it much yesterday, but if Sen. Hopper truly isn’t living at his residence in Fond Du Lac – as if wife stated – but is instead living in Madison, how can Hopper continue to represent his State Senate district?
According to Article 4, Section 6 of the Wisconsin Constitution, “No person shall be eligible to the legislature who shall not have resided one year within the state, and be a qualified elector in the district which he may be chosen to represent.” So if Randy Hopper really is living in Madison and not at his residence in Fond Du Lac, he wouldn’t be a “qualified elector” in the district he represents, thus making him ineligible to represent that district.
So exactly where does Sen. Randy Hopper really live?
Well if his primary residence is still that house, it wouldn’t matter if he was just “visiting” Madison for an extended period of time, right? If what you “report” is true, you don’t know how long he hasn’t been living there. What if it’s only been, say, about 3 weeks?
Maybe you just skimmed what I wrote, but his wife says he no longer RESIDES at the residence they shared in Fond Du Lac, but that he RESIDES in Madison with his mistress.
But hey, if you want to defend an adulterer who doesn’t live in the district he represents, go ahead and spin away!
I’m not defending anyone or anything. Don’t put words in my mouth Zach. Just asking for some facts. Just saying that if it is true, the term “resides” is a bit subjective when coming from an angry wife vs. a legal definition. Does he still own the house? Has he been out of the house for a few days, weeks, or months? How do you not think those are legitimate questions?
I would think someone who supports 14 Senators who FLED the state, might be a little more particular when it comes to this definition. If I go to one of those homes and ask the spouse of the Senator and they say “He/she is not living here right now” is that a legal enough definition for you?!
Which of the spouses of the 14 Democratic Senators said they weren’t living at their residence?
You also didn’t seem to mind an out-of-state adulterer (Rev. Jackson) coming here to to impart his sanctimonious wisdom on us.
When all else fails, just veer hopelessly off-topic.
Sorry, I must have misunderstood the extent to which adultery bothered you.
Yeah, I can see why you wouldn’t be bothered by a Republican State Senator who campaigned as a “family values” candidate having an extramarital affair….and with a lobbyist, no less!
The last time I checked, Jesse Jackson wasn’t serving in the Wisconsin State Senate, and an affair Rev. Jackson had 12 years ago really isn’t relevant to our discussion of Randy Hopper’s current extramarital affair.
Smug, sanctimonious hypocrisy bothers me.
Jesus said you cannot serve both God and mammon. The GOP is the party of mammon, therefor we must conclude that a Republican is not a follower of Jesus.
What was funny about that was Scott Suder was the one who objected to him.
maybe someone should do an open records request and see what expenses he has been claiming and how much he is soaking the taxpayers for.
That’s already in the works.
Please explain what you mean.
If only open records applied to expenses covered by illegal union contributions in other states.
“Others have donated food, he (Senator Chris Larson) said, but he declined to name them. ‘Let’s just say the senators have friends over here who’ve been more than generous in sharing with us,’ Larson said.”
Just because you say it’s illegal doesn’t make it so. In fact, I believe the GAB has already ruled on the issue you’re referencing, and there was no wrongdoing found.
Sweet….keep us informed…im working on two different local open records request, I dont think i could keep track of three at once.
Can we call her his girlfriend? That would make me a lot more comfortable.
Illegal union contributions?
Yes. Maybe Zach should use his investigative skills to ask Sen. Larson what he meant by his statement.
Nah, I don’t need to ask; the matter’s already been resolved by the GAB, if I remember correctly.
As irritating as this is, I don’t think we can pursue it. I’m pretty sure he has at least rented an apt. in town to cover his ass. If an “extended visit” would disqualify him, what would that do to our fab 14?
If he (Hopper) signed an afadavit to claim his daily, $88/day, income tax free per diem, claiming he lives in Fond du Lac and he does nt live there, I’d say he is in violation of the law and his sworn afadavit. (all legislators have to sign one to claim the per diem) If he is claiming the half per diem of $44/day (also tx free) and now lives in Dane county, then he might not be breaking the law or frauding his expense account,… But then he is not a member of his district. This is all in the statutes. Maybe the Senate Clerk, Robert Marchant needs to know about this. I’ll stop by and tell him soon. This is going to be great.
There was a ruling already when John Gard was living in Sun Prairie, with is wife who worked in Madison and with his kids who attended school there as well. Hopper is entitled to take the $88 because it is from his “residence” in Oshkosh.
Marriage is now ameneded and defined to be broken by one man and one woman.
Remember Joe Knilans, the basement dwelling Janesville assemblyman who never lived in the district he is representing – was elected and able to keep his seat? Knilans insisted he was domiciled in his brother’s basement (in the 44th district) as early as June of 2010, but he later voted in the 45th (where his family lives). This is a guy who campaigned on voter fraud. Nobody cares. The GAB looks the other way, the DA is GOP. The laws are unenforceable. Despite being a rookie, he gets to keep his job. Incumbent legislators have nearly total immunity from residency rules. But make sure district voters are photographed, properly domiciled and ID’ed – It’s a complete travesty.
I’m not at all amazed, the whole lot of you are being so hypocritical about this.
Remember Mike Sheridan’s troubles when he was knocking boots with a lobbyist for the check into cash industry? Since, Hopper is going through a divorce, that’s between him and his wife.
Or are you guys now the ones who want to control people’s bedrooms these days? What strange days we now live in…
As for residency, I don’t think Hopper would have a hard time finding an apartment in Fondy.
Once again, conservatives are missing the point. Mike Sheridan didn’t go on saying he had moral high ground, saying he ad family values and didn’t everything in his power to make sure everything was to the perfect ideal to contradict it.
You can go and cry about how the poor senators’ private life is so harassed, that private lives should remain private but the fact is the hypocrisy from the GOP is called out because they always go by some moral high ground while they get into people’s private lives themselves.
Hopper is going through a divorce, that’s between him and his wife.
It ain’t anymore. Live by the family values, go down in humiliating flames by the family values.
Kevin, no matter how we feel about Mike Sheridan or The Randy “Bed” Hopper, the standard was set. You and yours made this and now you’ll have to deal with it. Will you be working to clarify Hopper’s residency issues or just making excuses for him?
Mike Sheridan was behaving in a corrupt manner and I said so at the time. I always oppose corruption, no matter which party the corrupt person belongs to. Despite his denial, it is clear that he gutted the bill to control payday loan sharks, but the GOP didn’t complain because they didn’t want the payday loan sharks regulated.
The Randy “Bed” Hopper is sleeping with someone who was a lobbyist for a company which has contracts from Americans for Prosperity, the Koch Brothers’ astroturf organization. Notice that she got canned when her usefulness to PPI disappeared? Given the number of state employees in Hopper’s district, it was not in his interest to vote to show that he has no respect for them. What benefit did the Kochs offer him? What other legislators have been similarly compromised?
Sadly, anything is fair game now. Remember when Clinton got impeached for lying about a BJ?
Is there any actually justification to all the “family values candidate”, “moral high ground” stuff or is everyone just assuming?
Hate to do this but I don’t care about the whole family values issues. Frankly I was and am more than happy to understand that politicians are completely falable especially in their personal lives. The bigger issue is that a sitting State Senator is no longer “residing” in the district he has been elected to represent.
what if Randy was reimbursed for money he spent on his girlfriend? Or if she benefitted in any way (tax payer $$$) from her relationship with him? Would it be illegal if she stayed in a hotel with him and he expensed the cost?
Is it of any significance that Valerie Cass’ firm lobbied for the Koch brothers’ group, Americans for Prosperity? To me, this seems like another example of the influence they’re trying to have in Wisconsin politics, but maybe I’m reading too much into this.
Weird state, Wisconsin. The Senate Majority Leader and House Leader are brothers and their dad just happened to get the Director’s postion for the Wisconsin Highway Patrol (and, incidentally, was ordered to arrest and detain wayward Democrat Senators during the labor bill standoff). Now this guy, Hopper, turns out to be married but living with a twenty-something woman in Madison, who, incidentally, got a sweet state job paying 12k a year more than her predecessor received. Y’all got some strange things going on in your state. Whether one is conservative or liberal, democrat or republican, this just doesn’t sound right.