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 1973–1975 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).