GOP's Foti to quit after term ends
10:30 PM 2/24/04
Phil Brinkman State government reporter

Assembly Majority Leader Steven "Mickey" Foti confirmed Tuesday that he would not seek re-election when his term ends this year. <

"The Wisconsin state Assembly has been a part of my life," said Foti, 45, an Oconomowoc Republican who has spent half of his life in the Legislature. "At this point it's time to enter the private sector and give my family the time they deserve (and) hopefully a paycheck they deserve." <

Foti's decision had been rumored since a Milwaukee radio station suggested two weeks ago he might quit. Foti insisted then he planned to serve out his two-year term, which ends in January. Tuesday he made clear it would be his last. <

Foti said his departure has nothing to do with a pending felony misconduct charge filed against him in 2002. Prosecutors say he employed a full-time campaign fund-raiser on his legislative payroll, a possible misuse of state resources. <

"The only thing the charges did to me was make me serve two more years," said Foti, who said he ran for re-election weeks after he was charged to show he still had the support of his constituents and colleagues. "I wanted to make sure I could walk out of this building with my head held high." <

No court date has been set for a trial, and an appeal of the charges is pending. <

Although he runs a trophy engraving business, co-owns a bar in Neenah and owns several commercial buildings, Foti said he's leaving to find better opportunities in the private sector. <

Foti, who has served in the Assembly since 1982, said he was announcing his retirement now to give potential contenders in his heavily Republican district a chance to gear up their political campaigns before November's election. <

Colleagues praised Foti's ability to work with legislators from both sides of the aisle despite being one of the Assembly's fiercest partisans. <

"The state of Wisconsin is losing one of the good guys," said Rep. Dean Kaufert, R-Neenah, Foti's business partner in the bar. <

Charming and likeable, Foti was nevertheless expert at delivering some of the GOP's sharpest zingers in debates, often turning around and walking away from the microphone afterward like a prize fighter who'd just delivered a knockout blow. <

Assembly Minority Leader Jim Kreuser, D-Kenosha, said those hits stung but said they've never been personal. <

"Sharpen up your bills, sharpen up your wits if you want to spar with him," Kreuser said. "At least he fought fair. You got no one to blame if he beats you on the floor." <

For all his bluster, Foti was sincere in trying to work with Democrats to hammer out agreements, said Kreuser, who said he's shared "a lot of soda pops" with Foti after floor debates. <

"If there were more people with his reasonable approach to things, I think it would be less tense on the floor and more would get done." <