Brian Deschane - the 27-year-old son of a prominent lobbyist - was demoted on Tuesday following a public uproar over his appointment to a cushy job earning $81,500 per year working in Gov. Scott Walker's administration.

But check out the two candidates Deschane beat out to get the position as head of environmental and regulatory affairs in the state Department of Commerce:

The first, Oscar Herrera, is a former state cabinet secretary under Republican Gov. Scott McCallum with a doctoral degree and eight years' experience overseeing the cleanup of petroleum-contaminated sites.

The second, Bernice Mattsson, is a professional engineer who served since 2003 in the post to which Deschane was appointed.

By contrast, Deschane has no college degree, little management experience and a couple of drunken-driving convictions. His father represents a trade group that gave more than $121,000 to Walker and his running mate.

Herrera and Mattsson didn't get far in the process.

"Neither candidate was interviewed," said agency spokesman Tony Hozeny.

On Tuesday, Walker abruptly reversed course and bumped Deschane from his appointed position overseeing dozens of employees at the Department of Commerce. The move comes one day after the Journal Sentinel disclosed details of the appointment.

Deschane is the son of Jerry Deschane, a longtime lobbyist for the Wisconsin Builders Association, which gave $121,652 via its political action committee and conduit to Walker and his running mate, Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch.

Starting Wednesday, the younger Deschane will return to his job as a bureau director at the state Department of Regulation and Licensing, a post he took in mid-January at an annual salary of $64,728. His promotion led to a 26% increase in his pay.

"I'm assuming they're trying to minimize the damage," explained Mike McCabe, head of the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign and a frequent critic of the first-term Republican governor.

In fact, an aide to Walker provided little explanation for the 180-degree turn regarding Deschane's promotion.

"When Governor Walker learned of the details of this agency staffing decision, he directed his administration to move in another direction," said spokesman Cullen Werwie.

Last week, Werwie described Deschane as a "natural fit" for the position at the Commerce Department.

No more.

Before Walker's office announced Deschane's demotion, Assembly Democrats on Tuesday criticized the appointment as cronyism and offered an amendment to cut the job of administrator at the Department of Commerce's Division of Environmental and Regulatory Services.

Republicans, who control the Assembly, tabled the amendment on a party-line vote of 55-39.

In a later interview, Assembly Minority Leader Peter Barca said he had been concerned about the appointment and was pleased Walker reversed course.

"The governor does have the right - within what passes the smell test - to appoint who he wants," said the Kenosha Democrat. "What we find offensive is when you give people a huge pay increase when they don't appear to be qualified."

But Barca said he wants more information about how Deschane got the original job at the Department of Regulation and Licensing.

"If he is going back to that job, I want to make sure he was properly hired for that job in the first place," Barca said. "I am concerned about whether he was hired properly under the civil service system."

According to a copy of his résumé provided No Quarter, Deschane attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison for two years, worked for two Republican lawmakers and helped run a legislative and a losing congressional campaign. He held part-time posts with the Wisconsin Builders Association and the Wisconsin Business Council until being named to his first state gig earlier this year.

Deschane's father has said that during the gubernatorial contest he might have reminded Keith Gilkes, Walker's campaign manager and now chief of staff, that his son "was out there and available."

A spokesman for the Department of Regulation and Licensing confirmed that Gilkes recommended Deschane for an interview with the agency. A month later, Secretary David Ross, a Walker cabinet member, named Deschane a bureau director.

In his statement, Werwie emphasized that John Scocos, deputy secretary in regulation and licensing, recommended Deschane for the commerce post.

Walker is planning to convert the Department of Commerce to a public-private hybrid in charge of attracting and retaining businesses, with its regulatory and environmental functions being moved to a newly created state agency.

Hozeny, the Commerce Department spokesman, said his office isn't required to seek applications for appointed positions. Staffers in such posts, he said, are hired and fired by Commerce Secretary Paul Jadin.

Still, Hozeny said, Herrera and Mattsson expressed an interest in the job of administrator of the Division of Environmental and Regulatory Services. Mattsson had made $91,000 a year when she exited following Walker's election.

Neither could be reached late Tuesday.

Mattsson has worked for the state since 1984, including the last 13 at the Commerce Department. In 2003, she was put in charge of environmental and regulatory services.

She holds a bachelor's degree in chemical engineering from UW-Madison.

Herrera served as regulation and licensing secretary under McCallum from 2001-'03. Since then, he has worked at the commerce agency overseeing the program that regulates the cleanup of locations contaminated by petroleum spills or leaks. He previously held other government jobs in Wisconsin and Mexico.

In 1982, he earned his Ph.D. in development studies from UW-Madison. He also holds two master's degrees and a bachelor's in economics.

Daniel Bice can be contacted by phone at (414) 224-2135 or by email at dbice@journalsentinel.com. Patrick Marley of the Journal Sentinel staff, reporting from Madison, contributed to this report.