Jason Stein, and Madeline Zukowski

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

State Sen. Rick Gudex of Fond du Lac died early Wednesday of an apparent suicide at 48, leaving Democrats and his fellow Republicans alike mourning the sudden loss.

Fond du Lac County Sheriff Mylan C. Fink Jr. said in a statement that Gudex died of a gunshot wound to the chest and that a preliminary investigation found it was self-inflicted. The sheriff's log shows that early Wednesday a family member had contacted officers to warn that Gudex had talked of ending his life and to ask for help in finding him.

Gudex was stepping down from the Senate in January to take a better job with his former employer, a maker of tank trailers, said Tim Lakin, Gudex's chief of staff. The senator had a wife and two children.

"It comes as a complete surprise. I'm at a total loss," said Lakin, who also formerly served with Gudex on the Fond du Lac City Council. "He was always willing to listen to both sides of the story. He was always fair. ... He was a true public servant."

Gudex was elected to the Senate in 2012 and served in 2015 as the president pro tempore. Winnebago County Executive Mark Harris and Fond du Lac County GOP Chairman Dan Feyen are running to replace him.

Gudex rarely betrayed publicly any of the pressures that came with representing the most competitive Senate district in the state, which he won four years ago by just 600 votes.

Tom Herre, current interim head of the Fond du Lac Association of Commerce and a former city manager while Gudex served as city council president, praised his approach.

“I never saw Rick get too high or too low. He was always good in a crisis. He was the type of guy you like to have on your team when you got into a tough situation," he said.

Joe Moore, current Fond du Lac city manager, said Gudex was committed to the public good at the local and state level.

“It’s a tragedy; there’s no other way to describe it," Moore said.

Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald said Gudex would be "deeply missed," and those words were quickly echoed by other legislators like Rep. Gordon Hintz (D-Oshkosh).

In a statement, Gov. Scott Walker offered condolences and, through a spokesman, said a special election is not planned since the Nov. 8 election is less than four weeks away. If Walker doesn't call a special election to fill Gudex's seat, then the regular election will go forward as planned, said Reid Magney, a spokeman for the Wisconsin Election Commission.

Before the Senate, Gudex had focused much of his career in manufacturing and had been intending to return to his former employer, the maker of Brenner tank trailers now known as Wabash National Corp.

"He was known among the public as a state senator. But at Wabash National, he was Rick — our friend and colleague," said Mark Weber, senior vice president and group president.

Gudex focused on jobs while in the Senate, serving as the chairman of the Economic Development & Commerce Committee, the vice chairman of the Workforce Development Committee, and a board member of the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp.

A native of Eden and a graduate of St. Mary's Springs High School, Gudex had two children, Jayce and Alexana, with his wife Kim.

Gudex was elected at age 29 as the mayor of Mayville, serving from 1998 to 2000. He also served on the Eden Village Board for several years and then, from 2009 to 2012, was a member of the Fond du Lac City Council.