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Madison - State Sen. Pam Galloway, who faces a recall election this summer, is resigning from the Senate effective Saturday, leaving an even split between Republicans and Democrats.

"After a great deal of thought and consideration, I've decided to put the needs of my family first," the Wausau Republican said in a statement Friday. "My family has experienced multiple, sudden and serious health issues, which require my full attention. Unfortunately, this situation is not compatible with fulfilling my obligations as state Senator or running for re-election at this time."

Galloway submitted a letter Friday to the Senate saying her resignation would take effect at midnight, according to Assistant Chief Clerk Jeff Renk.

Her departure comes at the end of the legislative session. But her leaving will change the makeup of committees, including ones that are active when the Legislature is out of session.

Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald (R-Juneau) said Galloway's departure was not influenced by her impending recall election and that he was confident she could have defeated Rep. Donna Seidel (D-Wausau) in the recall election.

"It doesn't change my plans," Seidel said of Galloway's planned resignation. "People really believe their concerns have not been addressed and their values have not been paid attention to. They want Wisconsin back."

Galloway's resignation will cause the Republicans to lose their Senate majority. Republicans would hold 16 seats and Democrats would hold 16 seats. It marks a dramatic change from a year ago, when Republicans held a commanding 19-14 majority in the Senate. It was narrowed to 17-16 in August when Democrats gained two seats in recall elections.

The new, 16-16 split will be brief and one side or the other should take control in May or June, when recall elections are expected to be held for state senators. Control of the Senate will again be up for grabs in November, when half the senators will be up for election.

Recall election still on

The recall election against Galloway will still move forward even though she will no longer occupy the seat, said Reid Magney, a spokesman for the Government Accountability Board, which runs state elections.

That election is preliminarily scheduled for May 8. If more than one candidate runs from one party, that election would become a primary and the general election would be June 5.

"A recall can't be short-circuited" once signatures to recall someone have been submitted, Magney said.

Fitzgerald said he would recruit another candidate to run in Galloway's place. He said he would start by talking to Reps. Jerry Petrowski of Marathon and Mary Williams of Medford.

Galloway's name would have automatically appeared on the ballot, but now it will not because she is resigning, Magney said. Any other candidates in the district can get on the ballot by collecting 400 signatures between March 30 and April 10, according to the Government Accountability Board.

Petrowski said Friday he would consider running, but had just learned of Galloway's resignation and needed to talk to his family. He said he would make a decision quickly because of the short time to raise money and talk to voters.

"It's no secret I've always had an interest in that seat," Petrowski said.

Williams said she was thinking about running for the Senate, but added: "I truly love my job in the Assembly."

The other senators likely facing recall are Fitzgerald and GOP Sens. Terry Moulton of Chippewa Falls and Van Wanggaard of Racine.

Galloway's plans were disclosed a day after the Senate ended the regular legislative session on Thursday. No work is planned for the rest of the year, but the Legislature could still be called into special or extraordinary session.

"It kind of puts us in a holding pattern for the next two months," Fitzgerald said.

Impact on maps, mining

Lawmakers are awaiting a decision from a three-judge panel on whether maps of legislative districts that Republicans drew last year pass constitutional muster. If the federal judges find the maps were improperly drawn, they will likely send them back to the Legislature.

That would mean Republicans and Democrats would have to agree on any new election maps. If they could not, the judges would have to draw them.

How the maps are drawn is crucial because they can give one party an advantage over the other. The maps Republicans drew last year greatly benefit their side, but Democrats and Latinos sued, arguing the maps violated the federal Voting Rights Act and U.S. Constitution because of how they treated minorities and because they caused 300,000 people to wait six years, instead of four, between their opportunities to vote in state Senate elections.

Also, Gov. Scott Walker has talked of calling lawmakers into special session to consider streamlining iron ore mining regulations after a bill to do that failed in the Senate this month when Sen. Dale Schultz (R-Richland Center) sided with Democrats to oppose the measure.

Fitzgerald said he believed now it would be much more difficult to reach any kind of deal on mining.

Fitzgerald said he and Minority Leader Mark Miller (D-Monona) would now become co-leaders of the Senate.

Sen. Mike Ellis (R-Neenah) would remain Senate president because he was elected by all senators, not just the majority party, Fitzgerald said.

A powerful committee that runs the state Senate now includes three Republicans and two Democrats. A third Democrat - Sen. Julie Lassa of Stevens Point - would be added to that committee, Fitzgerald said.

Other Senate committees will be equally split between Republicans and Democrats.

Joint Finance makeup

Changes also are in store for the powerful Joint Finance Committee, which consists of six Senate Republicans, six Assembly Republicans, two Senate Democrats and two Assembly Democrats. Two Senate Democrats will replace two Senate Republicans, shifting the makeup of the committee from 12-4 to 10-6.

The change comes just after the committee voted 12-4 on party lines against a request by Walker's administration for more money to build a new maintenance base for the Hiawatha rail line from Milwaukee to Chicago, killing plans to use new trains on that line.

Walker has the ability to veto that action, taken Thursday, but doing so appeared pointless because the committee could override the veto with a two-thirds vote, or 11 votes.

Now, Democrats will have enough votes on the committee to keep in place Walker's veto, should he choose to do that and keep the plan for the trains in place.

Walker spokesman Cullen Werwie declined to comment on whether Walker would veto the committee's action.

Galloway was unavailable for interviews Friday. She will hold a news conference in her district on Sunday.

Short tenure

Galloway's tenure in the Senate has been short and tumultuous. She defeated then-Senate Majority Leader Russ Decker (D-Weston) in November 2010 in a Republican wave.

She was the lead author of a new law allowing Wisconsin residents to carry concealed weapons, winning a legislative battle Republicans in Wisconsin had waged for a decade.

She served during a rocky year when protests were frequent, particularly because of a GOP law to sharply curtail collective bargaining for public workers. That sparked last year's recall elections in the Senate, as well as the ones this year against senators, Walker and Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch.

The contentious legislative agenda and the wave of recall elections have led to bitter divisions between the parties in the Senate and frequent disruptions by protesters.

"For the sake of the electorate, I hope that better days are ahead for this institution," Galloway said in her statement.