“While we respect his decision to resign his leadership position and appreciate the seriousness with which he takes the issue, it is beyond what we expected or even wanted,” the women said. “We have put the incident behind us; we would kindly ask others to do the same.”

Brooks was first elected to the Assembly in 2014. He was chosen as assistant majority leader by his Republican colleagues in 2017. Rodriguez, R-Oak Creek, is caucus secretary, another leadership position, and Loudenbeck is a member of the Legislature’s powerful budget-writing committee.

The three lawmakers, in an earlier statement, called the comments “inappropriate” and “offensive” but did not relay exactly what Brooks said. They said they notified Assembly Chief Clerk Patrick Fuller who discussed it with Brooks. He then apologized, the lawmakers said.

The statement from Republican Assembly leaders said they felt the issue “had been appropriately resolved” but they respected Brooks’ decision to resign his post as assistant majority leader.