Veteran Democratic State Senator Dave Hansen says he's retiring when his current term ends in January 2021.  That will mark the end of his 20th year in the state senate.  Hansen, who turned 72 in December, says after discussing the possibility of retirement with his family the final decision was easier to make.

Hansen was one of the “Wisconsin 14”, a group of senators who fled the state to protest Act 10 which stripped state employees of most collective bargaining rights.  That act was eventually passed into law.  Hansen says he's proud of legislation he sponsored with senate Republicans that became law.  Though he says he laments the trend toward declining bipartisanship.

In addition to winning his five senate races handily in the 30th district, Hansen also overwhelmingly won a 2011 recall election.  Prior to being elected to the state senate in 2000, he served for six years on the Brown County Board of Supervisors.