Newsmakers: Exit Interview with Representative Michelle Litjens (R-Oshkosh)
First-term Republican Rep. Michelle Litjens was so afraid of angry protesters, after the 60-hour debate in February 2011 on Gov. Scott Walker’s changes to collective bargaining laws, that she left the Capitol in disguise — wearing blue jeans, a baseball cap pulled low over her face and carrying an anti-Walker protest sign — after she voted for those changes. But, in an exit interview on April 4, Litjens said she is proud to have helped pass those changes in labor laws. Litjens said she won’t seek a second term so she can spend more time for her two teenage children. She also explained how her Catholic faith and a missionary trip to the island of Santa Lucia shaped her politically. Litjens explained why she fought for the bill, which will soon become law, requiring doctors to personally interview women who want abortions to make sure they are not being coerced into that procedure. Litjens said she would be open to running for office in a few years.
