Todd Novak | |
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Member of the Wisconsin State Assembly from the 51st district |
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Assumed office January 3, 2015 |
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Preceded by | Howard Marklein |
Personal details | |
Born | April 23, 1965 |
Political party | Republican |
Residence | Dodgeville, Wisconsin, U.S. |
Todd D. Novak (born April 23, 1965) is an American newspaper editor and politician.
From Dodgeville, Wisconsin, Novak was the government and assistant editor of the Dodgeville Chronicle newspaper from 1990 until his retirement in 2014. In 2012, Novak was elected mayor of Dodgeville, Wisconsin. On November 4, 2014, Novak was elected to the Wisconsin State Assembly, as a Republican, by a margin of 59 votes that later increased to 64 votes. The Democratic opponent Dick Cates conceded the election, on November 13, 2014, instead of asking for a recount.
On November 8, 2016, Novak was re-elected to the Wisconsin State Assembly by a margin of 723 votes defeating democrat Jeff Wright.
Novak is the first openly gay Republican to serve in the Wisconsin state legislature. On taking office, became one of four openly LGBT members of the Wisconsin State Legislature, alongside Sen. Tim Carpenter (D–Milwaukee) and Reps. JoCasta Zamarripa (D–Milwaukee) and Mark Spreitzer (D–Beloit).
For the 2017-2018 Legislative Cycle, Rep. Novak serves on the following committees
Recently, Novak authored a bill creating the Frank Lloyd Wright Trail which links the architects notable creations using existing roadways. The notable buildings on the trail include the SC Johnson Administration Building and Research Tower, Wingspread, Burnham, Monona Terrace, First Unitarian Society Meeting House, Taliesin, Wyoming Valley School Cultural Arts center, and AD German Warehouse.
Rep. Novak introduced AB 771 in the 2015 legislative biennium to allocate additional resources to the Lafayette County Sheriffs Department for the purposes of drug prevention. This bill was signed into law in March 2016 to become Wisconsin Act 271. Rep. Novak is a passionate advocate for reducing the rural crime and drug use stating “One of the reasons I ran for office was to fight rural crime and drug use. We need to give our law enforcement the tools they need to fight this ongoing problem."