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Timothy Cullen
Timothy Francis Cullen (February 25, 1944 – December 23, 2024) was an American Democratic politician from Janesville, Wisconsin. He was the majority leader of the Wisconsin Senate from 1982 to 1987; he served a total of 16 years in the state Senate, representing Wisconsin's 15th Senate district from 1975 to 1987, then again from 2011 to 2015. He also served two years as secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Health and Social Services (1987–1988) in the administration of Republican governor Tommy Thompson. After leaving public office, Cullen was chair of Common Cause Wisconsin, a nonpartisan good government advocacy organization, from 2016 to 2022. Earlier in his career, he served on the Janesville City Council and the board of the Janesville Public School District.
Tim Cullen was born, raised, and lived most of his life in Janesville, Wisconsin. He graduated from Janesville High School in 1962, and went on to attend the nearby University of Wisconsin–Whitewater (then known as Wisconsin State University–Whitewater), where he earned his bachelor's degree in 1966, majoring in political science. Cullen initially planned to pursue graduate school at the University of Kentucky, then briefly attended Northern Illinois University, but he ultimately returned to Janesville and began working as an agent for the Mutual Benefit Life Insurance Company in 1968.
Back in Janesville, Cullen began to participate in local politics in the tumultuous year 1968. After noticing "mixed" reaction to the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., Cullen took it upon himself to organize his neighbors to collect donations and purchased a half-page ad in the Janesville Gazette memorializing King and expressing the community's grief.
In January 1969, Cullen, then 25, announced a run for Janesville City Council. Janesville city councilmembers are elected at-large, from an open field of candidates. In the 1969 election, four seats on the city council were up, voters therefore could vote for any four of the nine candidates running. The field included three incumbents seeking re-election, who secured three of the four seats. The fourth seat was won by attorney Robert Lovejoy who was making his second attempt at election; Cullen posted a surprisingly strong fifth place finish, however, falling just 58 votes short of the incumbent Edward Grumich.
Later that year, Cullen began teaching social studies at George S. Parker High School in Janesville. The following January, Cullen announced another run for City Council. This time eight candidates ran for three seats, with one incumbent seeking re-election. In the April 1970 election, Cullen topped the field, receiving 5,772 votes and securing one of the three City Council seats.
Cullen served less than a year on the City Council; he resigned his seat in early 1971 to accept a job on the staff of newly elected U.S. representative Les Aspin (D–Racine). Cullen served Aspin in a role now usually referred to as "district director"—at the time, Aspin called the role his district "ombudsman". Cullen was tasked with visiting the various parts of the 1st congressional district and handling constituent service requests. Aspin referred to Cullen's work as one of the most important tasks of his office. After initially planning to spend one day each week working in Kenosha, Racine, Beloit, Elkhorn, and his home Janesville, the program quickly expanded to visiting many additional smaller communities around the district.
Cullen served three years in that role for Aspin, traveling extensively around the district, earning significant local media coverage, and building a reputation for solving problems with government. He resigned his position in June 1974, announcing that he would run for Wisconsin Senate, challenging incumbent Republican James D. Swan in the 15th Senate district. At the time, the 15th Senate district comprised most of Walworth County, parts of western Racine County, and eastern and southeastern Rock County, including just one aldermanic district of the southeast side of the city of Janesville, where Cullen then resided. In announcing his campaign, Cullen pledged to continue the same constituent service activities in his new district. He attacked Swan as a far right extremist, outside of the mainstream of the Republican Party, and sought to tie Swan's past votes to the inflation crisis then plaguing the country. After a vigorous campaign, Cullen prevailed with 55% of the vote. He went on to win re-election with 59% of the vote in 1978.
In April 1982, in the midst of a major impasse between the Democratic legislature and the Republican governor over redistricting and the budget, the Democratic Senate majority leader, William A. Bablitch, announced he would step down that summer to begin planning a run for Wisconsin Supreme Court. Cullen, who had become a close ally of Bablitch, was already informed of his plans and had begun lining up support to succeed him. Within 10 days of Bablitch's announcement, the Democratic Senate caucus unanimously elected Cullen as his successor.
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Timothy Cullen
Timothy Francis Cullen (February 25, 1944 – December 23, 2024) was an American Democratic politician from Janesville, Wisconsin. He was the majority leader of the Wisconsin Senate from 1982 to 1987; he served a total of 16 years in the state Senate, representing Wisconsin's 15th Senate district from 1975 to 1987, then again from 2011 to 2015. He also served two years as secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Health and Social Services (1987–1988) in the administration of Republican governor Tommy Thompson. After leaving public office, Cullen was chair of Common Cause Wisconsin, a nonpartisan good government advocacy organization, from 2016 to 2022. Earlier in his career, he served on the Janesville City Council and the board of the Janesville Public School District.
Tim Cullen was born, raised, and lived most of his life in Janesville, Wisconsin. He graduated from Janesville High School in 1962, and went on to attend the nearby University of Wisconsin–Whitewater (then known as Wisconsin State University–Whitewater), where he earned his bachelor's degree in 1966, majoring in political science. Cullen initially planned to pursue graduate school at the University of Kentucky, then briefly attended Northern Illinois University, but he ultimately returned to Janesville and began working as an agent for the Mutual Benefit Life Insurance Company in 1968.
Back in Janesville, Cullen began to participate in local politics in the tumultuous year 1968. After noticing "mixed" reaction to the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., Cullen took it upon himself to organize his neighbors to collect donations and purchased a half-page ad in the Janesville Gazette memorializing King and expressing the community's grief.
In January 1969, Cullen, then 25, announced a run for Janesville City Council. Janesville city councilmembers are elected at-large, from an open field of candidates. In the 1969 election, four seats on the city council were up, voters therefore could vote for any four of the nine candidates running. The field included three incumbents seeking re-election, who secured three of the four seats. The fourth seat was won by attorney Robert Lovejoy who was making his second attempt at election; Cullen posted a surprisingly strong fifth place finish, however, falling just 58 votes short of the incumbent Edward Grumich.
Later that year, Cullen began teaching social studies at George S. Parker High School in Janesville. The following January, Cullen announced another run for City Council. This time eight candidates ran for three seats, with one incumbent seeking re-election. In the April 1970 election, Cullen topped the field, receiving 5,772 votes and securing one of the three City Council seats.
Cullen served less than a year on the City Council; he resigned his seat in early 1971 to accept a job on the staff of newly elected U.S. representative Les Aspin (D–Racine). Cullen served Aspin in a role now usually referred to as "district director"—at the time, Aspin called the role his district "ombudsman". Cullen was tasked with visiting the various parts of the 1st congressional district and handling constituent service requests. Aspin referred to Cullen's work as one of the most important tasks of his office. After initially planning to spend one day each week working in Kenosha, Racine, Beloit, Elkhorn, and his home Janesville, the program quickly expanded to visiting many additional smaller communities around the district.
Cullen served three years in that role for Aspin, traveling extensively around the district, earning significant local media coverage, and building a reputation for solving problems with government. He resigned his position in June 1974, announcing that he would run for Wisconsin Senate, challenging incumbent Republican James D. Swan in the 15th Senate district. At the time, the 15th Senate district comprised most of Walworth County, parts of western Racine County, and eastern and southeastern Rock County, including just one aldermanic district of the southeast side of the city of Janesville, where Cullen then resided. In announcing his campaign, Cullen pledged to continue the same constituent service activities in his new district. He attacked Swan as a far right extremist, outside of the mainstream of the Republican Party, and sought to tie Swan's past votes to the inflation crisis then plaguing the country. After a vigorous campaign, Cullen prevailed with 55% of the vote. He went on to win re-election with 59% of the vote in 1978.
In April 1982, in the midst of a major impasse between the Democratic legislature and the Republican governor over redistricting and the budget, the Democratic Senate majority leader, William A. Bablitch, announced he would step down that summer to begin planning a run for Wisconsin Supreme Court. Cullen, who had become a close ally of Bablitch, was already informed of his plans and had begun lining up support to succeed him. Within 10 days of Bablitch's announcement, the Democratic Senate caucus unanimously elected Cullen as his successor.