Those who have followed politics for at least 20 years are familiar with the Friday afternoon document dump, when the Clinton administration would turn over documents about their scandal du jour on Friday afternoons, hoping that none of the media would notice.

Friday was not a “document dump,” it was more like a “candidate chuck,” or a “politician punt.” (I looked for a synonym for “dump” that started with I, as in “incumbent,” but alas I was unsuccessful.) Friday brought news — and it was most definitely news — that U.S. Rep. Tom Petri (R-Fond du Lac) and state Sen. Mike Ellis (R-Neenah) were not running for reelection, after decades each in office.

Ellis and Petri have each been in political office most of my life. Really. Petri was first elected to the state Senate in 1972. He ran for U.S. Senate, and lost to Sen. Gaylord Nelson in 1974, a bad year for Republicans. He also ran for governor in 1978, but didn’t get the state Republican Party’s endorsement. That went to U.S. Rep. Bob Kasten, and so Petri didn’t run. (Though UW-Stevens Point Chancellor Lee Dreyfus did. Dreyfus won the nomination and then the gubernatorial race, but Kasten defeated Nelson two years later.) After the far too early death of U.S. Rep. William Steiger (R-Oshkosh), Petri ran for Steiger’s House seat, and won, and he’s been reelected every two years ever since then. In six elections, Petri had no Democratic opponent, and in five of those elections, he had no opponent at all.

I don’t know how many readers of this blog realize Petri ran for the U.S. Senate. I wrote once back during the era when Wisconsin didn’t have any U.S. senators — that was when Herb Kohl was Nobody’s Senator but His, and Rusty the Phony Maverick was focused on any issue that had nothing to do with the state he was supposed to represent — that Petri was as close to a U.S. senator as we had. Because of Petri’s work in the House, U.S. 41 will become an Interstate highway between Green Bay and Milwaukee.

Petri’s voting record wasn’t necessarily conservative. For some reason now, Petri was getting hammered for a vote that supposedly favored single-payer health care — support of allowing states to figure out for themselves how to reform health care, which was a better alternative than the one-size-fits-nobody ObamaCare approach.

Ellis started even before Petri, getting elected to the state Assembly in 1970. He moved up to the state Senate in 1982 and he’s been reelected every four years since then. Ellis was one of the Senate’s three Republican Rogues — the others are Sen. Dale Schultz (R-Richland Center), who also is not running for reelection, and Sen. Luther Olsen (R-Ripon) — who would sing from their own hymnals during periods of GOP control, though they were always reliable when Democrats controlled the state Senate.

Ellis is one of the most interesting senators in the history of the Legislature. Ellis loudly opposed the five-county sales tax to fund Miller Park, and worked behind the scenes to get it passed. The last time I interviewed him, it took 45 minutes. Ellis was a quote machine, so journalists were usually fond of him. (Though this wasn’t exactly an interview.)

I’m of mixed opinion about this. On the one hand, since I don’t favor term limits, I observe it’s good for a politician to exit office before the voters make him or her exit office. The Founding Fathers clearly never intended anyone to serve in office as long as either Ellis or Petri. (See Risser, Fred.) I never voted for Ellis since I never lived in his Senate district, but I did live in Petri’s district, and voted for him, even though I didn’t agree with all his positions. As with everything else in politics, if you have two choices, you choose the better choice.

That brings the obvious followup question: Who will succeed Ellis and Petri? This was such a surprise that Right Wisconsin had a pair of bonus free! blogs listing potential Ellis and Petri successors. Rep. Penny Bernard Schaber (D-Appleton) was running before Ellis’ sudden departure. Rep. David Murphy (R-Greenville) reportedly is considering running. Former Rep. Steve Wieckert (R-Appleton), who preceded Schaber in the Assembly, did a great job, but I don’t know that he wants to get back into politics.

Petri was facing a primary challenge from Sen. Glenn Grothman (R-West Bend), even though Grothman doesn’t live in the district. Sen. Joe Leibham (R-Sheboygan) reportedly is considering running, which means he’ll have to choose between running for state Senate or Congress, unlike Grothman.

There is very much a be-careful-of-what-you-wish-for quality to Ellis’ and Petri’s departures. Both were criticized for not being conservative enough. Ellis, however, was and is vastly preferable to Schaber, part of the Legislature’s Envirowacko Caucus. Conservatives have been favoring Grothman, who is so popular in his Senate district that the Act 10 recall attempt didn’t get enough signatures, but that doesn’t mean Grothman is electable in a larger Congressional district. One would hope the GOP is big enough to keep moderates like Ellis and Petri and conservatives like Grothman. If you’re concerned about certain state senators not being conservative enough, elect a bigger GOP majority.

Bonus state Assembly race! I wrote earlier about the secretary of state’s and state treasurer’s races, which include Republican candidates who favor getting rid of the offices, and Republican candidates who don’t.

One of those candidates on the get-rid-of-it side isn’t running anymore.  Jay Schroeder of Neenah announced he’s running instead for the 55th Assembly District, represented by retiring Rep. Dean Kaufert (R-Neenah). If you live in the 55th, you get to vote for a new Congressman, a new state senator and a new state representative.