Republican Mike Ellis, a blustery former state Senate president, has died.
Ellis, of Neenah, died Friday at his home. Ellis' brother, Mark, said Ellis appears to have died in his sleep. Ellis was 77.
Ellis represented the Fox Cities in the state Assembly from 1970 until 1980 and in the Senate from 1982 until 2014. He didn't run for re-election that year after an undercover video surfaced that showed him discussing setting up a super PAC, a violation of campaign laws.
He served as Senate president from 2011 to mid-2012 and again from 2013 to 2015. He made headlines in 2013 when he angrily shouted down Democrats and banged his gavel so hard he broke the base during an abortion debate.
