This session was the start of eight years of unified Republican control of the governor's office and both chambers of the legislature.

In this session, new governor Scott Walker pushed through the controversial 2011 Wisconsin Act 10, referred to at the time as the "Budget Repair Bill".

Republicans in the state senate were eventually able to circumvent the quorum issue by stripping out all budgetary items from the bill and passing it as ordinary legislation.

The session also saw passage of 2011 Wisconsin Act 43, the dramatic gerrymander which successfully locked in Republican control of the legislature for the next decade.

Senators representing odd-numbered districts were newly elected for this session and were serving the first two years of a four-year term.