He served on the Whitewater Common Council and has served in the Wisconsin State Assembly since 1991, representing the 31st Assembly District, which includes the Town of La Grange, where he lives. On November 4, 2014, Nass was elected to the Wisconsin 11th Senate District.
Political positions
He has become known for his public adversarial relationship with the University of Wisconsin System, a position that assumed greater significance in 2006 when Nass became chair of the Assembly's Colleges and Universities Committee, which oversees the entire UW System. He was characterized by Paul Soglin, the mayor of Madison, Wisconsin, as "the outlaw chairman of an Assembly committee that is designed to destroy the University of Wisconsin System." Nass has worked to cut funds for specific University programs that he disagreed with philosophically, saying that they are "too far to the left." Specific criticisms of the University are articulated in greatest detail by his spokesman and research assistant, Mike Mikalsen: according to one account, "Nass... acknowledges that Mikalsen dominates the conversation about the UW, explaining that legislators often don't have time to delve too deeply into issues." When Republicans regained control of the State Assembly in the midterm elections of 2010, Nass also regained his old position as chair of the Colleges and Universities Committee, triggering a new round of speculation about the implications for the future of Wisconsin higher education. Nass was also in the spotlight in May, 2010, when it was reported that he would introduce legislation banning pavement markers designed to minimize conflicts between bicyclists and motorists. According to Nass, "It's basically about liberal extremists in Madison who hate cars and think everyone should bike to work.... It is basically making it difficult to use an automobile." Nass's position drew a caustic response from then Madison mayor Dave Cieslewicz, who noted that Madison is 70 miles from the district that Nass represents. "Not having been able to solve a single significant state problem in their combined 37 years in office these guys now want to micromanage the city of Madison. There's a way they can do that, of course. They can give up their seats in the Legislature and run for the Madison City Council."
