[media-credit name=’RAY PFEIFFER/Herald Photo’ align=’alignnone’ width=’648′][/media-credit]This is the second part in a series profiling members of the Wisconsin State Legislature.

Rep. Scott Newcomer, R-Delafield, has become the Wisconsin State Legislature's newest member after winning a special election Jan. 10.

With his background as a small-business owner, Newcomer has said the transition to state politics has proven an interesting adjustment.

"Coming from private industry, I'm a little bit faster than the political game, so I've got to get used to that," Newcomer said. "My biggest struggle, I can tell, is creating that patience that's going to be needed for the political process."

While Newcomer characterized his time on the Assembly floor as a new experience, he said the most rewarding part of his new position is getting in touch with his constituent base.

"What I really enjoy — just in the short time I've been there — is the time meeting with constituents and listening to people from all different realms," Newcomer said. "That's my most favorite part of the job."

Newcomer said the two issues that concern his 33rd Assembly District constituents the most are taxes and the quality and quantity of the lake-laden area's water.

A classic conservative, Newcomer said he wants to lower taxes, reduce state spending and get "government out of our lives as much as we can."

Additionally, Newcomer is a proponent of the controversial constitutional amendment that would ban gay marriage if passed in a public referendum this November.

"I'm very pro-life — as pro-life as you can get — and from a Christian, conservative standpoint … there's no doubt in my mind [an amendment] should be there," Newcomer said.

Newcomer also supports caps on non-economic damages awarded in cases of medical malpractice, a measure he hopes will be reconsidered after the Assembly failed to override Gov. Jim Doyle's veto of such caps last month.

"[We] have to have certainty in the [insurance] industry," Newcomer, whose wife is a doctor, said. "Otherwise the actuarials and the insurance industry really have a right to … just get crazy with numbers."

Amid the controversy and partisan disputes surrounding the proposed and recently vetoed concealed-carry law, Newcomer has voiced his support for concealed carry and voted in favor of the bill in Tuesday's failed override attempt.

"I'm definitely a Second Amendment-rights kind of guy," Newcomer said. "I'm not a hunter. I don't even own a gun … but I believe that you should have the right to do that."

Although Newcomer's stance on guns worries Democrats — especially as Republicans claim the issue is sure to be brought up again — they don't feel his vote was unexpected.

"All the Republicans voted the same way he did, so it wasn't a big change," Assistant Assembly Minority Leader Jon Richards, D-Milwaukee, said.

But many, including Richards, believe it is too early in the game to form generalizations about the newcomer.

"I've learned not to judge people too broadly," Richards said. "He just arrived here."

As Republicans and Democrats alike continue to try to assess the new Assembly member, Newcomer said he is just trying to get used to his job.

"I'm here to listen and learn and just try to figure out where the bathrooms are," he said.