A second Wisconsin legislator shipped out to perform active service with the Wisconsin National Guard in Iraq in mid-January.

Rep. Roger Roth, R-Grand Chute, is the second Republican representative to serve overseas during the 2007-08 legislative session, as Rep. Mark Gundrum, R-New Berlin, was deployed late last year. The loss of the two legislators in the Assembly narrows the Republican majority to 50-47.

?You can?t deny it: There?s two less Republicans who are going to be there than would have been there in December,? Roth said. ?So our majority is cut down by a couple votes.?

But Roth also said the Republicans in the Assembly would be able to maintain the high level of unity they had built last year.

?With the Republican caucus, we?ve proved that we can stick together, that we can hold together, and that will prove true in the absence of Rep. Gundrum and myself,? Roth said.

The deployment of the two representatives has also caused some partisan tension among members of the Assembly.

Following Roth?s announcement, Assembly Minority Leader Jim Kreuser, D-Kenosha, told the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel that with the Republican majority narrowed, Democrats could try to force votes on the floor, though he said they would prefer to see the bills work their way through committee.

Rep. Steve Nass, R-Whitewater, released a letter to Kreuser demanding a retraction and apology for Kreuser ?suggesting that this is an opportunity for Democrats to

play procedural games.?

?Setting aside our partisan differences, your statements are one of the most despicable actions I can recall in my 16 years of service in the state Assembly,? Nass said.

However, Kreuser?s spokesperson Seth Boffeli said Kreuser?s main point had been the opportunity for increased bipartisanship in the Assembly, questioning the sincerity of Nass? comments.

?We?re simply commenting on the closer margin,? Boffeli said. ?We?re always looking for an opportunity to get beyond the partisanship and work together.?

John Murray, spokesperson for Assembly Speaker Mike Huebsch, R-West Salem, said the Republicans in the Assembly would be able to pass their agenda despite their narrowed majority.

?We feel very confident that we?re going to be able to move forward our jobs and health care agenda,? Murray said.

Roth has been in the Air National Guard since 2003 and has been deployed to the Persian Gulf twice. He said deployment brings up a wide assortment of emotions.

?This will be an experience, to say the least,? Roth said. ?I?ve been a part of this wing in Madison. ? It?s been an outstanding unit. I look forward to going over there, to doing our job and doing it well.?

Roth added he is hopeful that his staff will be able to guide some of his proposed legislation in his absence, including a bill dealing with unfunded mandates from state to local governments and a proposal for energy efficiency tax deductions for businesses.

Gundrum, currently training at Fort Bragg, N.C., will be in Iraq for about a year, according to his staff.

?One thing we really want to focus on while Mark is gone is letting the constituents know they still have the office here and still have that connection to state government,? said Lance Burri, an aide to Gundrum.