MADISON â€" Sen. John Lehman, D-Racine, was unanimously elected Wednesday to be the new Senate Democratic Caucus Chair.

"We have very talented people in the Senate Democratic Caucus, and it's just the responsibility of the chair to make sure that talent all gets utilized and that diverse opinion gets expressed," Lehman said. "I think that's really important, to encourage everybody to ask questions, to be as open as possible."

Lehman is replacing Sen. Roger Breske, D-Eland, who is leaving the legislature to become state Commissioner of Railroads. The main responsibilities of the chair are to schedule and run meetings of the Senate Democrats.

"It's an additional responsibility of getting meetings together and making sure that all of my colleagues can have their voices heard in caucuses," Lehman said.

Lehman said that the majority and minority party leaders have a lot of power and make many decisions in the legislature, so it's important that the team of legislators share their ideas as well.

"I'm really quite pleased that my colleagues have said â€óYeah, you're the person who should conduct these meetings," Lehman said. "I think people trust that I can be even-handed."

Lehman will continue to work on other committees, including the Joint Committee on Finance, Joint Committee for Review of Administrative Rules, the Senate committees on Economic Development and Labor, Elections and Urban Affairs and as chair of the Senate Education Committee.