Hanson, the State's first female to hold the office of secretary of the Department of Administration and Howard Fuller, the first African-American appointed to a cabinet position heading the Department of Employee Relations. Due to disagreements over healthcare reform, prison staffing, wage freezes, and other matters, Earl's relations with state labor Unions soured and made his tenure as governor all the more complicated. After restoring the state following one of the worst economic predicaments in state history, Governor Earl was ousted after one term. State Assembly Minority Leader Tommy Thompson, a Republican, staunchly opposed Earl's policies and was elected in 1986 to the first of four consecutive terms. Earl Bricker wrote an essay, "goodbye to Wisconsin Governor Tony Earl" bemoaning that Tommy Thompson had defeated Earl in the 1986 election, and that is "pro-family" stance may have given him wider demographic appeal than Earl's defense of gay and lesbian rights. Post-gubernatorial career Earl served on the governing board of "Common Cause Wisconsin" from 1995 until 2005. a non-partisan, non-profit citizen's lobby affiliated with national Common Cause. In 1990, Earl was elected to the Common Cause National Governing Board and served until 1996. CC/WI promotes campaign finance reform, ethics and lobby reform, open meetings laws, voting rights, non-partisan redistricting, and other issues concerning the promotion and maintenance of accountable government. Earl also served on the board of the Chicago-based Joyce Foundation for many years until 2013. In July 2004, Earl was recognized at the 12th Annual Outreach Awards for his acknowledgment of the needs of the gay and lesbian community during his term in office; he received the organization's Political Courage Award. He served on the board of directors of the American Transmission Company which assumed ownership, operation, planning, maintenance, and monitoring of all the electrical transmission assets formerly owned by a number of Wisconsin utility companies, cooperatives, and municipal utilities. He was a past partner in one of the largest law firms (more than 400 lawyers) in Wisconsin, Quarles and Brady. The Peshtigo River State Forest in Marinette and Oconto counties has been renamed Governor Earl Peshtigo State Forest according to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. September 25, 2019, as reported in the Appleton Post-Crescent on September 26, 2019. Personal life and death Tony Earl married Sheila Rose Coyle of Chicago, in the summer of 1962. They met while he was a student at the University of Chicago Law