Farrow also became active in the Republican Party of Wisconsin in the late 1990s. He was a supporter of Republican Scott Newcomer in his unsuccessful bid for state State in a 2001 special election, and then served as treasurer for Newcomer's successful campaign for state Assembly in a 2005 special election.
Paul Farrow first entered public office in 2002 as a member of the Richland School Board—a small suburban public school district serving several communities in northern Waukesha County. He resigned his seat in April 2005. In 2009, he sought appointment to a vacant seat on the board of trustees of the village of Pewaukee, but was not selected.
In 2010, Farrow announced that he would run for Wisconsin State Assembly in the 98th Assembly district seat being vacated by Rich Zipperer. At the time, the 98th district comprised the village of Pewaukee, the town of Brookfield, most of the cities of Pewaukee and Brookfield, and part of the town of Lisbon, in central Waukesha County. Farrow faced a competitive Republican primary against Thomas Schellinger, a Waukesha County supervisor and former Brookfield city councilmember. Farrow won the primary with 60% of the vote and won a landslide victory in the general election in the heavily Republican district.
In the fall of 2012, Rich Zipperer, by then state Senator, announced he would resign his seat to accept a role in the administration of Governor Scott Walker, necessitating a special election in the 33rd Senate district. Farrow was then already in the midst of his Assembly re-election campaign, but announced he would run in the special election for Wisconsin Senate. The special primary was held on the same ballot as the 2012 general election, and Farrow faced another competitive primary, this time against fellow state representative Chris Kapenga. Farrow prevailed by about 2800 votes and was unopposed in the special election in December. He resigned his Assembly seat and was sworn in as a state Senator on December 14, 2012. He was re-elected by a wide margin in the 2014 general election.
Farrow was elected to Senate leadership in his second term serving as the Assistant Majority Leader.
A week after winning re-election to the state Senate in 2014, Farrow announced that he would run for county executive of Waukesha County in 2015. Three other candidates ran in the nonpartisan primary, including his 2010 primary opponent, Thomas Schellinger. Farrow received a clear majority of the vote in the primary; he and Schellinger advanced to the general election, and Farrow again prevailed by a large margin. He was re-elected in 2019 and 2023.
In September 2024, Farrow announced that he had been diagnosed with stage 4mucinous adenocarcinoma, a rare kind of cancer. Farrow used the announcement of his condition to encourage others to take their health seriously, pointing out that he had ignored earlier symptoms that could have allowed him to catch the cancer at an earlier stage. He died on July 7, 2026, at the age of 61.
Personal life and family
Paul Farrow was one of five sons born to John and Margaret Farrow. Margaret Farrow served 12 years in the Wisconsin Senate before being selected to serve as lieutenant governor in 2001. She was the first female lieutenant governor of Wisconsin. Paul Farrow has a fraternal twin brother.
Farrow married Amy Vaitl in 1987. They have two adult children and still resided in Pewaukee.
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