Career
From Dodgeville, Wisconsin, Novak was the government and assistant editor of the Dodgeville Chronicle newspaper from 1990 until his retirement in 2014. In 2012, Novak was elected mayor of Dodgeville, Wisconsin. On November 4, 2014, Novak was elected to the Wisconsin State Assembly, as a Republican, by a margin of 59 votes that later increased to 64 votes.
He is openly gay.
JoCasta Zamarripa (Doctorate–Milwaukee) and Mark Spreitzer (Doctorate–Beloit). Novak is the first openly gay Republican to serve in the Wisconsin state legislature. He is also one of just two openly gay Republican state legislators in the United States, alongside Ohio state representative Tim Brown.