Eric Genrich

The 2011 Wisconsin gerrymander (2011 Wisc. Act 43) significantly altered the political makeup of the Wisconsin's 90th Assembly district, removing suburban Howard and Suamico, and packing in more of Green Bay's population. In March 2012, 90th district incumbent State Representative Karl Van Roy announced he would not seek re-election in the new district,[4] Genrich announced his candidacy for the seat a month later.[5]

Genrich would defeat Republican activist and businessman David VanderLeest in the 2012 general election, taking 60.2% of the vote.[6] He was subsequently re-elected in 2014, defeating attorney Eric Wimberger, and was unopposed in 2016.[7]

Genrich, as a Democrat, served in the minority during his six years in the Wisconsin State Assembly. He was a member of the committees on education, on energy and utilities, on insurance, on regulatory licensing reform, and on science and technology.[2]

In March 2018, he announced his candidacy for mayor of Green Bay in the 2019 election, in a bid to replace Jim Schmitt, who was not seeking another term as mayor.[8] Genrich and Brown County Supervisor Patrick Buckley advanced from a primary election, and Genrich defeated Buckley with 57.1% of the vote.[9]

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Mayor Genrich was one of several Wisconsin mayors and politicians who sought alternative voting accommodations to comply with COVID-19 lockdown procedures.[10] Genrich and the city of Green Bay filed a lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin about two weeks before the April 7 elections, stating that they did not have the capacity to carry out the election as directed, and asking for an injunction to delay the election until June.[11] The suit was quickly dismissed by the court, which said it lacked jurisdiction to rule on the matter.[12] A subsequent order from Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers to postpone the election also fell in the Wisconsin Supreme Court.[13] The election went forward as scheduled on April 7, though with less than 10% of their normal election workers. Brown County Clerk Sandy Juno offered to allocate Wisconsin National Guard personnel to manage polling stations, but Green Bay (along with other neighboring municipalities) refused, citing a lack of training.[14] As a result of the personnel shortages, Green Bay could operate only 2 of their 31 in-person polling locations and endured long lines of voters waiting to cast their ballots.[14]