Van H. Wanggaard

Van H. Wanggaard (born April 19, 1952) is a Republican politician and former law enforcement officer. He is a member of the Wisconsin State Senate, representing Racine and Kenosha counties since January 5, 2015. He was previously elected to the same office in 2010, but was removed by recall election in June 2012.[1][2]

Van H. Wanggaard
Member of the Wisconsin Senate
from the 21st district
Assumed office
January 5, 2015
Preceded byJohn Lehman
In office
January 3, 2011 – July 11, 2012
Preceded byJohn Lehman
Succeeded byJohn Lehman
Member of the Racine County
Board of Supervisors
In office
2002–2011
Personal details
Born (1952-04-19) April 19, 1952
Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
SpouseMary Jo Wanggaard
Children2
Alma materGateway Technical College
ProfessionFormer investigator for the Racine Police Department
WebsiteOfficial site

Background/family life

Born in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, Wanggaard graduated from Racine Lutheran High School in 1970. He then graduated from Gateway Technical College with a certificate in Police Science Instruction. Wanggard also took course work at University of Wisconsin–Extension, University of Wisconsin–Parkside, Green Bay Technical College, Milwaukee Area Technical College, Racine Technical College, Gateway Technical College, Wisconsin State Patrol Academy, and the United States Coast Guard National SAR School. Wanggard also taught at Gateway Technical College.

Wanggaard worked for the Racine Police Department from 1972 to 2001 as an investigator. He and his wife have two children.[3][4][5]

Political career

Wanggaard was elected to the Racine County Board of Supervisors in 2002, a seat he held until he joined the State Senate in 2011.

In 2006, Wanggaard ran for the 62nd Wisconsin Assembly district but was defeated by future Racine Mayor Cory Mason.

In 2010, Wanggaard ran again for state legislative office, this time challenging incumbent Democrat John Lehman in the 21st senate district. This time Wanggaard was successful, winning the seat as part of the 2010 Republican wave election which saw Republicans flip 721 state legislative seats around the country.[6][7]

Shortly after the 2010 election, the new unified Republican government attempted to pass a controversial budget restructuring. The bill was characterized as an assault on unions and public education, and led to senate recall elections in 2011 and 2012, as well as a recall election for the Governor, Scott Walker. Wanggaard was one of the 16 senators who faced recall elections, and was challenged by his defeated 2010 rival, former-senator John Lehman. Lehman defeated Wanggaard in the recall election held on June 5, 2012. This was the 2nd time that a senator serving in the 21st district had been successfully recalled, the first being George Petak in 1996.[8]

After the 21st was redrawn into a safe Republican district, Lehman chose not to run for re-election in 2014, opting instead to seek the Democratic nomination for Lieutenant Governor of Wisconsin. Wanggaard sought and received the Republican nomination to reclaim the 21st senate district and defeated Democrat Randy Bryce in the general election.[9][10]

As of 2018, Wanggaard is the Wisconsin Senate Majority Caucus Chair.

Electoral history

Wisconsin Assembly (2006)
Wisconsin Assembly, 62nd District Election, 2006[11]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
General Election, November 7, 2006
Democratic Cory Mason 10,302 52.37% -37.18%
Republican Van H. Wanggaard 9,363 47.60%
Scattering 6 0.03%
Total votes 19,671 100.0% -8.65%
Democratic hold

Wisconsin Senate (2010, 2012, 2014, 2018)
Year Election Date Elected Defeated Total Plurality
2010 Primary[12] Sep. 12 Van Wanggaard Republican 13,864 79.89% Bob Gulan Rep. 3,475 20.03% 17,353 10,389
General[13] Nov. 2 Van Wanggaard Republican 32,036 52.52% John W. Lehman (incumbent) Dem. 28,930 47.43% 60,995 3,106
2012 Recall[14] June 5 John W. Lehman Democratic 36,358 50.53% Van Wanggaard (incumbent) Rep. 35,539 49.39% 71,955 819
2014 Primary[15] Aug. 12 Van Wanggaard Republican 10,563 71.05% Jonathan Steitz Rep. 4,293 28.88% 14,866 6,270
General[16] Nov. 4 Van Wanggaard Republican 44,967 61.42% Randy Bryce Dem. 28,106 38.39% 73,213 16,861
Bill Thompkins (write-in) Ind. 34 0.05%
2018 General[17] Nov. 6 Van Wanggaard (incumbent) Republican 48,603 58.01% Lori Hawkins Dem. 35,111 41.91% 83,783 13,492

References
  1. Alison Bauter. "Recount affirms Lehman's win in Senate recall race". jsonline.com.
  2. "Election Recount Information". wi.gov.
  3. 'Wisconsin Blue Book 2011-2010, Biographical Sketch of Van H. Wanggaard, pg. 60
  4. "Van Wanggaard's Biography - The Voter's Self Defense System - Vote Smart". Project Vote Smart.
  5. "Default Parallels Plesk Page". voteforvan.com.
  6. Mike Moore (2010-11-02). "STATE SENATE: Lehman concedes to Wanggaard as Senate falls to GOP control". Racine Journal Times. Retrieved 2019-02-11.
  7. Tim Storey (2010-12-10). "GOP Makes Historic State Legislative Gains in 2010". Rasmussen Reports. Retrieved 2019-02-11.
  8. Craig Gilbert (2012-05-20). "Racine's 21st Senate District no stranger to recalls". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Retrieved 2019-02-11.
  9. Bergquist, Lee. "Election 2014: Allen, Brostoff, Wanggaard, Bowen win legislative primaries" Milwaukee Journal Sentinel August 13, 2014
  10. 'Wanggaard reclaims senate seat,' The Journal Times, Mark Schaff, November 5, 2014
  11. Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau. "Elections in Wisconsin". State of Wisconsin 2003-2004 Blue Book (Report). State of Wisconsin. pp. 920, 923. Retrieved 2019-03-26.
  12. 2010-09-14 Fall Primary summary post recount (Report). Wisconsin Government Accountability Board. October 4, 2010. p. 14. Retrieved September 29, 2022 – via Wisconsin Historical Society.
  13. 2010-12-16 County by County Final November (Report). Wisconsin Government Accountability Board. December 16, 2010. p. 34. Retrieved September 29, 2022 – via Wisconsin Historical Society.
  14. Canvass Results for 2012 June 5 Recall Election - 6/5/2012 (PDF) (Report). Wisconsin Government Accountability Board. July 3, 2012. p. 2. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 17, 2020. Retrieved September 29, 2022 – via Wayback Machine.
  15. Canvass Results for 2014 Fall Partisan Primary - 8/12/2014 (Report). Wisconsin Government Accountability Board. August 29, 2014. p. 12. Retrieved September 29, 2022 – via Wisconsin Elections Commission.
  16. Canvass Results for 2014 General Election - 11/4/2014 (Report). Wisconsin Government Accountability Board. November 26, 2014. p. 12. Retrieved September 29, 2022 – via Wisconsin Elections Commission.
  17. Canvass Results for 2018 General Election - 11/6/2018 (Report). Wisconsin Elections Commission. February 22, 2019. p. 8. Retrieved September 29, 2022.
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