Douglas La Follette

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Douglas La Follette
Wisconsin Secretary of State
Incumbent
Assumed office
1983
Current term ends
2010
Political party Democrat
Website Official Wisconsin Secretary of State website

Contents

Douglas La Follette (born June 6, 1940) is a United States academic, environmental activist, and Democratic politician in the state of Wisconsin. He is the current Wisconsin Secretary of State. He faces re-election in November 2010.

Education

Early life and career

He began a teaching career as an assistant professor at University of Wisconsin-Parkside in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

Known as an environmental activist before running for public office, in 1970 he was a Wisconsin organizer of the first Earth Day for Gaylord Nelson, and co-founded Wisconsin's Environmental Decade. LaFollette helped organize Earth Day in Wisconsin again in 1990.

Political career

He first ran for office in 1970, losing the Democratic primary election for the 1st Congressional District to Les Aspin. He served in the Wisconsin State Senate for Kenosha for one term. LaFollette currently serves as the Wisconsin Secretary of State, a post to which he was first elected in 1974. He ran for Lieutenant Governor in 1978, losing while on a ticket with Governor Martin Schreiber. He was elected to the office again in 1982, defeating the incumbent Vel Phillips and has been the incumbent Secretary of State since that time. He has often run unopposed, and shuns fundraising in the style of former Wisconsin Sen. William Proxmire. In 1990, his opponent -- Madison attorney and radio personality Stuart Levitan -- campaigned on a promise to eliminate the Secretary of State's office, whose duties such as monitoring lobbying activities and investigating ethics violations have been reduced and transferred to other agencies including the State Board of Elections under LaFollette's tenure.

Some have called for the elimination of the Wisconsin Office of Secretary of State, believing it to be noting more then “a huge government filing cabinet where one can find land deeds, oaths of office and the complete Blue Book collection since 1853. The secretary’s most notable task is affixing the state’s Great Seal to all of the official acts of the governor"[1]. Wisconsin State Senator Alan Lasee of De Pere proposed a constitutional amendment in April 2009 calling for the elimination of the offices of Lieutenant Governor and Secretary of State, estimating it would save the state up to $2.2 million dollars over the course of two years[2].

Since being elected Secretary of State, LaFollette has run twice run for federal office. In 1988, he ran for the United States Senate, losing the primary to Herb Kohl. In 1996, he lost another 1st District primary to Lydia Spottswood, who then lost the general election to Mark Neumann.

Other roles

State Government
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State officials
State legislatures
Elections, 2010
Primary election dates, 2010
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  • LaFollette is the author of the 1991 book The Survival Handbook: A Strategy for Saving Planet Earth.
  • He was a consultant on the Council on Economic Priorities.
  • He has also served as the Public Affairs Director for the Union of Concerned Scientists as well as the Assistant Director of the Mid American Solar Energy Complex.
  • In 2003 he ran for, and was elected to, the board of directors of the Sierra Club for a three-year term[3]. He did not seek reelection in 2006.
  • He was a Fulbright Distinguished American Scholar in 2003.
  • LaFollette was formerly on the advisory board of Carrying Capacity Network and is currently an adviser to NumbersUSA.

2006 election

On September 12, 2006, LaFollette easily won re-nomination as the Democratic candidate for Secretary of State over primary challenger Scot Ross who, earlier that year, admitted to illegally campaigning on state time as a member of the Assembly Democrat Caucus[4]

His general election opponent, Republican Sandy Sullivan, drew attention for her self-published 'tell-all' book in which she claims she had affairs with several ex-Green Bay Packers.[5]

Controversies

Stolen quotes

In 1970, the Kenosha News broke the story that La Follete, while campaigning in the Democratic Primary in Wisconsin’s First Congressional District against Les Aspin, produced a brochure supposedly full of quotes from average citizens who played up his family ties to ‘Fighting’ Bob La Follette. The Wisconsin newspaper revealed those quotes were stolen from the campaign literature of Michael Harrington, a Massachusetts Democrat.[6]

WCCN

He was ordered in 1984 to pay a $500 fine for allowing the Wisconsin Coordinating Council on Nicaragua (WCCN), an activist organization whose purpose was to promote people-to-people projects and locally-based "municipal foreign policies" by individual U.S. cities as an alternative to the militaristic foreign policy of the U.S. government under President Ronald Reagan, to use his secretary of state office as a base for their activities. La Follette’s then-wife was the leader of the non-profit organization at the time[7]

Lobbyists

In 1988, La Follette was punished with another fine ($50), this time for allowing lobbyists to sign a letter requesting that the Wisconsin State Legislature to increase the staff in the office of secretary of state.

Notification of law change

In 1990, Stuart Levitan, a challenger for the Democratic nomination for Wisconsin Secretary of State, charged La Follette “through ingnorance or incompetence’ fail[ing] to notify [Milwaukee] county officials of a proposed change in state law that will cost the county at least $50,000 a year”[8]

State computer use

In 2006, he was fined $500 by the Wisconsin State Ethics Board after he admitted to using a state computer and e-mail system to create and send campaign-related documents[9]

Campaign contributions

2006 Race for Secretary of State - Campaign Contributions
Total Raised $25,897
Total Raised by Primary Opponent $69,415
Total Raised by Gen. Election Opponent $17,148
Top 5 Contributors WI State AFL-CIO $8,500 (32.82% of Total)
WI Laborers District Council $4,000 (15.45%)
Operating Engineers Local 139 $2,500 (9.65%)
Electrical Workers Local 890 $2,000 (7.72%)
Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway $1,000 (3.86%)
Individuals v. Institutions $5,172 (20%)
$20,100 (77.6%)
In v. Outside State $21,820 (84.4%)
$4,045 (15.6%)

Electoral history

2002

2002 Race for Secretary of State - General Election[10]
Candidates Percentage
Doug La Follette (D) 56.6%
Robert G. Lorge (R) 41.3%
Edward J. Farmi (Concerned Citizens) 2.1%
Total votes 1,680,164

2006

2006 Race for Secretary of State - Democratic Primary[11]
Candidates Percentage
Doug La Follette (D) 72%
Scott Ross (D) 28%
Total votes 332,265
2006 Race for Secretary of State - General Election[12]
Candidates Percentage
Doug La Follette (D) 57%
Sandy Sullivan (R) 38%
Michael LaForest (Green) 4.5%
Write Ins 0.5%
Total votes 2,075,405

2010

See also: Secretary of State elections, 2010

La Follette is planning a run in 2010 for a eighth four-year term as Wisconsin's secretary of state. If a primary opponent emerges, the primary date is September 14, 2010.

Awards

  • Environmental Excellence Award, Midwest Renewable Energy Assoc., 1992
  • Environmental Advocate of the Year, Clean Water Action Council, 1996
  • Environmental Quality Award, Environmental Protection Agency

Contact Information

The Office of the Secretary of State
P.O. Box 7848
Madison, WI 53707 - 7848
608-266-8888, then press 2
statesec@sos.state.wi.us

External links

References

  1. ↑ Milwaukee Magazine "What Does Doug LaFollette Do All Day?" 23 May 2006
  2. ↑ 1150 WHBY - Lasee wants to eliminate to state offices
  3. ↑ SUSPS - Doug LaFlotte elected to the Sierra Club Board of Directors in April, 2003
  4. ↑ Milwaukee Journal Sentinel "Assembly Democrats drawn into caucus scandal" 31 Jan. 2006
  5. ↑ CNN "Candidate has sex with the Green Bay Packers" 11 Oct. 2006
  6. ↑ Randy Melchert - So tell me more about what Doug LaFollette has done in office…
  7. ↑ Milwaukee Journal Sentinel "Secretary of state race livens up" 27 Oct. 2006
  8. ↑ Milwaukee Sentinel "Candidate reps La Follette on notification of law change" 1 Sept. 1990
  9. ↑ Wisconsin State Ethics Board - Use of State Resources for Campaigning/Doug La Follette
  10. ↑ Wisconsin Government Accountability Board - 2002 General Election Results
  11. ↑ Wisconsin Government Accountability Board - 2006 Democratic Primary Election Results
  12. ↑ Wisconsin Government Accountability Board - 2006 General Election Results
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