Jeff Fitzgerald

Jeff Fitzgerald
Wisconsin State Assembly District 39
Former officeholder
In office
2001 - January 3, 2013
Party	Republican
Compensation
Base salary	$49,943/year
Per diem	$88/day
Elections and appointments
Last election	November 2, 2010
First elected	2000
Term limits	N/A
Education
Bachelor's	University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh, 1989
Personal
Birthday	10/12/1966
Place of birth	Chicago, IL
Religion	Catholic
Websites
Office website
Campaign website

Jeff Fitzgerald (b. October 12, 1966) is a former Republican Speaker of the Wisconsin State Assembly, representing the 39th District from 2001 to 2013. He also served on the Beaver Dam City Council from 2000-2003. Fitzgerald was a 2012 Republican candidate seeking election to the U.S. Senate from Wisconsin.

Fitzgerald has worked at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and as a small business owner. He is a member of the American Council of Young Political Leaders, American Legislative Exchange Council, Beaver Dam Chamber of Commerce, Dodge County Republican Party, Community Relations Board - Fox Lake Correctional Institution, Juneau Chamber of Commerce, and Pheasants Forever.

Committee assignments

2011-2012

In the 2011-2012 legislative session, Fitzgerald served on these committees:

• Assembly Organization Committee, Chair
• Joint Committee on Employment Relations, Co-Chair
• Joint Committee on Legislative Council
• Joint Committee on Legislative Organization, Co-Chair
• Rules Committee, Vice Chair

2009-2010

In the 2009-2010 legislative session, Fitzgerald served on these committees:

• Rules Committee
• Assembly Organization Committee
• Committee of Conference on Assembly Bill 75
• Employment Relations Committee, Wisconsin State Legislature
• Legislative Organization Committee, Wisconsin State Legislature
• Joint Legislative Council Committee, Wisconsin State Legislature

Issues

Fitzgerald lists some issues that make up his campaign platform on his website:

• "As Wisconsin’s Junior Senator I will aggressively pursue free trade agreements that will open new markets to Wisconsin’s agricultural exports. I will support the construction and maintenance of the infrastructure necessary for Wisconsin’s Agri-businesses to thrive and grow; and I will fight animal rights activists and environmental extremists who threaten the family farming way of life.
• I strongly oppose the death tax, in part because I believe that it is important that family farms be passed on from generation to generation.
• I will work tirelessly to keep government out of the way of our hardworking farmers and farming families because I know that all farmers would rather be in the cabs of their combines and tractors then filling out numerous bureaucratic forms.
• I have pledged to oppose any and all tax increases if elected to the U.S. Senate.
• The key to eliminating our debt is the aggressive enactment of pro-growth policies, not an increasingly burdensome and complicated tax code that hinders entrepreneurship and prosperity.
• Once Governor Walker took office and Republicans took control of the state Assembly and Senate, we couldn’t just say no. WE HAD TO LEAD. The solutions Governor Walker and I crafted to solve Wisconsin’s spending problems were met with an immediate revolt from the status quo. Tens of thousands of protestors occupied our capitol, 14 Democrat Senators fled the state to block a vote, and the special interests who feed at the government trough tried to undue fair and square elections with a flurry of recall campaigns.
• In the face of unyielding opposition and adversity, we passed spending reforms that brought forth meaningful bureaucratic, budgetary and political changes to Wisconsin that will last for generations. The U.S. government must take action like we have in Wisconsin. Sacred cows must be challenged. Third rails must be crossed. Obamacare must be repealed and entitlements must be dramatically reduced.
• I support reforming the No Child Left Behind Act and will generally seek to reduce the federal government’s involvement in education in order to return more flexibility to states and local school boards and to reduce wasteful federal spending.
• Shelve plans to shrink our ground forces. The US already has one of the leanest and meanest militaries on earth, and a certain level of human capital will be required to meet future threats. Modern militaries take time to develop and the US must be prepared to face challenges that may seem unthinkable today but that could easily become reality in the future. President Obama’s plans to reduce the size of America’s ground forces are misguided and shortsighted.
• Grow our navy at a much faster rate, particularly with smaller, swifter vessels like the littoral combat ships produced for the navy in Marinette, WI and the Coast Guard’s high endurance cutters, which are able to quickly respond to the types of challenges facing America on the seas of the 21st Century. The US must continue to dominate the oceans to ensure our position as the chief military and economic power in the world.
• Re-double the development and deployment of missile defense technology. President Obama’s scaled back missile defense program is inadequate and cannot meet America’s future defensive needs. A strong and ever advancing missile defense system is an excellent deterrent to our enemies and a vital tool to maintaining global peace.
• Expanding domestic oil and natural gas exploration and drilling
• The construction of new refineries and pipelines, like the Keystone XL Pipeline
• A cost-benefit analysis of reformulated “boutique” blend mandates
• A reduction of government interference in energy markets"

Elections

2012

See also: United States Senate elections in Wisconsin, 2012

Fitzgerald ran for the U.S. Senate in 2012. Fitzgerald was seeking the nomination on the Republican ticket. He faced Eric Hovde, Mark Neumann, John Schiess, and was defeated by Tommy Thompson in the August 14 Republican primary.

The University of Virginia's Center for Politics published an article called Sabato's Crystal Ball on March 22, 2012 detailing the 8 races in the Senate in 2012 that will decide the political fate of which party will end up with control in 2013. The seat rated a a toss-up that the Sabato's Crystal Ball believes could be decided by the party's nomination is the Senate seat in Wisconsin. If former Governor Tommy Thompson (R) can win the Republican nomination and make it to the general election in November, the articles believes he would have a significant edge. According to the article, "Given the current state of these toss ups, it’s not a stretch to think that a Thompson victory in Wisconsin could end up giving Republicans their 51st Senate seat."

2010

See also: Wisconsin State Assembly elections, 2010

Fitzgerald was re-elected to Wisconsin State Assembly District 39. He was unopposed in the general election on November 2, 2010 and in the September 14, 2010 primary election.

Wisconsin State Assembly, District 39 Republican Primary (2010)
Candidates		Votes	Percent
Jeff Fitzgerald (R)		7,049	99.41%

Fitzgerald was elected Speaker of the Assembly by his Republican peers on November 8, 2010.

2008

On November 4, 2008, Fitzgerald won re-election to Assembly District 39, receiving 60.08% of the vote.

Wisconsin Assembly District 39
Candidates		Votes
Jeff Fitzgerald (R)		15,974
Aaron Onsrud (D)		10,607
Scattering		7

Campaign donors

2010

In 2010, Fitzgerald received $110,157 in campaign donations. The top contributors are listed below.

Wisconsin State Assembly 2010 election - Campaign Contributions
Top contributors to Jeff Fitzgerald's campaign in 2010
Fitzgerald, Jeffrey M	$1,320
Fitzgerald, Jeff	$1,178
Dabney, Kevin S	$1,000
Kulka, Bradley	$750
Harvey, William D	$600
Total Raised in 2010	$110,157

2008

Rep. Fitzgerald speaking at the Republican State Convention

The top 5 donors to Fitzgerald's 2008 campaign were mostly individuals:

Donor	Amount
Tiffany, Citizens For	$1,000
Moga for Assembly, Don	$950
Washa, Lisa	$700
Miller, John	$600
Barrette, Mark A	$550

Personal

Fitzgerald is married with two children.

External links

Suggest a link

• Representative Fitzgerald's campaign
• Representative Fitzgerald's website
• Wisconsin Assembly - Representative Jeff Fitzgerald
• Project Vote Smart biographical profile
• Project Vote Smart legislative profile
• Campaign Contributions:2008, 2006, 2004, 2002, 2000
• Representative Fitzgerald's Freedom Speaks profile
• Wisconsin Democracy Campaign profile

References

Political offices
Preceded by -	Wisconsin State Assembly District 39 2005–2013	Succeeded by Mark Born (R)