This Giving Tuesday, help ensure voters have the information they need to make confident, informed decisions. Donate now!

Kurt Bauer

From Ballotpedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Kurt R. Bauer
Kurt Bauer.jpg
Basic facts
Organization:Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce
Role:President/CEO
Location:Madison, Wisconsin
Education:University of Wisconsin, Madison


Kurt R. Bauer is the president and CEO of Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce (WMC), a 501(c)(6) business association. Bauer is also a registered lobbyist in Wisconsin.[1] As of December 2025, Bauer and WMC lobbied the following issues: "taxation; labor relations; environment; business regulation; health care; civil justice; energy; transportation and workforce."[2]

Biography

Bauer received a bachelor's degree from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. He began his career in policy as Wisconsin Bankers Association's chief lobbyist. In 2002, Bauer moved to Phoenix, Arizona, and became president and CEO of the Arizona Bankers Association. He then served as the president and CEO of the Wisconsin Bankers Association from 2004 to 2011, later becoming president and CEO of WMC in 2011.[3][4]

Work and activities

Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce

As of December 2025, Bauer was the president and CEO of WMC, the state's largest business association. Founded in 1911, the association represented over 3,800 member companies. WMC said it was "consistently ranked as the number one lobbying organization in Wisconsin," with a 2025-2026 legislative agenda that included what it said were the following challenges: high healthcare costs, skilled labor shortages, and a high tax burden.[5][6]

The WMC Issues Mobilization Council, WMC's 501(c)(4), said it "raised and spent more than $63 million to educate the public about jobs, the economy, regulations, taxes, and which politicians are pro-business and which are not."[7] According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, WMC Issues Mobilization Council typically spent money on ads that supported Republican and conservative candidates.[8]

In addition to his leadership with the above, Bauer provided testimony before the U.S. House of Representatives' Financial Services Committee's Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit, authored editorials in Wisconsin newspapers such as the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and the Sun Prairie Star, presented policy statements, and interviewed in Wisconsin print and electronic media such as the Wisconsin State Journal and Wisconsin NPR.[9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17]

Notable endorsements

See also: Ballotpedia: Our approach to covering endorsements

This section displays endorsements this individual made in elections within Ballotpedia's coverage scope. Know of one we missed? Click here to let us know.

See also

External links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ WI Lobbying, "Kurt Bauer," accessed December 1, 2025
  2. ↑ WI Lobbying, "Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce," accessed December 1, 2025
  3. ↑ LinkedIn, "Kurt R. Bauer," accessed December 1, 2025
  4. ↑ Wisconsin State Journal, "Bauer to succeed Haney as head of WMC," March 3, 2011
  5. ↑ Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce, "Legislative Agenda," accessed December 1, 2025
  6. ↑ Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce, "Legislative Agenda: 2025-2026 Wisconsin Legislative Session," accessed December 1, 2025
  7. ↑ Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce, "WMC Issues Mobilization Council," accessed December 1, 2025
  8. ↑ Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Here are the groups behind the heavy spending in Wisconsin's Supreme Court race," March 24, 2025
  9. ↑ U.S. Government Publishing Office, "New Regulations Are Impacting Financial Institutions, Small Businesses, and Consumers," October 31, 2011
  10. ↑ Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Manufacturers need immigration reform," August 26, 2013
  11. ↑ Sun Prairie Star, "Continuing Wisconsin's era of reform," December 8, 2014
  12. ↑ Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Wisconsin's business climate outshines Minnesota," July 6, 2015
  13. ↑ Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce, "Statement from WMC President/CEO Kurt R. Bauer on today’s jobs numbers," March 8, 2012
  14. ↑ Wisconsin State Journal, "Wisconsin's economy looks 'healthy' and 'promising' for 2015, industry leaders say," December 26, 2014
  15. ↑ Wisconsin Public Radio, "Kurt Bauer," December 10, 2014
  16. ↑ Dailytakes, "Dailytakes Half Hour Happy Hour with Kurt Bauer," August 14, 2015
  17. ↑ IBTV Coffee Break, "Kurt Bauer, President/CEO WMC: Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce," February 29, 2012
v • e
Influencers
MainInfluencer Project Badge.png
Retrieved from "https://ballotpedia.org/wiki/index.php?title=Kurt_Bauer&oldid=10699897"