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Capitol Notes
WI: Weekly Political and Legislative Update
TO: Clients/Friends of Capitol Consultants, Inc./Wimmer & Company, S.C.

FROM:  Capitol Consultants, Inc.
              & Wimmer Company, S.C.

DATE:  August 16, 2011

SUBJECT:   Sen. Bob Wirch easily survives Recall Election
 
State Senator Robert Wirch (D-Kenosha) wins Recall Election

WirchSen. Bob Wirch successfully defended himself in a recall challenge by Republican Jonathan Steitz (R-Kenosha).  Sen. Wirch has served in the Wisconsin State Senate since 1996.

With 70 of 100 precincts reporting, the Associated Press called the race for Sen. Wirch who was leading 56% to 44%, and only votes from Kenosha county remaining.

 

Committee Assignments: 

 

 

 

Senator Wirch Bio:

 

Bob Wirch was born on November 16, 1943, in Kenosha, Wisconsin. He attended Highland Grade School, Lincoln Junior High School, and graduated from Bradford High School in 1961. In 1970, he received his Bachelor of Arts degree in History from the UW-Parkside.

Prior to being elected to the Wisconsin Assembly in 1992, Bob worked at American Brass in Kenosha. He also worked as a liaison to Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) programs, and served in the Army Reserve from 1965-1971.

   

In 1986, he was elected to the Kenosha County Board of Supervisors representing the 20th District. During his seven-year tenure on the Kenosha County Board, Bob was chairman of the Health and Human Services Committee and the Welfare Board.  He was elected to the State Senate in 1996, and re-elected in 2000.

 

Bob has been very active in the Kenosha community. He is a regular volunteer at the Shalom Center working with the homeless, and attends the First Presbyterian Church along with his wife, Mary, and children, David and Julia. David is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin Madison, and Julia is a student at the University of Wisconsin Madison.  

Senator Wirch belongs to the Danish Brotherhood, the Kenosha Sport Fishing and Conservation Association, the Friends of the Kenosha Public Museum, the Kenosha Scout Leaders Rescue Squad Advisory Council, Senior Action Council, Kenosha Literacy Council Board of Directors, Kenosha Area Business Alliance, the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, and was a member of the former United Steelworkers Local 9322.

 

Senator Wirch is the Senate Chair of Joint Committee on Retirement Systems, and the Chair of the Senate Committee on Small Business, Emergency Preparedness, Technical Colleges and Consumer Protection. Senator Wirch is also a member of the Senate Committee on Labor, Elections and Urban Affairs, the Senate Committee on Environment, the Senate Committee on Commerce, Utilities, Energy and Rail, the Wisconsin Coastal Management Council, and the Migrant Labor Council.

 

He is also a member of the Wisconsin State Incentive Advisory Committee, the Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention Board, and is co-chairperson of the Wisconsin Legislative Study Committee on the Recodification of Chapter 55, dealing with involuntary protective placement. 

 

In the past, Senator Wirch has served on various committees, from the budget-reviewing Joint Committee on Finance and the Human Services Committee to the Senate Committee on Economic Development, Housing, and Government Operations.