Robert Wittke

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Robert Wittke
Member of the Wisconsin State Assembly
from the 62nd district
Assumed office
January 7, 2019
Preceded byTom Weatherston
President of the Racine Unified School Board
In office
April 2017 – April 2019
Preceded byMichael Frontier
Succeeded byBrian O'Connell
Member of the Racine Unified School Board
from the 9th district
In office
April 2016 – April 2019
Preceded byPosition Established
Succeeded byKimberly Hoover
Personal details
Born (1957-09-23) September 23, 1957 (age 67)
Racine, Wisconsin
Political partyRepublican
SpouseAlison
Children4
ResidenceWind Point, Wisconsin
Alma materUniversity of Wisconsin–Eau Claire
ProfessionAccountant

Robert Otto Wittke Jr. (born September 23, 1957) is an accountant and Republican politician. He is a member of the Wisconsin State Assembly for the 62nd district, representing the northern half of Racine County.[1]

Biography

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Born in Racine, Wisconsin, to Robert Wittke Sr. and Margaret Wittke née Jankowski, Wittke graduated from William Horlick High School in 1975 and received a B.A. in accounting from the University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire in 1980. He worked as a tax accountant for Modine Manufacturing in Racine from 1980 to 1986, then at Snap-on Inc. in Kenosha from 1988 to 1994. He then worked for Deloitte in their tax consultancy from 1994 to 2002. Since 2012, he has been employed by CORPTAX, a tax software as a service company based in Deerfield, Illinois.[2]

Wittke resides in Wind Point, Wisconsin, he is married and has four children.

Political career

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Wittke first ran for Racine Unified School Board in 2013, placing fourth in a top-three at-large election.[3]

In 2015, the Wisconsin Legislature passed a law requiring Racine Unified School Board seats to be assigned to geographic districts, rather than elected at-large.[4] Wittke ran for the newly drawn ninth district in the 2016 school board elections. He was elected in April 2016, defeating retiree Kurt Squire. A year later, in April 2017, Wittke was elected School Board President.[5]

In April 2018, Tom Weatherston announced that he would not seek re-election to a fourth term representing the 62nd district in the Wisconsin State Assembly.[6] Wittke announced his candidacy for the seat the next day.[7] He defeated John Leiber in the Republican Primary, and went on to defeat former State Senator John Lehman in the 2018 general election.[8][1]

Wittke announced that he would not seek re-election to the Racine School Board in 2019.[9]

Electoral history

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Racine School Board (2013, 2016)

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Racine School Board Election, 2013
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
General Election, April 2, 2013 (vote for three)
Nonpartisan Michael Frontier 9,318 20.91%
Nonpartisan Julie McKenna 9,038 20.29%
Nonpartisan Chris Eperjesy 8,431 18.92%
Nonpartisan Robert Wittke 6,825 15.32%
Nonpartisan Roger Pfost 5,620 12.61%
Nonpartisan Kristie Formolo 5,239 11.76%
Write-ins 81 0.18%
Total votes 44,552 100.0%
Racine School Board, 9th District Election, 2016
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
General Election, April 5, 2016
Nonpartisan Robert Wittke 3,238 61.42%
Nonpartisan Kurt Squire 2,034 38.58%
Total votes 5,272 100.0%

Wisconsin State Assembly, 62nd district (2018–2022)

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Year Election Date Elected Defeated Total Plurality
2018 Primary[10] Aug. 14 Robert Wittke Republican 3,931 67.50% John Leiber Rep. 1,885 32.37% 5,824 2,046
General[11] Nov. 6 Robert Wittke Republican 16,035 54.87% John Lehman Dem. 13,161 45.04% 29,223 2,874
2020 General[12] Nov. 3 Robert Wittke (inc) Republican 20,540 58.63% August Schutz Dem. 14,463 41.28% 35,034 6,077
2022 General[13] Nov. 8 Robert Wittke (inc) Republican 18,236 61.36% Anthony Hammes Dem. 11,445 38.51% 29,719 6,791

Wisconsin State Assembly, 63rd district (2024)

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References

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  1. ^ a b "Wittke elected in District 62; incumbents returned in other legislative races". Racine Journal Times. 2018-11-07. Retrieved 2019-03-26.
  2. ^ "Robert Wittke's Biography". Vote Smart. Retrieved 2019-03-26.
  3. ^ Fiori, Lindsay (2013-04-02). "Frontier, McKenna and Eperjesy elected in RUSD race". Racine Journal Times. Retrieved 2019-03-26.
  4. ^ Schaaf, Mark (2015-10-27). "School Board boundaries drawn". Racine Journal Times. Retrieved 2019-03-26.
  5. ^ Torres, Ricardo (2017-04-25). "Wittke elected School Board president". Racine Journal Times. Retrieved 2019-03-26.
  6. ^ Wicklund, Pete (2018-04-10). "Weatherston not seeking re-election to the state Assembly". Racine Journal Times. Retrieved 2019-03-26.
  7. ^ "Wittke announces candidacy for 62nd Assembly District". Racine Journal Times. 2018-04-11. Retrieved 2019-03-26.
  8. ^ Sadowski, Jonathon (2018-08-14). "Wittke prevails in Assembly District 62 GOP primary". Racine Journal Times. Retrieved 2019-03-26.
  9. ^ Sievers, Caitlin (2019-01-03). "Wittke will not run for School Board re-election, no filers for his seat". Racine Journal Times. Retrieved 2019-03-26.
  10. ^ Canvass Results for 2018 Partisan Primary - 8/14/2018 (Report). Wisconsin Elections Commission. August 31, 2018. p. 81. Retrieved October 20, 2024.
  11. ^ Canvass Results for 2018 General Election - 11/6/2018 (PDF) (Report). Wisconsin Elections Commission. February 22, 2019. p. 24. Retrieved October 20, 2024.
  12. ^ Canvass Results for 2020 General Election - 11/3/2020 (PDF) (Report). Wisconsin Elections Commission. November 18, 2020. p. 22. Retrieved October 20, 2024.
  13. ^ Canvass Results for 2022 General Election - 11/8/2022 (PDF) (Report). Wisconsin Elections Commission. November 30, 2022. p. 23. Retrieved October 20, 2024.
Wisconsin State Assembly
Preceded by Member of the Wisconsin State Assembly from the 62nd district
January 7, 2019 – present
Incumbent
Educational offices
Preceded by
Michael Frontier
President of the Racine Unified School Board
April 2017 – April 2019
Succeeded by
Brian O'Connell