Wikipedia

Bob Donovan

Robert G. "Bob" Donovan (born 1956) is an American Republican politician from Milwaukee County, Wisconsin. He is a member of the Wisconsin State Assembly, representing Wisconsin's 84th Assembly district since January 2023. Following the 2024 redistricting, he has announced he will run for re-election in the redrawn 61st Assembly district. He previously served 20 years on the Milwaukee Common Council and was an unsuccessful candidate for mayor of Milwaukee in 2016 and 2022.

Bob Donovan
Donovan in 2011
Member of the Wisconsin State Assembly
from the 84th district
Incumbent
Assumed office
January 3, 2023
Preceded byMike Kuglitsch
Member of the Milwaukee Common Council from the 8th district
In office
April 18, 2000 – April 21, 2020
Preceded byWayne P. Frank
Succeeded byJoCasta Zamarripa
Personal details
Born1956 (age 67–68)
Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
Spouse
Kathy Donovan
​
(m. 1985)​
Children5
ResidenceGreenfield, Wisconsin
EducationSaint Francis de Sales Seminary
University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee
OccupationPolitician
WebsiteCampaign website

Early life and career

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Bob Donovan was born and raised in the Jackson Park neighborhood of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and graduated from Saint Thomas More High School. Donovan comes from a Catholic family, and originally planned to become a priest after high school. He entered Saint Francis de Sales Seminary but left after a year.[1] He then attended the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee for two years, intending to become a teacher, but also left without completing his degree. During his college years, he had worked as a laborer during the summers at Milwaukee Solvay Coke & Gas Co., a coal processing plant. After leaving UWM, he decided to focus on this work and became a supervisor and later plant foreman.[1] Milwaukee Solvay Coke went out of business in 1983 and Donovan worked a number of jobs in the years after, including security officer at Southridge Mall and later for a pest control company.[1]

Political career

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Early campaigns

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Donovan first entered politics as a Republican candidate in 1982, challenging incumbent Democratic state representative Joseph Czarnezki in what was then the 17th Assembly district. Czarnezki easily won the election, receiving 76% of the vote in the heavily Democratic district.[2] A few months after the election, however, Czarnezki won a special election for Wisconsin Senate, and a new special election was called in the 17th Assembly district.[1] Donovan ran again, and fared a bit better in the lower turnout special election, but still received only 33% of the vote.[2]

Donovan says he was drawn to the Republican Party by Ronald Reagan, but later admitted that this experience taught him that he didn't want to be labeled as a Republican if he wanted to be successful in Milwaukee politics. He therefore described himself as nonpartisan for most of the next forty years.[1]

City council

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Donovan in 2009

In the late 1980s and 1990s, Donovan became involved in neighborhood associations, such as the Southside Organizing Committee and the Layton Boulevard West Neighbors Association. These groups saw their neighborhoods in decline, and were upset about the rising number of renters displacing homeowners. They also saw their alderman, Wayne P. Frank, as unresponsive to their concerns. Donovan decided to challenge Frank for his seat on the city council, but his 1996 campaign failed to make the ballot due to invalid nomination forms. He ran as a write-in candidate and came close to winning.[1] Four years later, Frank chose not to run for an 8th term, and Donovan won the election to succeed him.[1]

In the 2000 election, however, his opponent, G. Eddie Paez, brought up a previously unknown 1992 incident when Donovan was arrested and fined for peeping through a hole in a partition between two stalls in a men's room on the UWM campus. According to the police report, Donovan told the arresting officer he'd frequented the restroom for years "for the purpose of either watching men masturbate, or to have sex with men in the restroom." During the 2000 campaign, Donovan denied he made the statement and said he just noticed the person in the next stall was "acting suspicious".[1]

As alderman, Donovan took the unusual step of opening up a district office, funded by local businesses and staffed by volunteers. He also founded a nonprofit, the Milwaukee Alliance, which launched the south side's community prosecution unit to address neighborhood issues like absentee landlords or nuisance properties.[1]

Donovan stepped down from Milwaukee Alliance after the United States Attorney, Steven M. Biskupic, began looking into federal funding he had secured for the nonprofit.[1] Ultimately, Donovan was indicted for fraud and making false statements to the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development. At issue were several payments from the nonprofit to Donovan's wife and falsified records to hide the payments. Also at issue was the close intermingling of Donovan's campaign apparatus and the nonprofit's employees and funds.[3] Ultimately, Biskupic agreed to drop the charges after Donovan paid a fee to the city. The deal also prohibited Donovan from any involvement in federally-funded groups for the next two years, and required him to cut all ties with the Milwaukee Alliance. The organization ceased to exist less than a year later.[1]

Donovan was ultimately re-elected four times as alderman for the 8th district.[4] Because of his relatively unique conservative politics in the city government, Donovan's office became a hub for conservatives in the city seeking constituent services—even those outside of his aldermanic district. Donovan has frequently been at-odds with his mostly Democratic colleagues in the Milwaukee Common Council, and was described as having a "large ego" and "pandering".[1] He announced in March 2019 that he would retire in 2020.[5] He subsequently moved to the neighboring suburban city of Greenfield, Wisconsin.

Mayoral races

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Donovan launched his first bid for mayor of Milwaukee in 2015, challenging three-term incumbent mayor Tom Barrett in the 2016 election. Wisconsin's mayoral races are nonpartisan, but Milwaukee Democrats sought to clearly tie Donovan to the Republican establishment. They described Donovan as having "Scott Walker's ideas and Donald Trump's erratic behavior," and pointed out Donovan's frequent collaboration with Republican state legislators.[6] Donovan's past run-ins with the law were again brought up in the 2016 campaign.[7] Donovan ran on an anti-crime platform with the endorsement of Milwaukee's police and firefighters' unions.[8] Donovan was also a long-time opponent of the planned Milwaukee Streetcar. Barrett easily prevailed with 70% of the vote in the Spring general election, in line with his previous two mayoral campaigns.[9]

Five years later, in 2021, Barrett resigned to accept an appointment as U.S. Ambassador to Luxembourg. A special mayoral election was set to be held concurrent with the 2022 Spring election. Donovan again chose to enter the race, despite Milwaukee no longer being his primary residence. He stood out in a crowded primary field as the only conservative candidate, and again ran on an anti-crime platform, calling for more police and tougher penalties for criminals.[10] The final vote was also nearly identical to his previous run, and interim mayor Cavalier Johnson became Milwaukee's first black mayor, receiving 71% of the vote.[11]

Wisconsin Legislature

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Around the time of the Spring 2022 election, the Wisconsin Supreme Court issued its decision in the case of Billie Johnson v. Wisconsin Elections Commission, setting new district maps for the Wisconsin Legislature.[12] Six-term incumbent state representative Mike Kuglitsch was drawn out of the 84th Assembly district, creating an open seat.[13] Within two weeks, Donovan declared his candidacy in the new 84th Assembly district. He faced two opponents in the Republican primary, but easily won with 72% of the vote.[14] He faced Democrat Lu Ann Bird in the general election, a former Whitnall School District board member from Hales Corners, Wisconsin. The 84th district race was one of the closest elections in the state in 2022, and Donovan ultimately prevailed by a margin of 526 votes.[15]

Following the 2024 redistricting, Donovan was drawn out of the 84th Assembly district and into the new 7th Assembly district. Donovan subsequently announced he would relocate to run instead in the redrawn 61st Assembly district. The 61st district, comprising the villages of Greendale and Hales Corners, most of the city of Greenfield, and a small part of southwest Milwaukee, is projected to be one of the most competitive Assembly districts under the new maps.[16]

Personal life and family

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Bob Donovan married his wife Kathy in 1985. They met while he was working as a security officer at Southridge mall—she was working at a clothing store. They had two children together and Kathy brought three children from her previous marriage, all are now grown.[1] Bob and Kathy reside in Greenfield, Wisconsin.

Electoral history

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Wisconsin Assembly, 17th district (1982, 1983)

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Wisconsin Assembly, 17th District Election, 1982
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
General Election, November 2, 1982[2]
Democratic Joseph Czarnezki 13,430 76.04%
Republican Robert G. Donovan 4,232 23.96%
Plurality 9,198 52.08%
Total votes 17,662 100.0%
Democratic hold
Wisconsin Assembly, 17th District Special Election, 1983
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Special Election, June 28, 1983[2]
Democratic Peggy Krusick 3,159 66.84%
Republican Robert G. Donovan 1,567 33.16% +9.20%
Plurality 9,198 52.08%
Total votes 17,662 100.0%
Democratic hold

Milwaukee Mayor (2016)

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Milwaukee Mayoral Election, 2016
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Nonpartisan Primary, February 16, 2016 (top two)[17]
Nonpartisan Tom Barrett (incumbent) 30,239 46.14%
Nonpartisan Bob Donavan 21,261 32.44%
Nonpartisan Joe Davis Sr. 12,132 18.51%
Nonpartisan James B. Methu 1,755 2.68%
Write-in 147 0.22%
Total votes 65,534 100.0%
General Election, April 5, 2016[18]
Nonpartisan Tom Barrett (incumbent) 110,437 69.95% −0.51%
Nonpartisan Bob Donavan 46,957 29.74%
Write-in 475 0.30%
Plurality 63,480 40.21% -1.38%
Total votes 157,869 100.0% +103.58%

Milwaukee Mayor (2022)

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Milwaukee Mayoral Special Election, 2022
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Nonpartisan Primary, February 15, 2022 (top two)[19]
Nonpartisan Cavalier Johnson (incumbent) 25,779 41.79%
Nonpartisan Bob Donovan 13,742 22.28%
Nonpartisan Lena Taylor 7,877 12.77%
Nonpartisan Marina Dimitrijevic 7,521 12.19%
Nonpartisan Earnell Lucas 5,886 9.53%
Nonpartisan Michael Sampson 514 0.83%
Nonpartisan Ieshuh Griffin 315 0.51%
Write-in 56 0.09%
Total votes 61,743 100.00%
General Election, April 5, 2022[20]
Nonpartisan Cavalier Johnson (incumbent) 62,143 71.51%
Nonpartisan Bob Donavan 24,543 28.24%
Write-in 215 0.25%
Plurality 37,600 43.27% +17.24%
Total votes 86,901 100.0% -5.46%

Wisconsin Assembly, 84th district (2022)

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Wisconsin Assembly, 84th District Election, 2022
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Republican Primary, August 9, 2022[14]
Republican Bob Donavan 4,887 72.53%
Republican David Karst 1,384 20.54%
Republican Laura Barker 459 6.81%
Scattering 8 0.12%
Plurality 3,503 51.99%
Total votes 6,738 100.0%
General Election, November 8, 2022[15]
Republican Bob Donovan 13,179 50.98%
Democratic Lu Ann Bird 12,653 48.95%
Scattering 17 0.07%
Plurality 526 2.03%
Total votes 25,849 100.0% -0.68%
Republican hold

Wisconsin Assembly, 61st district (2024)

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Sandler, Larry (November 4, 2013). "Lone Wolf". Milwaukee Magazine. No. November 2013. Retrieved December 11, 2022.
  2. ^ a b c d "Elections in Wisconsin". The state of Wisconsin Blue Book 1983–1984 (Report). Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau. 1983. pp. 910, 957. Retrieved December 11, 2022.
  3. ^ "Ald. Donovan indicted in federal court". Milwaukee Business Journal. July 13, 2005. Retrieved December 11, 2022.
  4. ^ "Alderman Donovan's Biography". City of Milwaukee. Archived from the original on March 5, 2020. Retrieved December 11, 2022 – via Wayback Machine.
  5. ^ Jannene, Jeramey (March 10, 2019). "Donovan Won't Run for Re-Election". Urban Milwaukee. Retrieved December 11, 2022.
  6. ^ "Meet the Republican Candidate for Mayor, Bob Donovan". Democratic Party of Milwaukee County (Press release). February 25, 2016. Retrieved December 11, 2022 – via Urban Milwaukee.
  7. ^ Bice, Daniel (February 23, 2016). "Tough-on-crime Donovan had own run-ins with the law". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Retrieved December 11, 2022.
  8. ^ Quirmbach, Chuck (March 18, 2016). "Milwaukee Mayor's Race A Battle Of Endorsements, Public Safety And The Economy". Wisconsin Public Radio. Retrieved December 11, 2022.
  9. ^ Spicuzza, Mary (April 6, 2016). "Mayor Barrett wins easy re-election victory over Donovan". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Retrieved December 11, 2022.
  10. ^ Hess, Corrinne (March 21, 2022). "Milwaukee mayoral race could mark a historic milestone for the city". Wisconsin Public Radio. Retrieved December 11, 2022.
  11. ^ "Milwaukee elects first Black mayor, Cavalier Johnson". WMTV. April 5, 2022. Retrieved December 11, 2022.
  12. ^ "Supreme Court of Wisconsin Case 2021AP1450-OA" (PDF). Wisconsin Court System. April 15, 2022. Retrieved December 11, 2022.
  13. ^ Jannene, Jeramey (April 25, 2022). "Donovan Now A Suburban Republican Running For Assembly". Urban Milwaukee. Retrieved December 11, 2022.
  14. ^ a b Canvass Results for 2022 Partisan Primary – 8/9/2022 (Report). Wisconsin Elections Commission. August 26, 2022. p. 62. Retrieved December 11, 2022.
  15. ^ a b Canvass Results for 2022 General Election – 11/8/2022 (Report). Wisconsin Elections Commission. November 21, 2022. p. 28. Retrieved December 11, 2022.
  16. ^ Pierce, Kristin (April 9, 2024). "Rep. Bob Donovan will run for office in a different district". WISN-TV. Retrieved May 2, 2024.
  17. ^ February 16, 2016 - Spring Primary (Report). Milwaukee Election Commission. February 19, 2016. Retrieved December 11, 2022.
  18. ^ April 5, 2016 - Spring Election and Presidential Preference Vote (Report). Milwaukee Election Commission. April 14, 2016. Archived from the original on June 14, 2016. Retrieved December 11, 2022 – via Wayback Machine.
  19. ^ February 15, 2022 Spring & Special Primary (Report). Milwaukee Election Commission. February 15, 2022. Archived from the original on February 16, 2022. Retrieved December 11, 2022 – via Wayback Machine.
  20. ^ April 5, 2022 Spring & Special Election (Report). Milwaukee Election Commission. April 5, 2022. Archived from the original on April 30, 2022. Retrieved December 11, 2022 – via Wayback Machine.
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Wisconsin State Assembly
Preceded by Member of the Wisconsin State Assembly from the 84th district
January 3, 2023 – present 		Incumbent
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