Bob Kasten
| The Honorable Bob Kasten |
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| United States Senator from Wisconsin |
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| In office January 3, 1981 – January 3, 1993 |
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| Preceded by | Gaylord Nelson |
| Succeeded by | Russ Feingold |
| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Wisconsin's 9th district |
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| In office January 3, 1975 – January 3, 1979 |
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| Preceded by | Glenn R. Davis |
| Succeeded by | Jim Sensenbrenner |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Robert Walter Kasten, Jr. June 19, 1942 Milwaukee, Wisconsin |
| Nationality | American |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse(s) | Sarah Kasten |
| Religion | Episcopalian |
Robert Walter "Bob" Kasten, Jr. (born June 19, 1942) is a Republican politician from the state of Wisconsin who served as a U.S. Representative from 1975 to 1979 and as a U.S. Senator from 1981 to 1993.
Contents
Background
Kasten was born in Milwaukee. He graduated in 1960 from The Choate School (now Choate Rosemary Hall) in Wallingford, Connecticut, in 1964 from the University of Arizona in Tucson, and received his M.B.A. from the Columbia Business School in 1966. He served in the Wisconsin Air National Guard from 1966 to 1972.
Elected office
Kasten was elected to the Wisconsin State Senate in 1972. In 1974, he was elected to the House of Representatives as a Republican. He was reelected in 1976. He ran for Governor of Wisconsin in 1978, but lost the Republican nomination to Lee S. Dreyfus. Kasten ran for the United States Senate in 1980 and narrowly defeated Democrat and incumbent Senator Gaylord Nelson. Kasten's victory was propelled in part by the popularity of Ronald Reagan at the top of the Republican ticket. In the Senate, Kasten was an outspoken conservative. He was the first Republican to represent Wisconsin in the U.S. Senate since Alexander Wiley left office in 1963 after being defeated in 1962 by Gaylord Nelson.
In 1985 Kasten was arrested and charged with driving under the influence after a District of Columbia police officer observed him running a red light and driving on the wrong side of the road.[1] The charges were later dropped.[citation needed]
In 1986, Kasten narrowly defeated Democrat Ed Garvey to win a second term after a very bitter campaign, one that was characterized by personal attacks and is remembered as one of the nastiest elections in Wisconsin history.[2] Kasten was defeated by Democratic state Senator Russ Feingold in 1992.
After the Senate
Since 1993, he has been President of Kasten & Company, a consulting firm.
In July 2007, it was announced that Kasten was joining the presidential campaign of Republican Rudy Giuliani as a foreign policy adviser.;[3] in August, it was announced that Kasten would also be chairing Giuliani's Wisconsin campaign, along with former U.S. Representative Scott Klug and former State Senator Cathy Stepp (R-Yorkville).[4]
Lawsuit
In March 2013, over thirty shareholders filed a lawsuit against Kasten, Robert Brazell, In-Store Broadcasting Network, Talos Partners, and several other associates, alleging violation of the Utah Uniform Securities Act and various other criminal acts, for their investments in IBN totaling "approximately $2 million".[5]
Electoral history
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Russ Feingold | 1,290,662 | 52.6 | ||
| Republican | Bob Kasten (incumbent) | 1,129,599 | 46.0 | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Bob Kasten (incumbent) | 754,573 | 50.9 | ||
| Democratic | Ed Garvey | 702,963 | 47.4 | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Bob Kasten | 50.2 | |||
| Democratic | Gaylord Nelson (incumbent) | 48.3 | |||
Cultural references
Writer Mike Baron named a recurring character in his Wisconsin-based comic book Badger after Kasten, then Wisconsin's junior senator. The character, a peg-legged, vampire-hunting pig named "Senator Bob Kasten", made several appearances in the series.[6] A student political party on the University of Wisconsin Madison campus satirically named themselves the "Bob Kasten School of Driving" (a reference to his DUI arrest) won the campus-wide elections in 1986 and 1987.[7]
References
- ↑ [1]
- ↑ http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1986-10-31/news/8603220018_1_ed-garvey-garvey-notes-robert-kasten
- ↑ JS Online: Former Wisconsin senator joins Giuliani's team[dead link]
- ↑ JS Online: Regional News Briefs
- ↑ Vielmetti, Bruce. "Bob Kasten, former U.S. senator, named in fraud suit" Proof & Hearsay blog Milwaukee Journal Sentinel April 9, 2013
- ↑ Senator Bob Kasten
- ↑ Moe, Doug. "Ex-UW Student Prez Up For 'Annie'.[[The Capital Times January 24, 2005]
External links
| United States House of Representatives | ||
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| Preceded by | Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Wisconsin's 9th congressional district 1975–1979 |
Succeeded by Jim Sensenbrenner |
| United States Senate | ||
| Preceded by | U.S. Senator (Class 3) from Wisconsin 1981–1993 Served alongside: William Proxmire, Herb Kohl |
Succeeded by Russ Feingold |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Vice-Chairman of the Senate Republican Conference 1991–1993 |
Succeeded by Trent Lott |
| Class 1 |
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| Class 3 | ||
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- Articles with dead external links from December 2011
- Articles with unsourced statements from April 2010
- 1942 births
- Living people
- American Episcopalians
- Members of the United States House of Representatives from Wisconsin
- Republican Party United States Senators
- Wisconsin Republicans
- Wisconsin State Senators
- United States Senators from Wisconsin
- Choate Rosemary Hall alumni
- Columbia Business School alumni
- University of Arizona alumni
- American people of German descent
- People from Milwaukee, Wisconsin
- People from Wallingford, Connecticut
- Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives
