David G. Deininger (born July 9, 1947) is a retired

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

politician and

jurist A jurist is a person with expert knowledge of law; someone who analyses and comments on law. This person is usually a specialist legal scholar, mostly (but not always) with a formal qualification in law and often a legal practitioner. In the Uni ...

from

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

. He served as a judge on the

Wisconsin Court of Appeals The Wisconsin Court of Appeals is an intermediate appellate court that reviews contested decisions of the Wisconsin circuit courts. The Court of Appeals was created in August 1978 to alleviate the Wisconsin Supreme Court's rising number of appe ...

for eleven years, from 1996 to 2007, and now serves as a reserve judge. He was the first chairman of the

Wisconsin Government Accountability Board The Wisconsin Government Accountability Board (G.A.B.) was a regulatory agency for the State of Wisconsin which administered and enforced Wisconsin law pertaining to campaign finance, elections, ethics and lobbying. The agency was re-organized, over ...

, appointed by Democratic

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Jim Doyle James Edward Doyle, Jr., (born November 23, 1945) is an American attorney and politician who served as the 44th governor of Wisconsin, serving from January 6, 2003 to January 3, 2011. In his first election to the governorship, he defeated incu ...

. Earlier in his career, he served three and a half terms in the

Wisconsin State Assembly The Wisconsin State Assembly is the lower house of the Wisconsin Legislature. Together with the smaller Wisconsin Senate, the two constitute the legislative branch of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Representatives are elected for two-year terms, ...

, representing parts of

Green Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 Nanometre, nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by ...

and

Rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

counties, and was a

Wisconsin Circuit Court The Wisconsin circuit courts are the general trial courts in the state of Wisconsin. There are currently 69 circuits in the state, divided into 10 judicial administrative districts. Circuit court judges hear and decide both civil and criminal case ...

Judge in Green County.

Early life and career

Born in

Monroe, Wisconsin Monroe, known as "the Swiss Cheese Capital of the USA", is a city in and the county seat of Green County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 10,661 at the 2020 census. The city is bordered by the Town of Monroe to the north and the T ...

, Deininger graduated from

Monroe High School Monroe High School may refer to: *Monroe High School (Tehachapi) — Tehachapi, California *Monroe High School (Los Angeles) — Los Angeles, California * Monroe High School (Florida) — the former high school for negro students in Co ...

and went on to the

United States Naval Academy The United States Naval Academy (US Naval Academy, USNA, or Navy) is a federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It was established on 10 October 1845 during the tenure of George Bancroft as Secretary of the Navy. The Naval Academy ...

. He graduated in 1969 and served as a

nuclear submarine A nuclear submarine is a submarine powered by a nuclear reactor, but not necessarily nuclear-armed. Nuclear submarines have considerable performance advantages over "conventional" (typically diesel-electric) submarines. Nuclear propulsion, ...

officer in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

until 1975. He attended the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...

before graduating from the

University of Wisconsin Law School The University of Wisconsin Law School is the professional graduate law school of the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Located in Madison, Wisconsin, the school was founded in 1868. The University of Wisconsin Law School is guided by a "law in ...

in 1978. He began practicing law after graduation.

Public offices

In 1986, Deininger launched a

primary challenge In U.S. politics, a primary challenge is when an incumbent holding elective office is challenged by a member of their own political party in a primary election. Such events, known informally as "being primaried," are noteworthy and not frequent ...

against three-term incumbent Republican

John T. Manske John T. Manske (born November 6, 1952) is an American politician. He was a member of the Wisconsin State Assembly. Early life Manske was born in Edgerton, Wisconsin. He graduated from Milton High School in Milton, Wisconsin before obtaining a ...

for his seat in the

. The district at the time was composed of parts of Green County, of which Deininger was a resident, and Rock County, where Manske resided. In the 1984 election, Deininger had worked for Manske's re-election campaign, but declared in 1986 that it was "Green County's turn to be represented in the Assembly." Deininger won a surprising upset in the September primary and was then unopposed in the general election. He was subsequently re-elected in 1988 and 1990, and, after

redistricting Redistribution (re-districting in the United States and in the Philippines) is the process by which electoral districts are added, removed, or otherwise changed. Redistribution is a form of boundary delimitation that changes electoral dist ...

in 1991, was elected to another term in 1992. In 1994, he ran unopposed for election to the

in Green County, and subsequently resigned from the Wisconsin Assembly. Only two years later, in 1996, he was appointed to the

by Governor

Tommy Thompson Tommy George Thompson (born November 19, 1941) is an American Republican politician who most recently served as interim president of the University of Wisconsin System from 2020 to 2022. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served ...

to fill the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Robert D. Sundby. He was elected to two six-year terms on the Court of Appeals, in 1997 and 2003, but retired in 2007.

Government Accountability Board

In 2008 Deininger was appointed to the

(GAB), by Governor

, and served as the GAB's first chairman. The Attorney General found that even though Deininger had retired from the Court of Appeals, he was ineligible to serve on the GAB because the term he was elected to had not expired. Following the Attorney General's finding, Deininer resigned from the Board. Governor Doyle reappointed Deininger to the GAB in 2010. Governor Scott Walker reappointed him to the GAB to serve until 2016, but withdrew his appointment in November 2013 citing concerns that the Wisconsin Senate would not approve the appointment.

After retirement

Deininger now serves as a reserve judge. He and his wife Mary reside in Monroe, and are raising their grandson Emerson following the death of their daughter.

Electoral history

Wisconsin Assembly (1986, 1988, 1990, 1992)

, colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", Republican Primary, September 9, 1986 , colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", General Election, November 4, 1986

References

External links

*
Deininger, David G. 1947
at

Wisconsin Historical Society The Wisconsin Historical Society (officially the State Historical Society of Wisconsin) is simultaneously a state agency and a private membership organization whose purpose is to maintain, promote and spread knowledge relating to the history of N ...

Judge David G. Deininger
at

(Archived) , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Deininger, David G. People from Monroe, Wisconsin United States Naval Academy alumni Military personnel from Wisconsin University of Wisconsin Law School alumni Wisconsin state court judges Wisconsin Court of Appeals judges Republican Party members of the Wisconsin State Assembly 1947 births Living people