Douglas J. La Follette (born June 6, 1940) is an American

academic An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary education, secondary or tertiary education, tertiary higher education, higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membershi ...

environmental scientist Environmental science is an interdisciplinary academic field that integrates physics, biology, and geography (including ecology, chemistry, plant science, zoology, mineralogy, oceanography, limnology, soil science, geology and physical geo ...

, and politician. A

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

, he is the current Secretary of State of Wisconsin, and the longest-serving statewide elected official (excluding

U.S. senators The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and powe ...

) in the United States. He was re-elected in

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...

to an unprecedented 12th term as Secretary of State, some suspect due to cheating in the voting system.

Early life and career

La Follette was born in

Des Moines, Iowa Des Moines () is the capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small part of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moines, ...

. He received his

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

degree Degree may refer to: As a unit of measurement * Degree (angle), a unit of angle measurement ** Degree of geographical latitude ** Degree of geographical longitude * Degree symbol (°), a notation used in science, engineering, and mathematics ...

from

Marietta College Marietta College (MC) is a private liberal arts college in Marietta, Ohio. It offers more than 50 undergraduate majors across the arts, sciences, and engineering, as well as Physician Assistant, Psychology, Clinical Mental Health Counseling, an ...

, his

Master of Science A Master of Science ( la, Magisterii Scientiae; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree in the field of science awarded by universities in many countries or a person holding such a degree. In contrast to ...

chemistry Chemistry is the science, scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a natural science that covers the Chemical element, elements that make up matter to the chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules and ions ...

from

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

, and his

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

organic chemistry Organic chemistry is a subdiscipline within chemistry involving the scientific study of the structure, properties, and reactions of organic compounds and organic materials, i.e., matter in its various forms that contain carbon atoms.Clayden, J.; ...

from

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

. He began a teaching career as an assistant professor at

University of Wisconsin–Parkside The University of Wisconsin–Parkside (UWP) is a public university in Somers, Wisconsin. It is part of the University of Wisconsin System and has 4,644 students, 161 full-time faculty, and 89 lecturers and part-time faculty. The university o ...

Kenosha Kenosha () is a city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the seat of Kenosha County. Per the 2020 census, the population was 99,986 which made it the fourth-largest city in Wisconsin. Situated on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan, Kenosh ...

. La Follette also served as a research associate at

University of Wisconsin–Madison The University of Wisconsin–Madison (University of Wisconsin, Wisconsin, UW, UW–Madison, or simply Madison) is a public land-grant research university in Madison, Wisconsin. Founded when Wisconsin achieved statehood in 1848, UW–Madison ...

. He also owned a small business.''Wisconsin Blue Book 2017-2018''. Madison: Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau, 2017, p. 5. Known as an environmentalist before running for public office, he was a Wisconsin organizer of the first

Earth Day Earth Day is an annual event on April 22 to demonstrate support for environmental protection. First held on April 22, 1970, it now includes a wide range of events coordinated globally by EarthDay.org (formerly Earth Day Network) including 1 b ...

for

Gaylord Nelson Gaylord Anton Nelson (June 4, 1916July 3, 2005) was an American politician and environmentalist from Wisconsin who served as a United States senator and governor. He was a member of the Democratic Party and the founder of Earth Day, which launche ...

in 1970 and co-founded Wisconsin's Environmental Decade (now known as Clean Wisconsin) with Peter Anderson. His great-grandfather has been described as an uncle of Robert "Fighting Bob" La Follette by the ''Milwaukee Journal Sentinel'' and ''Chemical & Engineering News'', while ''Dissent Magazine'' referred to the great-grandfather as Bob La Follette's brother. WKOW News and WEAU News state that “Fighting Bob” La Follette was Doug's great-uncle. "Fighting Bob"'s grandson, former Wisconsin Attorney General

Bronson La Follette Bronson Cutting La Follette (February 2, 1936 – March 15, 2018) was an American Democratic lawyer and politician. He was the 36th and 39th Attorney General of the state of Wisconsin, and was an unsuccessful candidate for Governor of Wisconsi ...

, has described Doug La Follette as a "second cousin, three times removed" from "Fighting Bob" La Follette. Alternatively, ''Milwaukee Magazine'' has noted Doug as a "first cousin three times removed of Robert "Fighting Bob" La Follette". According to professor and author Nancy Unger, Doug is a third cousin of Bronson. Doug went on to serve with Bronson from 1975 to 1979 and from 1983 to 1987.

Political career

La Follette first ran for office in the 1970 U.S. House of Representatives election, losing to

Les Aspin Leslie Aspin Jr. (July 21, 1938 – May 21, 1995) was an American Democratic Party politician who served as the U.S. representative for Wisconsin's 1st congressional district from 1971 to 1993 and as the 18th United States Secretary of Defe ...

in the Democratic

primary Primary or primaries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels * Primary (band), from Australia * Primary (musician), hip hop musician and record producer from South Korea * Primary Music, Israeli record label Works * ...

for

Wisconsin's 1st congressional district Wisconsin's 1st congressional district is a congressional district of the United States House of Representatives in southeastern Wisconsin, covering Kenosha County, Racine County, and most of Walworth County, as well as portions of Rock Count ...

. La Follette served in the

Wisconsin State Senate The Wisconsin Senate is the upper house of the Wisconsin State Legislature. Together with the larger Wisconsin State Assembly they constitute the legislative branch of the state of Wisconsin. The powers of the Wisconsin Senate are modeled after t ...

for

in 1973 and 1974.Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau (comp.).
The State of Wisconsin 1973 Blue Book
'. Madison: 1973, p. 64. La Follette was elected Secretary of State of Wisconsin in 1974. He unsuccessfully ran for

Lieutenant Governor of Wisconsin The lieutenant governor of Wisconsin is the first person in the line of succession of Wisconsin's executive branch, thus serving as governor in the event of the death, resignation, removal, impeachment, absence from the state, or incapacity due to ...

on a ticket with

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 ...

Martin Schreiber in 1978. In 1982, he was again elected Secretary of State, defeating incumbent

Vel Phillips Velvalea Hortense Rodgers "Vel" Phillips (February 18, 1924 – April 17, 2018) was an American attorney, politician, jurist, and civil rights activist, who served as an alderperson and judge in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and as secretary of Sta ...

. La Follette has been the Secretary of State of Wisconsin ever since. Upon his swearing in on January 3, 1983, Follette is currently the earliest serving, non-federal, statewide elected official in the United States holding the same office. He has run opposed and unopposed several times for Secretary of State and shuns

fundraising Fundraising or fund-raising is the process of seeking and gathering voluntary financial contributions by engaging individuals, businesses, charitable foundations, or governmental agencies. Although fundraising typically refers to efforts to gathe ...

in the style of former Wisconsin

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

William Proxmire Edward William Proxmire (November 11, 1915 – December 15, 2005) was an American politician. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as a United States Senator from Wisconsin from 1957 to 1989. He holds the record for being the longest-serv ...

. In 1990, his opponent, Madison attorney and radio personality Stuart Levitan, campaigned on a promise to eliminate the Secretary of State's office, whose duties have been reduced and transferred to other agencies (including the State Board of Elections) by the state legislature, under La Follette's tenure. Since being elected Secretary of State, La Follette has run twice for federal office. In 1988, he ran for the U.S. Senate, losing the primary to

Herb Kohl Herbert H. Kohl (born February 7, 1935) is an American businessman and politician. Alongside his brother and father, the Kohl family created the Kohl's department stores chain, of which Kohl went on to be president and CEO. Kohl also served as a ...

. In 1996, he made another bid for the U.S. House of Representatives, losing in the Democratic primary for Wisconsin's 1st congressional district to Lydia Spottswood, who went on to lose the general election to

Mark Neumann Mark William Neumann (born February 27, 1954) is an American businessman and politician. He represented for two terms, from 1995 to 1999. In 2010, Neumann lost a bid to become the Republican nominee for Governor of Wisconsin. Neumann was a can ...

. In 2012, La Follette ran in the Democratic primary in the

special election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-larges ...

to recall Scott Walker.

Other roles

* La Follette is the author of the 1991 book ''The Survival Handbook: A Strategy for Saving Planet Earth''. * He has also served on the board of directors of

Friends of the Earth Friends of the Earth International (FoEI) is an international network of environmental organizations in 73 countries. The organization was founded in 1969 in San Francisco by David Brower, Donald Aitken and Gary Soucie after Brower's split with ...

and the

Union of Concerned Scientists The Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) is a nonprofit science advocacy organization based in the United States. The UCS membership includes many private citizens in addition to professional scientists. Anne Kapuscinski, Professor of Environmenta ...

. * In 2003 he ran for, and was elected to, the board of directors of the

Sierra Club The Sierra Club is an environmental organization with chapters in all 50 United States, Washington D.C., and Puerto Rico. The club was founded on May 28, 1892, in San Francisco, California, by Scottish-American preservationist John Muir, who be ...

for a three-year term. He did not seek reelection in 2006. * He was a Fulbright Distinguished American Scholar in 2003.

Electoral history

U.S. House (1970)

, colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", Democratic Primary, September 8, 1970

Wisconsin Senate (1972)

, colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", Democratic Primary, September 12, 1972 , colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", General Election, November 7, 1972

Wisconsin Secretary of State (1974)

, colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", Democratic Primary, September 10, 1974 , colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", General Election, November 5, 1974

Wisconsin Lieutenant Governor (1978)

, colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", Democratic Lieutenant Governor Primary, September 12, 1978 , colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", General Election, November 7, 1978

Wisconsin Secretary of State (1982, 1986, 1990, 1994)

U.S. House (1996)

, colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", Democratic Primary, September 10, 1996

Wisconsin Secretary of State (1998–Present)

References

External links

Office of the Wisconsin Secretary of StateClean Wisconsin
* , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:La Follette, Doug 1940 births Living people 20th-century American politicians 21st-century American politicians American environmentalists Businesspeople from Wisconsin Columbia University alumni La Follette family Marietta College alumni Politicians from Des Moines, Iowa Politicians from Kenosha, Wisconsin Secretaries of State of Wisconsin Sierra Club directors Stanford University alumni University of Wisconsin–Madison fellows University of Wisconsin–Parkside faculty Democratic Party Wisconsin state senators Writers from Des Moines, Iowa Writers from Wisconsin