Frederick W. Cords Jr. (December 27, 1903 - November 25, 1972) was an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

electrical engineer Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems which use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the l ...

from Milwaukee, Wisconsin who served one term as a Republican member of the Wisconsin State Assembly.

Background

Cords was born December 27, 1903, in the city of Milwaukee, the son of Fred W. Cords, Sr., former clerk of the

Milwaukee County Milwaukee County is located in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. At the 2020 census, the population was 939,489, down from 947,735 in 2010. It is both the most populous and most densely populated county in Wisconsin, and the 45th most populous coun ...

circuit court and Augusta H. (Vogt) Cords. He was educated in the Milwaukee Public Schools, including the Highland Avenue School, and Riverside High School, and graduated from Milwaukee School of Engineering and a "school of finance" in New York City. He became an electrical engineer (doing both

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and consulting) and an associate member of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers.

Assembly service

Cords was elected to the Assembly's Sixth

district (the Sixth Ward of the City of Milwaukee), in 1928. He first defeated

Frederick Petersen Frederick J. Petersen (whose name may be found spelled Frederic or Frederich, and occasionally Peterson even in official documents) (February 24, 1874 – October 14, 1946) was an American physiotherapist who served three terms as a Republica ...

, former state representative from the district, in the Republican

primary election Primary elections, or direct primary are a voting process by which voters can indicate their preference for their party's candidate, or a candidate in general, in an upcoming general election, local election, or by-election. Depending on the ...

; and in the general election polled 1380 votes, defeating

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 ...

Gene Ackerman, who received 936 votes, and Socialist Fred Breuhahn, who received 896 votes. He was assigned to the standing committee on elections. In 1930 Cords had first to achieve a plurality in a five-way primary (Petersen was again one of his challengers). He was unseated in the general election by Socialist Ben Rubin, who drew 1389 votes, to Cords' 927 votes, with 350 for

John N. Kaiser, and 55 for Lee Talton. In 1932 Cords had once more to achieve a plurality in a five-way primary (Petersen was again one of his challengers) in order to challenge Rubin, who was a candidate for re-election. In the general election, Cords again faced Rubin, Kaiser and two new independents (one was Petersen, who polled only 37 votes). This time Kaiser (with Franklin D. Roosevelt at the top of the Democratic ticket) was the victor, with 2240 votes to Cords' 1412, Rubin's 2130, and another 129 for the two independents.Witte, Edwin E.; Kelly, Alice, eds. ''The Wisconsin Blue Book, 1933'' Madison: Democrat Printing Company, State Printer, 1933; p. 547, 554
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cords, Frederick W. 1903 births 1972 deaths American electrical engineers Republican Party members of the Wisconsin State Assembly Politicians from Milwaukee Milwaukee School of Engineering alumni