Jeffrey T. Plale (May 31, 1968 – July 2, 2022) was an American politician and

stockbroker A stockbroker is a regulated broker, broker-dealer, or registered investment adviser (in the United States) who may provide financial advisory and investment management services and execute transactions such as the purchase or sale of stocks an ...

. Plale served as the

Wisconsin Railroad Commissioner The Office of the Commissioner of Railroads is the independent regulatory agency responsible for regulating railroads located in the U.S. state of Wisconsin.

. Earlier in his career he represented

South Milwaukee South Milwaukee is a city in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 20,795 at the 2020 census. History South Milwaukee was laid out in 1891 by the South Milwaukee company within the Town of Oak Creek, with the purpose o ...

in the Wisconsin State Senate (2003–2011) and

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, ...

(1996–2003).

Background and career

Born in

in 1968, Plale graduated from South Milwaukee High School. He worked as a stockbroker at

Strong Capital Management Strong Capital Management, Inc, (Not to be confused with Strong Investment Management LLC in Anaheim, CA) was a financial services firm based in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin. During its 30-year existence it acquired other companies and expanded int ...

from 1988 to 1996. He earned a B.A. in

communications Communication (from la, communicare, meaning "to share" or "to be in relation with") is usually defined as the transmission of information. The term may also refer to the message communicated through such transmissions or the field of inquir ...

and

public relations Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. P ...

from

Marquette University Marquette University () is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit research university in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Established by the Society of Jesus as Marquette College on August 28, 1881, it was founded by John Henni, John Martin ...

in 1990, and an M.A. in the same field in 1992. He was a member of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) when he was a legislator. Plale was a

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

. He and his former wife had two children. He was a member of the Ancient Order of Hibernians.

Public office

In 1992, he was elected as an

alderman An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many Jurisdiction, jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council membe ...

for South Milwaukee. He was first elected to the 21st District of the Assembly (South Milwaukee, Oak Creek and a small portion of Cudahy) in a March 1996 special election, with 6758 votes to 5609 for Republican Mike McCarrier; and was reelected in November 1996 with 14,020 votes to 6544 for Republican Arden Degner. He was re-elected through 2002, and resigned in May 2003 after being elected to the Senate in an April 2003 special election, and was succeeded in the Assembly by Republican Mark Honadel. He was elected to the Senate seat held by Democrat

Richard Grobschmidt Richard Grobschmidt (May 3, 1948July 23, 2016) was an American educator and former Democratic politician from South Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He served five terms in the Wisconsin State Assembly (1985–1995) and parts of three terms in the Wisconsi ...

until Grobschmidt's resignation to take a position as Assistant

Superintendent of Public Instruction A state education agency or state department of education is the state-level government organization within each U.S. state or territory responsible for education, including providing information, resources, and technical assistance on educationa ...

under Governor-elect Jim Doyle. Plale won a three-way Democratic primary, and a general election in which he polled 5282 votes to 2199 for

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 ...

Jim Carpenter (the Republicans did not contest the seat). He won re-election in 2006 (after shaking off opposition in his primary) with 41,502 votes to 21,104 for Republican Dimity Grabowski and 3,564 for Green Claude VanderVeen (whose showing was the best of any Green candidate for Wisconsin Senate that year). He lost his 2010 bid for re-nomination on September 14, 2010 when he was defeated in the

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 ...

Democratic

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 ...

by Chris Larson, a member of the

Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors The Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors is the legislative branch of the government of Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, United States. Supervisors are elected to the board in nonpartisan elections. There are 18 supervisors. The county board has sev ...

, who contended that Plale was too conservative. Plale lost by 5,148 (39.3%) to 7,962 (60.7%) for Larson. Larson subsequently won the Senate race, in an election that saw four Democratic seats fall to Republicans. During the lame duck legislative session after the election, Plale was one of two defeated Democratic state senators who voted against renewing contracts with state employee unions. After the vote, Plale was appointed administrator of state facilities in January, and later as

Wisconsin Railroad Commissioner The Office of the Commissioner of Railroads is the independent regulatory agency responsible for regulating railroads located in the U.S. state of Wisconsin.

, by Governor Scott Walker, also a Republican. DiNovella, Elizabeth. "Gov. Scott Walker Appoints Democrat Jeff Plale to Railroad Commission"
'' The Progressive'', August 23, 2011]

References

External links

* *
7th Senate District, Senator Plale
in the

Wisconsin Blue Book The ''Wisconsin Blue Book'' is a biennial publication of the Wisconsin's Legislative Reference Bureau. The ''Blue Book'' is an almanac containing information on the government, economics, demographics, geography and history of the state of Wisc ...

(2005–2006) {{DEFAULTSORT:Plale, Jeff 1968 births 2022 deaths People from South Milwaukee, Wisconsin Businesspeople from Wisconsin Marquette University alumni Democratic Party members of the Wisconsin State Assembly Wisconsin city council members Democratic Party Wisconsin state senators Stockbrokers 21st-century American politicians Catholics from Wisconsin