Joel M. Kleefisch ( ; born June 8, 1971) is a former American

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

and a former television reporter who now works as a lobbyist. He served fourteen years 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 Waukesha,

Jefferson Jefferson may refer to: Names * Jefferson (surname) * Jefferson (given name) People * Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826), third president of the United States * Jefferson (footballer, born 1970), full name Jefferson Tomaz de Souza, Brazilian foo ...

, and eastern

Dane Dane or Danes may refer to: People Pertaining to Denmark * Dane, somebody from Denmark * Danes, an ethnic group native to Denmark * Danes (Germanic tribe) Other people * Dane (name), a surname and a given name (and a list of people with the nam ...

counties. His wife,

Rebecca Kleefisch Rebecca Ann Kleefisch (née Reed; born August 7, 1975) is an American politician and former television reporter who served as the 44th Lieutenant Governor of Wisconsin from 2011 to 2019. A member of the Republican Party, she was elected to the ...

, is the former

Lieutenant Governor of Wisconsin The lieutenant governor of Wisconsin is the first person in the Gubernatorial lines of succession in the United States#Wisconsin, line of succession of Wisconsin's executive branch, thus serving as governor in the event of the death, resignation, r ...

Early life and education

Born in

Waukesha, Wisconsin Waukesha ( ) is the county seat of Waukesha County, Wisconsin, United States. It is part of the Milwaukee metropolitan area. Its population was 71,158 at the 2020 census. The city is adjacent to the Village of Waukesha. History The area that ...

, Kleefisch graduated from

Waukesha North High School Waukesha North High School is one of three high schools located in Waukesha, Wisconsin. Operated by the Waukesha School District, the school opened in mid-year, at the start of the second semester, during the 1974-1975 school year. The school is ...

in 1989. He earned a Bachelor of Arts from

Pepperdine University Pepperdine University () is a private research university affiliated with the Churches of Christ with its main campus in Los Angeles County, California. Pepperdine's main campus consists of 830 acres (340 ha) overlooking the Pacific Ocean and t ...

in 1993.

Career

Kleefisch worked as a news researcher for

KCBS-TV KCBS-TV (channel 2) is a television station in Los Angeles, California, United States, serving as the West Coast flagship of the CBS network. It is owned and operated by the network's CBS News and Stations division alongside independent outl ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

during the summer of 1992. Upon graduation from Pepperdine he worked as a reporter for

WREX-TV Urdnot Wrex is a fictional character in BioWare's ''Mass Effect'' franchise, who serves as a party member (or "squadmate") in the first game of the ''Mass Effect'' trilogy. He is a krogan, an alien race near-sterilised by other galactic races f ...

Rockford, Illinois Rockford is a city in Winnebago County, Illinois, located in the far northern part of the state. Situated on the banks of the Rock River, Rockford is the county seat of Winnebago County (a small portion of the city is located in Ogle County). ...

from 1993 to 1994. Kleefisch then was hired by

WISN-TV WISN-TV (channel 12) is a television station in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States, affiliated with ABC. Owned by Hearst Television, it is the second-oldest television station to remain with the company in all of its various iterations behind f ...

to work the assignment desk and as a part-time reporter in 1994, before becoming a full-time general assignment reporter, where he worked until entering politics. As a reporter at WISN-TV, he appeared on

CNN CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by the M ...

to discuss the trial of

Mark Chmura Mark William Chmura (born February 22, 1969) is a former American football tight end. He played in college at Boston College. He was drafted by the Green Bay Packers in the sixth round (157th overall) of the 1992 NFL Draft. He played his entire c ...

. He won an award for "Best investigative report or series" from the

Milwaukee Press Club The Milwaukee Press Club, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, is the oldest continuously operating press club in the United States. The club comprises journalists and others in the media in the Milwaukee area, as well as journalism educators, public relation ...

in 1999 for a piece about

date rape drug A date rape drug is any drug that incapacitates another person and renders that person vulnerable to sexual assault, including rape. The substances are associated with date rape because of reported incidents of their use in the context of two pe ...

s. Kleefisch was elected to the

in 2004, and was re-elected in 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014, and 2016. He represented

Oconomowoc Oconomowoc ( ) is a city in Waukesha County, Wisconsin, United States. The name was derived from Coo-no-mo-wauk, the Potawatomi term for "waterfall." The population was 15,712 at the 2010 census. The city is partially adjacent to the Town of Oc ...

and surrounding areas of western Waukesha County, northern Jefferson County, and eastern Dane County. In 2009 he co-sponsored legislation to increase the penalties in Wisconsin for

driving under the influence Driving under the influence (DUI)—also called driving while impaired, impaired driving, driving while intoxicated (DWI), drunk driving, operating while intoxicated (OWI), operating under the influence (OUI), operating vehicle under the infl ...

. Kleefisch did not seek re-election in 2018 and was succeeded by

Barbara Dittrich Barbara Dittrich (born May 21, 1964) is an American politician. She was elected to the Wisconsin State Assembly as a Republican in 2018, defeating Democratic candidate Melissa Winker 57.6 percent to 42.4 percent. She represents District 38. On ...

Personal life

Kleefisch met his wife when she was also a reporter and anchor for WISN. They married in 1999 after she moved to the station from

. The couple have two children.

References

External links

"Rep. Joel Kleefisch allegedly caught voting for absent member", Feb. 22, 2012
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kleefisch, Joel 1971 births Living people Journalists from Wisconsin Republican Party members of the Wisconsin State Assembly People from Oconomowoc, Wisconsin Politicians from Waukesha, Wisconsin American evangelicals Pepperdine University alumni American television reporters and correspondents 21st-century American politicians