John Nygren (born February 27, 1964) is 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 ...
insurance and financial services agent, politician, and lobbyist. A
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 ...
, he was a member of 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, ...
for nearly 14 years, serving from January 2007 to December 2020. He was co-chair of the powerful Joint Finance Committee from 2013 until his sudden resignation on December 1, 2020. He now works as executive director for the Wisconsin Association of Health Plans, a state lobbying organization for health insurance companies. Prior to holding public office, he was President of the
United States Junior Chamber
The United States Junior Chamber, also known as the Jaycees, JCs or JCI USA, is a leadership training, service organization and civic organization for people between the ages of 18 and 40. It is a branch of Junior Chamber International (JCI). ...
youth organization.
Early life and career
Nygren is a fourth generation resident of northeast Wisconsin. He graduated from
Marinette High School
Marinette High School is a public high school serving grades 9 through 12 in the city of Marinette, Wisconsin. It is part of the School District of Marinette, and had an estimated enrollment of 623 for the 2014–15 school year. It is the only p ...
in 1982, studied at the
University of Wisconsin-Marinette,
and worked in the restaurant industry for over 12 years, eventually becoming co-owner/operator of his own establishment. In 1998 he started work at Great Lakes Financial Management Group selling
insurance
Insurance is a means of protection from financial loss in which, in exchange for a fee, a party agrees to compensate another party in the event of a certain loss, damage, or injury. It is a form of risk management, primarily used to hedge ...
and other
financial services
Financial services are the Service (economics), economic services provided by the finance industry, which encompasses a broad range of businesses that manage money, including credit unions, banks, credit-card companies, insurance companies, acco ...
.
Nygren was involved with the
Jaycees
The United States Junior Chamber, also known as the Jaycees, JCs or JCI USA, is a leadership training, service organization and civic organization for people between the ages of 18 and 40. It is a branch of Junior Chamber International (JCI) ...
, serving as Marinette's chapter president, the regional director for Northeast Wisconsin, Wisconsin state president, and United States national president.
Political career
Nygren was chairman of the
Marinette County Republican Party and served on the City of Marinette Recreation and Planning Board from 2003 to 2006. In 2006, Nygren ran for
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, ...
to replace
Speaker
Speaker may refer to:
Society and politics
* Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly
* Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture
* A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially:
** In ...
John Gard
John G. Gard (born August 3, 1963) is an American lobbyist and former politician. A Republican, he was the 75th Speaker of the Wisconsin State Assembly (2003–2007) and was a member of the Assembly for 19 years. Gard also ran unsuccessful ...
, who was vacating his Assembly seat to run for
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...
. Nygren narrowly won 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 ...
, defeating former
state senator
A state senator is a member of a state's senate in the bicameral legislature of 49 U.S. states, or a member of the unicameral Nebraska Legislature.
Description
A state senator is a member of an upper house in the bicameral legislatures of 49 U ...
Gary Drzewiecki by just 37 votes.
Nygren went on to defeat Democrat Randy Koehn in the November general election with 54% of the vote.
In the Assembly, he was assigned to the
standing committee
A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly. A committee is not itself considered to be a form of assembly. Usually, the assembly sends matters into a committee as a way to explore them more ...
s on
Insurance
Insurance is a means of protection from financial loss in which, in exchange for a fee, a party agrees to compensate another party in the event of a certain loss, damage, or injury. It is a form of risk management, primarily used to hedge ...
; on
Education
Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty. Va ...
,
Health
Health, according to the World Health Organization, is "a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity".World Health Organization. (2006)''Constitution of the World Health Organiza ...
and
Health care
Health care or healthcare is the improvement of health via the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other physical and mental impairments in people. Health care is delivered by health profe ...
reform; and on
Jobs Jobs may refer to:
* Job, an activity that people do for regular income gain
People
* Steve Jobs (1955–2011), co-founder and former CEO of Apple Inc
** Steve Jobs (disambiguation)
* Laurene Powell Jobs (born 1963), widow of Steve Jobs
* Lisa ...
and the
Economy
An economy is an area of the production, distribution and trade, as well as consumption of goods and services. In general, it is defined as a social domain that emphasize the practices, discourses, and material expressions associated with the ...
.
Nygren was re-elected seven times, facing a Democratic opponent in six of the seven general elections. After the 2011
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 ...
, Nygren's district became more safely Republican, and he did not receive less than 59% in any election after redistricting.
2011 recall elections
In 2011, a
recall campaign was initiated by Democrats, resulting from the
upheaval over the
Budget Repair bill. Republicans retaliated by launching their own recall effort, targeting Democratic state senators. One of the senators who was successfully pulled into a recall was Democrat
Dave Hansen. Nygren, who lived in his district, sought to challenge him in the
recall election
A recall election (also called a recall referendum, recall petition or representative recall) is a procedure by which, in certain polities, voters can remove an elected official from office through a referendum before that official's term of offi ...
. However, 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 ...
ruled that he was two signatures short of the necessary 400 signatures on his
nomination petition, and thus his name would not appear on the ballot.
Resignation
Nygren won a substantial victory in 2020 with 68% of the vote.
However, only a month after the election, Nygren announced he would immediately resign his seat.
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 ...
Tony Evers
Anthony Steven Evers (born November 5, 1951) is an American educator and politician serving as the 46th governor of Wisconsin since 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as Wisconsin's Superintendent of Public Instruction from 200 ...
announced he would call a
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 fill the vacancy. On December 14, it was announced that Nygren would work as executive director at the Wisconsin Association of Health Plans, a lobbying group for health insurers.
Personal life
Nygren is married to Maggie, a family and
consumer education
Consumer education is the preparation of an individual to be capable of making informed decisions when it comes to purchasing products in a consumer culture. It generally covers various consumer goods and services, prices, what the consumer can e ...
teacher at
Marinette High School
Marinette High School is a public high school serving grades 9 through 12 in the city of Marinette, Wisconsin. It is part of the School District of Marinette, and had an estimated enrollment of 623 for the 2014–15 school year. It is the only p ...
, and they have three children; Cassie, Cali and Colin.
The Nygren family is active at Faith Lutheran Church. John serves as church elder, and previously spent four years as church president.
In January 2020, Nygren's daughter, Cassie, was found guilty of being a party to a first-degree
reckless homicide
Reckless homicide is a crime in which the perpetrator was aware that their act (or failure to act when there is a legal duty to act) creates significant risk of death or grievous bodily harm in the victim, but ignores the risk and continues to ac ...
stemming from the death of a pregnant woman to whom she sold drugs.
Electoral history
Wisconsin Assembly (2006, 2008, 2010, 2012)
, colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", Republican Primary, September 12, 2006
, colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", General Election, November 7, 2006
, colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", General Election, November 4, 2008
, colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", General Election, November 2, 2010
, colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", General Election, November 6, 2012
Wisconsin Assembly (2014, 2016, 2018, 2020)
, colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", General Election, November 8, 2016
, colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", General Election, November 6, 2018
, colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", General Election, November 3, 2020
References
External links
*
*
Official websiteCampaign websiteRepresentative John Nygrenat
Wisconsin Legislature
The Wisconsin Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The Legislature is a bicameral body composed of the upper house, Wisconsin State Senate, and the lower Wisconsin State Assembly, both of which have had Republican ...
Wisconsin Association of Health Plans
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nygren, John
1964 births
American Lutherans
Living people
Republican Party members of the Wisconsin State Assembly
People from Marinette, Wisconsin
American restaurateurs
Businesspeople from Wisconsin
21st-century American politicians