Leah Vukmir (
née
A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...
Papachristou; born April 26, 1958) is an American politician and nurse who served as a member of the
Wisconsin Senate. A
Republican, she represented
Wisconsin's 5th District. She previously served in the
Wisconsin Assembly. Vukmir was the Republican nominee in the
2018 U.S. Senate election in Wisconsin, running unsuccessfully against incumbent
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 ...
Tammy Baldwin
Tammy Suzanne Green Baldwin (born February 11, 1962) is an American lawyer and politician who has served as the junior United States senator from Wisconsin since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, she served three terms in the Wisconsin Stat ...
. In March 2019, Vukmir became vice president of state affairs at the
National Taxpayers Union
The National Taxpayers Union (NTU) is a fiscally conservative taxpayer advocacy organization and taxpayers union in the United States, founded in 1977 by James Dale Davidson. NTU says that it is the oldest taxpayer advocacy organization in the ...
.
Early life and education
Vukmir was born Leah Papachristou in Milwaukee on April 26, 1958,
the daughter of immigrants from Greece.
She graduated from
Brookfield East High School
Brookfield East High School is a four-year public secondary school located in Brookfield, Wisconsin. The school is part of the Elmbrook School District, and is accredited by the North Central Association. Its rival is Brookfield Central High ...
in
Brookfield, Wisconsin in 1976.
[ Vukmir received a Bachelor of Science in Nursing 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 1980, and a Master of Science in Nursing
A Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) is an advanced-level postgraduate degree for registered nurses and is considered an entry-level degree for nurse educators and managers. The degree also may prepare a nurse to seek a career as a nurse administr ...
from the University of Wisconsin–Madison
A university () is an educational institution, institution of higher education, higher (or Tertiary education, tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. Universities ty ...
in 1983. She worked as a registered nurse
A registered nurse (RN) is a nurse who has graduated or successfully passed a nursing program from a recognized nursing school and met the requirements outlined by a country, state, province or similar government-authorized licensing body to o ...
and a pediatric nurse practitioner.
Career
Wisconsin legislature
Vukmir was first elected in November 2002, succeeding Scott Walker (R), who was elected in a special election as 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 ...
Executive
Executive ( exe., exec., execu.) may refer to:
Role or title
* Executive, a senior management role in an organization
** Chief executive officer (CEO), one of the highest-ranking corporate officers (executives) or administrators
** Executive dire ...
. She was the ranking member of the Assembly's Committee on Health and Health Care Reform. She was also a member of the committees on Public Health, Education Reform, Education and Criminal Justice.
Vukmir announced on June 25, 2009, that she was challenging incumbent Democratic State Senator Jim Sullivan for the 5th district seat in 2010. The race attracted large amounts of out-of-state campaign contributions, with 7% of Sullivan's donors and 14% of Vukmir's donors being residents of Wauwatosa. On November 2, 2010, Vukmir defeated Sullivan for reelection. She was succeeded in her Assembly seat by fellow Republican Dale Kooyenga.
Vukmir opposes medical marijuana
Medical cannabis, or medical marijuana (MMJ), is cannabis and cannabinoids that are prescribed by physicians for their patients. The use of cannabis as medicine has not been rigorously tested due to production and governmental restrictions ...
and has said that there is no medical reason to use it. At a public hearing in 2009, she was booed after accusing fellow legislators Jon Erpenbach
Jon B. Erpenbach (born January 28, 1961) is an American politician serving as a Democratic member of the Wisconsin Senate, representing the 27th District since 1999.
Early life, education and career
Erpenbach was born in Middleton, Wisconsin a ...
and Mark Pocan
Mark William Pocan ( ; born August 14, 1964) is an American politician and businessman serving as the U.S. representative from Wisconsin's 2nd congressional district since 2013. The district is based in the state capital, Madison. A member of th ...
of using dying cancer patients to further a secret agenda of legalization
Legalization is the process of removing a legal prohibition against something which is currently not legal.
Legalization is a process often applied to what are regarded, by those working towards legalization, as victimless crimes, of which one ...
.
During Republican-led redistricting efforts after 2010, email communications showed that Vukmir called for redistricting changes that aided her politically ( gerrymandering), such as making her district more Republican. At one point, she wrote, "This is such a big task. So glad we are in control!"
Vukmir is on the Board of Directors of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), a nonprofit organization of conservative state legislators and private sector representatives who draft and share model state-level legislation for distribution among state governments in the United States. In June 2013, the Center for Media and Democracy sued Vukmir, contending she had violated Wisconsin's open records law by not turning over records related to her involvement with ALEC. Vukmir responded by claiming she could not be sued while in office. The lawsuit was settled in 2014, with the state of Wisconsin agreeing to pay $15,000 and Vukmir turning over e-mails from her personal Yahoo!
Yahoo! (, styled yahoo''!'' in its logo) is an American web services provider. It is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California and operated by the namesake company Yahoo Inc., which is 90% owned by investment funds managed by Apollo Global Man ...
account that she said she had withheld due to technical issues.
In December 2017, the Wisconsin Department of Justice released a report criticizing a secret state investigation into Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker. During the course of the investigation, the state had seized the personal emails of 35 Republican lawmakers, including Vukmir. Included among the emails was correspondence between Vukmir and her daughter that included private medical information. Some of the emails were placed into a folder on state computers marked "opposition research." Vukmir wrote an op-ed
An op-ed, short for "opposite the editorial page", is a written prose piece, typically published by a North-American newspaper or magazine, which expresses the opinion of an author usually not affiliated with the publication's editorial board. O ...
in the ''Wall Street Journal'' criticizing the investigation, which she said was politically motivated and "un-American."
2018 U.S. Senate election
On September 7, 2017, Vukmir announced that she would seek the 2018 Republican nomination for U.S. Senate
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 ...
.
During the primary campaign, Vukmir ran ads in which she attempted to link Baldwin with Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, mastermind of the September 11 attacks
The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercia ...
, calling them "Team Terrorists". PolitiFact
PolitiFact.com is an American nonprofit project operated by the Poynter Institute in St. Petersburg, Florida, with offices there and in Washington, D.C. It began in 2007 as a project of the ''Tampa Bay Times'' (then the ''St. Petersburg Times'' ...
rated the claims as "Pants on Fire" wrong.
On May 12, 2018, Vukmir secured the endorsement of the Wisconsin Republican Party at the state convention with 73 percent of the vote, besting former Marine
Marine is an adjective meaning of or pertaining to the sea or ocean.
Marine or marines may refer to:
Ocean
* Maritime (disambiguation)
* Marine art
* Marine biology
* Marine debris
* Marine habitats
* Marine life
* Marine pollution
Military
* ...
Kevin Nicholson. Former White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus
Reinhold Richard Priebus ( ; born March 18, 1972) is an American lawyer and politician who served as White House Chief of Staff for President Donald Trump from January 20, 2017, until July 31, 2017. He also served as the chairman of the Republ ...
praised what he termed Vukmir's proven track record of advancing a conservative agenda.
Vukmir won the Republican primary election on August 14, 2018 and was afterwards endorsed by President Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021.
Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...
. She lost to incumbent 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 ...
Tammy Baldwin
Tammy Suzanne Green Baldwin (born February 11, 1962) is an American lawyer and politician who has served as the junior United States senator from Wisconsin since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, she served three terms in the Wisconsin Stat ...
in the general election by eleven percentage points on November 6, 2018.
Electoral history
Personal life
Vukmir attends Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church in Wauwatosa. She was at one time an active speedskater
Long-track speed skating, usually simply referred to as speed skating, is the Olympic discipline of speed skating where competitors are timed while crossing a set distance. It is also a sport for leisure. Sports such as ice skating marathon, ...
: a member of the West Allis Speedskating Club and an Amateur Speedskating Union referee
A referee is an official, in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The official tasked with this job may be known by a variety of other titl ...
.Barish, Lawrence S., ed. ''State of Wisconsin 2003-2004 Blue Book'' Madison: Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau, 2003; p. 29
/ref>
References
External links
Profile, committees and bills
at the Wisconsin State 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 ...
Leah Vukmir
official campaign site
*
*
, -
, -
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vukmir, Leah
1958 births
Living people
21st-century American politicians
21st-century American women politicians
University of Wisconsin–Madison School of Nursing alumni
American women nurses
American politicians of Greek descent
Marquette University alumni
Republican Party members of the Wisconsin State Assembly
Politicians from Milwaukee
Republican Party Wisconsin state senators
Women state legislators in Wisconsin
Candidates in the 2018 United States Senate elections