Martin M. Higgins (January 5, 1891 – May 27, 1950) 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 ...

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man who spent one term as a

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member of the

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from

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee is ...

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, and later served as a Milwaukee

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 ...

Background

Higgins was born in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

on January 5, 1891, was educated in

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and

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and

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. He served in the

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during the

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, was

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, and went into what his official biography describes as "the advertising business, specializing in periodical magazine work." He never held public office until elected to the Assembly.

Legislative term

In 1920, Higgins defeated incumbent

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Joseph Klein with 2,185 votes for Higgins to 1,206 for Klein (there was no Democrat in the race) to represent the Assembly's Second

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district (the 2nd

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of the City of Milwaukee). He was assigned to the

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. In 1922, after his Assembly district had been somewhat altered by

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, he ran unsuccessfully as an

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Republican for the State Senate's 9th District, coming in fourth in a four-way race. (The altered 2nd Assembly District seat was taken by Republican Michael Laffey.)

Milwaukee alderman

In 1928, Higgins was elected to the

Milwaukee Common Council The municipal government of the U.S. city of Milwaukee, located in the state of Wisconsin, consists of a mayor and common council. Traditionally supporting liberal politicians and movements, this community has consistently proved to be a strongho ...

as Alderman from the 2nd Ward. Instead of running for reelection as alderman, he ran in 1932 for the State Senate (for the 6th District this time) as an independent, and again came in fourth in a four-way race. In 1936 he was again elected alderman for the 2nd Ward. He was defeated in 1940, and repeatedly sought to return to his old office. He became a

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for city, county and state offices, and ran at various times as a Republican or Democrat. He worked as a plant guard, and died of a heart attack on May 27, 1950, having lost his most recent race for alderman the month before. He was survived by a wife Alma, three daughters and a son."Martin Higgins Dies; Served in Assembly and as Alderman" ''

Milwaukee Journal The ''Milwaukee Journal Sentinel'' is a daily morning broadsheet printed in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where it is the primary newspaper. It is also the largest newspaper in the state of Wisconsin, where it is widely distributed. It is currently o ...

'' May 27, 1950; p. 15, col. 5

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Higgins, Martin M. 1891 births 1950 deaths Republican Party members of the Wisconsin State Assembly Politicians from Milwaukee Wisconsin city council members 20th-century American legislators 20th-century Wisconsin politicians