Michael Andrew "Mike" Bare (born March 1983) is an American policy analyst and Democratic politician from

Verona, Wisconsin Verona is a city in Dane County, Wisconsin, in the United States and is a suburb of Madison. The population was 14,030 at the 2020 census. The city is located ten miles southwest of downtown Madison within the Town of Verona. It is part of the M ...

. He is 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, ...

, representing

Wisconsin's 80th Assembly district The 80th Assembly District of Wisconsin is one of 99 districts in the Wisconsin State Assembly. Located in south-central Wisconsin, the district comprises most of southwest Dane County and parts of the northwest Green County and southeast Iow ...

since January 2023. He is also currently a member of the Dane County board of supervisors and previously served as a

legislative aide A legislative assistant (LA) or legislative analyst is a person who works for a legislator as a legislative staffer, a government agency as a legislative affairs professional, or in the government relations and regulatory affairs industry by monitor ...

United States senator The United States Senate is the Upper house, upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States House of Representatives, House of Representatives being the Lower house, lower chamber. Together they compose the national Bica ...

Russ Feingold Russell Dana Feingold ( ; born March 2, 1953) is an American lawyer and politician who served as a United States Senator from Wisconsin from 1993 to 2011. A member of the Democratic Party, he was its nominee in the 2016 election for the same U.S ...

Biography

Mike Bare was born and raised in

Manitowoc, Wisconsin Manitowoc () is a city in and the county seat of Manitowoc County, Wisconsin, United States. The city is located on Lake Michigan at the mouth of the Manitowoc River. According to the 2020 census, Manitowoc had a population of 34,626, with over ...

. He graduated from Manitowoc's Lincoln High School in 2001 and went on to attend

American University The American University (AU or American) is a private federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C. Its main campus spans 90 acres (36 ha) on Ward Circle, mostly in the Spring Valley neighborhood of Northwest D.C. AU was charte ...

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

He earned his bachelor's degree from American in 2006 and went on to earn his master's degree in 2010. Since 2013, he has been employed as research director and program coordinator for Community Advocates Public Policy Institute. The institute deals with researching existing and proposed legislation and designing model policy for alleviating and preventing poverty. Bare played a significant role in his organization's recommendations for

Affordable Care Act The Affordable Care Act (ACA), formally known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and colloquially known as Obamacare, is a landmark U.S. federal statute enacted by the 111th United States Congress and signed into law by Presid ...

implementation in Wisconsin. In 2016, he was a partner in a bid to construct and maintain a German-style

beer garden A beer garden (German: ''Biergarten'') is an outdoor area in which beer and food are served, typically at shared tables shaded by trees. Beer gardens originated in Bavaria, of which Munich is the capital city, in the 19th century, and remain co ...

in Madison's Olbrich Park. Their proposal was ultimately approved, and Bare is now co-owner of the Olbrich biergarten.

Political career

Bare first became involved in politics during his undergraduate years. While still a student, he was hired to work as a field organizer on

John Kerry John Forbes Kerry (born December 11, 1943) is an American attorney, politician and diplomat who currently serves as the first United States special presidential envoy for climate. A member of the Forbes family and the Democratic Party (Unite ...

's 2004 presidential campaign. After the election, he went to work for

as a legislative clerk and joined Feingold's re-election campaign as research director in 2010. In 2013, he was appointed to the Verona city council to fill a vacancy, but was not elected to a full term in 2014. In 2013, Bare was also one of the co-founders of the Wisconsin chapter of the

New Leaders Council New Leaders Council (NLC) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization in the United States that works to recruit, train and promote young progressive leaders ranging from elected officials and civically-engaged leaders in business and industry. NLC's m ...

, which seeks to recruit and train young progressive leaders. He served as director of the Wisconsin chapter for some time and was also chair of the organization's national programs committee. In the Spring election of 2020, he was elected to the Dane County board of supervisors, running unopposed in an open seat. He was re-elected without opposition in 2022. Just after the Spring 2022 election, incumbent state representative

Sondy Pope Sondy M. Pope (born April 27, 1950) is a Democratic Party politician and former foundation staff member from Madison, Wisconsin, currently serving as a member of the Wisconsin State Assembly, having represented the 80th Assembly District from 200 ...

announced she would retire after 20 years in the Assembly. Bare announced his candidacy for the Democratic nomination and faced four opponents in the primary in the heavily democratic 80th Assembly district. Despite Pope endorsing Verona attorney and city councilmember Chad Kemp, Bare went on to win the primary with nearly 48% of the vote. He easily prevailed in the general election over Verona Republican Jacob Luginbuhl. He will assume office in January 2023.

Personal life and family

Mike Bare is married to Madison attorney Tristan Breedlove. Breedlove is an accomplished

public defender A public defender is a lawyer appointed to represent people who otherwise cannot reasonably afford to hire a lawyer to defend themselves in a trial. Several countries provide people with public defenders, including the UK, Hungary and Singapore, ...

, specializing in

appeals In law, an appeal is the process in which cases are reviewed by a higher authority, where parties request a formal change to an official decision. Appeals function both as a process for error correction as well as a process of clarifying and ...

, and a professor at the

University of Wisconsin Law School The University of Wisconsin Law School is the professional graduate law school of the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Located in Madison, Wisconsin, the school was founded in 1868. The University of Wisconsin Law School is guided by a "law in ...

. They have two young children and reside in

. Bare's sister was born with an intellectual disability, and as a result he has had a lifelong interest in lifting up people with disabilities. As a young man, he volunteered at a summer camp for children and adults with developmental disabilities in Manitowoc County, which his sister attended. For over 20 years, he has been a coach and volunteer for the

Special Olympics Special Olympics is the world's largest sports organization for children and adults with intellectual disabilities and physical disabilities, providing year-round training and activities to 5 million participants and Unified Sports partners in 1 ...

. He was also a member of the board of directors of the nonprofit Down Syndrome Association of Wisconsin.

Electoral history

Wisconsin Assembly (2022)

, colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", Democratic Primary, August 9, 2022 , colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", General Election, November 8, 2022

References

External links

Campaign website

Official (county) website
*
Mike Bare
at Wisconsin Vote
Olbrich Biergarten
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bare, Mike 1983 births Living people Democratic Party members of the Wisconsin State Assembly People from Manitowoc, Wisconsin People from Verona, Wisconsin 21st-century American politicians County supervisors in Wisconsin American University alumni Legislative staff