Richard A. "Rick" Skindrud (born September 15, 1944) is an American former truck driver, farmer, and Republican politician from Mt. Horeb, Wisconsin who served almost ten years as 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, ...

. When he lost his office, he was then elected as Sergeant at Arms of that body.

Background

Skindrud was born in Mt. Horeb on September 15, 1944; he is married, with 3 children. He served in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

during the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

as a

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attributes ...

crew chief from 1965 to 1967. He worked as a truck driver and farmer, and in 1981 was appointed to the Town of Primrose

land use Land use involves the management and modification of natural environment or wilderness into built environment such as settlements and semi-natural habitats such as arable fields, pastures, and managed woods. Land use by humans has a long h ...

Committee. He was elected to the Dane County

board of supervisors A board of supervisors is a governmental body that oversees the operation of county government in the U.S. states of Arizona, California, Iowa, Mississippi, Virginia, and Wisconsin, as well as 16 counties in New York. There are equivalent agenc ...

in 1989, and served from 1989 to 1994.

Legislative service

Skindrud was elected to the Assembly in a June 1993 special election, and was reelected in 1994–2000, even though ''Madison Magazine'' had in 1996 classified him as a "Lawmaker Who Just Takes Up Space" ("our 'State Capitol Furniture' category"), before losing in 2002 to

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 ...

Sondy Pope-Roberts 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 2002 ...

(who had unsuccessfully challenged Skindrud in 2000). After he left office in 2003, he was elected as Sergeant at Arms of the Assembly by his fellow Republicans, who were in the majority at that time."Richard A. Skindrud: Assembly Sergeant at Arms" ''Wisconsin Blue Book 2003–2004''; p. 86
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References

1944 births Farmers from Wisconsin County supervisors in Wisconsin Living people Republican Party members of the Wisconsin State Assembly People from Mount Horeb, Wisconsin American truck drivers People from Primrose, Wisconsin {{Wisconsin-WIAssembly-Republican-1940s-stub