Roger J. Roth Jr. (born February 5, 1978) is an American politician from

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

. 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, ...

from 2007 to 2011, and a member of the

Wisconsin State Senate The Wisconsin Senate is the upper house of the Wisconsin State Legislature. Together with the larger Wisconsin State Assembly they constitute the legislative branch of the state of Wisconsin. The powers of the Wisconsin Senate are modeled after t ...

since 2015. He was the Republican nominee for

Lieutenant Governor of Wisconsin The lieutenant governor of Wisconsin is the first person in the Gubernatorial lines of succession in the United States#Wisconsin, line of succession of Wisconsin's executive branch, thus serving as governor in the event of the death, resignation, r ...

in the 2022 election.

Early life, education, and career before politics

Roth was born in

Appleton, Wisconsin Appleton ( mez, Ahkōnemeh) is a city in Outagamie, Calumet, and Winnebago counties in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. One of the Fox Cities, it is situated on the Fox River, southwest of Green Bay and north of Milwaukee. Appleton is the c ...

on February 5, 1978.Senator Roger Roth: Senate District 19 (R-Appleton)
Wisconsin State Legislature. Roth graduated from St. Mary Central High School in

Neenah, Wisconsin Neenah () is a city in Winnebago County, Wisconsin, in the north central United States. It is situated on the banks of Lake Winnebago, Little Lake Butte des Morts, and the Fox River, approximately forty miles (60 km) southwest of Green ...

in 1996 and received his bachelor's degree from the

University of Wisconsin–Oshkosh The University of Wisconsin Oshkosh (UW Oshkosh or UW Osh) is a public university in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. It is part of the University of Wisconsin System and offers bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degree programs to nearly 14,000 students ea ...

in 2001. He was a member of "Students for Bush" while in college, and also worked on

Tommy Thompson Tommy George Thompson (born November 19, 1941) is an American Republican politician who most recently served as interim president of the University of Wisconsin System from 2020 to 2022. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served ...

's reelection campaign. Prior to entering politics, Roth worked for his family's homebuilding business. In 2003, Roth joined the

Wisconsin Air National Guard The Wisconsin Air National Guard (WI ANG) is the aerial militia of the State of Wisconsin, United States of America. It is, along with the Wisconsin Army National Guard, an element of the Wisconsin National Guard. As state militia units, the unit ...

; he served four tours of duty during the

Iraq War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق (Kurdish languages, Kurdish) , partof = the Iraq conflict (2003–present), I ...

, doing

F-16 The General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon is a single-engine Multirole combat aircraft, multirole fighter aircraft originally developed by General Dynamics for the United States Air Force (USAF). Designed as an air superiority day fighter, it ...

maintenance.

Political career

Roth was a member of the

as a

from 2007 to 2011. He supported a resolution backing a Republican lawsuit challenging the

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 ...

, the federal health care reform legislation signed into law by President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

. Roth called for the repeal of the ACA.Larry Sandler
3 vying to take on Kagen
''Milwaukee Journal Sentinel'' (August 27, 2010). In 2010, Roth sought the Republican nomination for the

U.S. 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 chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

seat from

Wisconsin's 8th congressional district Wisconsin's 8th congressional district is a congressional district of the United States House of Representatives in northeastern Wisconsin. It is currently represented by Mike Gallagher, a Republican. Gallagher won the open seat vacated by Re ...

, seeking to challenge incumbent Democratic Representative

Steve Kagen Steven Leslie Kagen (born December 12, 1949) is an American politician and physician who was the U.S. representative for from 2007 to 2011. He is a member of the Democratic Party. He was defeated in his bid for re-election in 2010 by Reid Ribble ...

. However, Roth was defeated by

Reid Ribble Reid James Ribble (born April 5, 1956) is an American politician who was the U.S. representative for from 2011 to 2017. He is a member of the Republican Party. Early life and education Ribble is a third generation Wisconsin resident. He was bo ...

in 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 ...

. In the 2014 election, Roth ran for the

against Penny Bernard Schaber in the 19th state Senate district to replace longtime incumbent Michael Ellis, who retired after holding the seat since 1982. The seat covered Appleton and a large portion of the Fox Valley. Roth won the November 2014 election. Roth was reelected to the state Senate in 2018, defeating Democratic nominee

Lee Snodgrass Lee Alyson Snodgrass (born February 9, 1969) is an American politician, communications consultant, and campaign organizer. She represents the 57th district of the Wisconsin State Assembly, based in Menasha and central Appleton, Wisconsin. She is a ...

. Roth considered seeking the 2016 Republican nomination to fill the U.S. House seat held by Ribble, who decided not to seek reelection. However, Roth ultimately chose not to run. In 2017, Roth introduced legislation in the state Senate that would abolish the

Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR) is a government agency of the U.S. state of Wisconsin charged with conserving and managing Wisconsin's natural resources. The Wisconsin Natural Resources Board has the authority to set policy ...

permitting system for

wetland A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The ...

filling, allowing developers to fill state wetlands without oversight. Fellow Republican

Jim Steineke James Steineke (born November 23, 1970) is a Wisconsin real estate agent and Republican politician. He was the majority leader of the Wisconsin State Assembly from January 2015 until his resignation from the Assembly in July 2022. He had represe ...

introduced a companion bill in the state Assembly. The bill was opposed by environmental and conservation groups. The bill was unsuccessful. As Senate president, Roth opposed proposals to legalize marijuana in Wisconsin. In January 2019, Roth falsely claimed that Wisconsin Republicans did not curb the powers of the incoming Democratic administration of Governor

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 ...

and State Attorney General

Josh Kaul Joshua Lautenschlager Kaul (born February 2, 1981) is an American lawyer, politician and member of the Democratic Party who has served as the 45th Attorney General of Wisconsin since January 2019. Early life and education Kaul is the son of Pe ...

, during the

lame-duck session A lame-duck session of Congress in the United States occurs whenever one Congress meets after its successor is elected, but before the successor's term begins. The expression is now used not only for a special session called after a sine die adjou ...

. In fact, after Evers and Kaul unseated Republicans in the 2018 election, the Republican-majority state legislature passed, and outgoing Republican Governor Scott Walker signed, an array of last-minute bills transferring various powers from the executive to the legislature. In 2020, Roth proposed a resolution in the Wisconsin Senate, condemning

human rights abuses Human rights are moral principles or normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for certain standards of hum ...

and atrocities by the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

and the

Chinese Communist Party The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), officially the Communist Party of China (CPC), is the founding and One-party state, sole ruling party of the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, the CCP emerged victoriou ...

, including the occupation of Tibet,

persecution of Uyghurs The Chinese government has committed a series of ongoing human rights abuses against Uyghurs and other ethnic and religious minorities in Xinjiang that is often characterized as genocide. Since 2014, the Chinese government, under the a ...

, harvesting of organs from Falun Gong practitioners and other political prisoners, and restrictions on religious freedom and freedom of speech; the resolution criticized Chinese propaganda efforts and accused the Chinese government of sustained intellectual property theft. In January 2021, amid a campaign by President Donald Trump to subvert his defeat by Joe Biden in the

2020 presidential election This national electoral calendar for 2020 lists the national/federal elections held in 2020 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included. January *5 January: **C ...

, Roth opposed a resolution in the Wisconsin Senate to affirm Biden's victory and condemn the U.S. Capitol attack. As chairman of the Senate Committee on Universities and Technical Colleges, Roth blocked the Evers' nominees to the state technical college system board; years into Evers' governorship, the committee had refused to confirm Evers's nominees while allowing Walker's appointees to continue to serve even though their terms were expired. In 2021, Roth and fellow Republican

Shae Sortwell Shae Sortwell (born August 3, 1985) is an American Republican politician. He is a member of the Wisconsin State Assembly, representing the 2nd Assembly district since 2019. Political career Local politics After serving on the Green Bay, Wiscons ...

proposed an amendment to the Wisconsin state Constitution to eliminate elections for the state superintendent, state treasurer, and secretary of state (all positions currently held by Democrats). Roth and Sortwell's proposed amendment would convert these positions into appointed posts filled by the governor with confirmation by the state Senate. On February 27, 2022, Roth announced his campaign for Lieutenant Governor of Wisconsin, with a sizeable funding lead compared to his opponents. On August 9, 2022, he won the primary alongside Trump-endorsed gubernatorial candidate and businessman

Tim Michels Timothy James Michels (born August 7, 1962) is an American businessman who co-owns and co-manages Michels Corporation, a family-owned and operated construction company. A member of the Republican Party, Michels was the party's unsuccessful no ...

. On November 8, 2022, the pair lost to the Democratic ticket of incumbent Governor

and State Assemblywoman

Sara Rodriguez Sara Rodriguez (born July 25, 1975) is an American registered nurse, health care executive, and Democratic politician. She is the 46th and incumbent lieutenant governor of Wisconsin, having been elected on a ticket with Governor Tony Evers in ...

in the

general election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

.Ben Baker
Democrat Sara Rodriguez and Republican Roger Roth win lieutenant governor primaries to join governor tickets
''Milwaukee Journal Sentinel'' (August 9, 2022).

Personal life

His uncle,

Toby Roth Tobias Anton "Toby" Roth (born October 10, 1938) is a former Republican U.S. Representative from Wisconsin. Roth represented Wisconsin's 8th congressional district. He served in the United States House of Representatives from 1979, first being ...

, was a member of the

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 ...

from Wisconsin from 1979 to 1997.

Electoral history

Notes

External links

Campaign Website Official legislative website
, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Roth, Roger 1978 births 21st-century American politicians Businesspeople from Wisconsin Living people Republican Party members of the Wisconsin State Assembly Military personnel from Wisconsin Politicians from Appleton, Wisconsin Presidents of the Wisconsin Senate Republican Party Wisconsin state senators University of Wisconsin–Oshkosh alumni