Eric Genrich ( ; born October 8, 1979) is 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 ...

politician who has served as the mayor of

Green Bay, Wisconsin Green Bay is a city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The county seat of Brown County, it is at the head of Green Bay (known locally as "the bay of Green Bay"), a sub-basin of Lake Michigan, at the mouth of the Fox River. It is above sea le ...

, since 2019. Genrich previously represented Green Bay in 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, e ...

from 2013 until 2019.

Early life and education

Born in

, Genrich graduated from Notre Dame Academy in 1998. He went on to attend the

University of Wisconsin–Madison A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United Stat ...

, where he majored in history and sociology, earning his

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to si ...

in 2002. He earned a

Master of Library and Information Science The Master of Library and Information Science (MLIS), also referred to as the Master of Library and Information Studies, is the master's degree that is required for most professional librarian positions in the United States. The MLIS is a relativ ...

from the

University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee The University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee (UW–Milwaukee, UWM, or Milwaukee) is a public urban research university in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It is the largest university in the Milwaukee metropolitan area and a member of the University of Wisc ...

in 2010.

Career

After graduating from the University of Wisconsin, Genrich was employed for six years as a legislative aide to State Senator Dave Hansen. He was subsequently employed as a district representative for Congressman

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 Ribbl ...

. After Kagen left office in 2011, Genrich was employed as an IT librarian at the Brown County Library, where he worked until his election to the Assembly in 2012.

Wisconsin Legislature

The 2011 Wisconsin gerrymander
2011 Wisc. Act 43
significantly altered the political makeup of the

Wisconsin's 90th Assembly district The 90th Assembly District of Wisconsin is one of 99 districts in the Wisconsin State Assembly. Located in northeastern Wisconsin, the district covers most of the city of Green Bay, Wisconsin, in central Brown County, Wisconsin, Brown County. ...

, removing suburban

Howard Howard is an English-language given name originating from Old French Huard (or Houard) from a Germanic source similar to Old High German ''*Hugihard'' "heart-brave", or ''*Hoh-ward'', literally "high defender; chief guardian". It is also probabl ...

and

Suamico Suamico is a village in Brown County in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The population was 11,346 at the time of the 2010 census. Suamico is part of the Green Bay Metropolitan Statistical Area, and contains the neighborhood community of Flintv ...

, and packing in more of Green Bay's population. In March 2012, 90th district incumbent State Representative Karl Van Roy announced he would not seek re-election in the new district, Genrich announced his candidacy for the seat a month later. Genrich would defeat Republican activist and businessman David VanderLeest in the 2012 general election, taking 60.2% of the vote. He was subsequently re-elected in 2014, defeating attorney

Eric Wimberger Eric Wimberger (born April 2, 1979) is an American attorney and Republican politician. He is a member of the Wisconsin State Senate, representing the 30th Senate district since 2021. The 30th district comprises the cities of Green Bay and De ...

, and was unopposed in

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...

. Genrich, as a Democrat, served in the minority during his six years in the

. He was a member of the committees on education, on energy and utilities, on insurance, on regulatory licensing reform, and on science and technology.

Mayor of Green Bay

In March 2018, he announced his candidacy for mayor of Green Bay in the 2019 election, in a bid to replace

Jim Schmitt James J. Schmitt (born June 7, 1958) is an American politician from Wisconsin. A Republican, he served as the mayor of Green Bay, Wisconsin, from 2003 to 2019, becoming the city's longest-serving mayor. Personal life The fourth of 11 children b ...

, who was not seeking another term as mayor. Genrich and Brown County Supervisor Patrick Buckley advanced from a primary election, and Genrich defeated Buckley with 57.1% of the vote. During the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

Mayor Genrich was one of several Wisconsin mayors and politicians who sought alternative voting accommodations to comply with COVID-19 lockdown procedures. Genrich and the city of Green Bay filed a lawsuit in the

United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin (in case citations, E.D. Wis.) is a federal trial court of limited jurisdiction. The court is under the auspices of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, ...

about two weeks before the April 7 elections, stating that they did not have the capacity to carry out the election as directed, and asking for an injunction to delay the election until June. The suit was quickly dismissed by the court, which said it lacked jurisdiction to rule on the matter. A subsequent order from Wisconsin 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 2009 ...

to postpone the election also fell in the

Wisconsin Supreme Court The Wisconsin Supreme Court is the highest appellate court in Wisconsin. The Supreme Court has jurisdiction over original actions, appeals from lower courts, and regulation or administration of the practice of law in Wisconsin. Location The Wi ...

. The election went forward as scheduled on April 7, though with less than 10% of their normal election workers. Brown County Clerk Sandy Juno offered to allocate Wisconsin National Guard personnel to manage polling stations, but Green Bay (along with other neighboring municipalities) refused, citing a lack of training. As a result of the personnel shortages, Green Bay could operate only 2 of their 31 in-person polling locations and endured long lines of voters waiting to cast their ballots.

Personal life

Mayor Genrich and his wife, Emily (''

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 ...

'' Kelley), live on Green Bay's east side with their two children.

Electoral history

Wisconsin Assembly (2012, 2014, 2016)

, colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", General Election, November 6, 2012 , colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", General Election, November 4, 2014

Green Bay Mayor (2019)

, colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", Nonpartisan Primary, February 19, 2019 (top-two) , colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", General Election, April 2, 2019

References

External links

Campaign website
*
About the Mayor
at

Representative Eric Genrich
at

Wisconsin 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 Repub ...

State Representative Eric Genrich
(Archived October 31, 2018) {{DEFAULTSORT:Genrich, Eric 1979 births Living people Mayors of Green Bay, Wisconsin University of Wisconsin–Madison College of Letters and Science alumni University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee alumni Democratic Party members of the Wisconsin State Assembly 21st-century American politicians Notre Dame Academy (Green Bay, Wisconsin) alumni