John Nygren (born February 27, 1964) 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 ...

insurance and financial services agent, politician, and lobbyist. 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, e ...

for nearly 14 years, serving from January 2007 to December 2020. He was co-chair of the powerful Joint Finance Committee from 2013 until his sudden resignation on December 1, 2020. He now works as executive director for the Wisconsin Association of Health Plans, a state lobbying organization for health insurance companies. Prior to holding public office, he was President of the

United States Junior Chamber The United States Junior Chamber, also known as the Jaycees, JCs or JCI USA, is a leadership training, service organization and civic organization for people between the ages of 18 and 40. It is a branch of Junior Chamber International (JCI). ...

youth organization.

Early life and career

Nygren is a fourth generation resident of northeast Wisconsin. He graduated from

Marinette High School Marinette High School is a public high school serving grades 9 through 12 in the city of Marinette, Wisconsin. It is part of the School District of Marinette, and had an estimated enrollment of 623 for the 2014–15 school year. It is the only p ...

in 1982, studied at the University of Wisconsin-Marinette, and worked in the restaurant industry for over 12 years, eventually becoming co-owner/operator of his own establishment. In 1998 he started work at Great Lakes Financial Management Group selling

insurance Insurance is a means of protection from financial loss in which, in exchange for a fee, a party agrees to compensate another party in the event of a certain loss, damage, or injury. It is a form of risk management, primarily used to hedge ...

and other

financial services Financial services are the economic services provided by the finance industry, which encompasses a broad range of businesses that manage money, including credit unions, banks, credit-card companies, insurance companies, accountancy companies, ...

. Nygren was involved with the

Jaycees The United States Junior Chamber, also known as the Jaycees, JCs or JCI USA, is a leadership training, service organization and civic organization for people between the ages of 18 and 40. It is a branch of Junior Chamber International (JCI). ...

, serving as Marinette's chapter president, the regional director for Northeast Wisconsin, Wisconsin state president, and United States national president.

Political career

Nygren was chairman of the Marinette County Republican Party and served on the City of Marinette Recreation and Planning Board from 2003 to 2006. In 2006, Nygren ran for

to replace

Speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** In ...

John Gard John G. Gard (born August 3, 1963) is an American lobbyist and former politician. A Republican, he was the 75th Speaker of the Wisconsin State Assembly (2003–2007) and was a member of the Assembly for 19 years. Gard also ran unsuccessfu ...

, who was vacating his Assembly seat to run for

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

. Nygren narrowly won 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 ...

, defeating former

state senator A state senator is a member of a state's senate in the bicameral legislature of 49 U.S. states, or a member of the unicameral Nebraska Legislature. Description A state senator is a member of an upper house in the bicameral legislatures of ...

Gary Drzewiecki by just 37 votes. Nygren went on to defeat Democrat Randy Koehn in the November general election with 54% of the vote. In the Assembly, he was assigned to the

standing committee A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly. A committee is not itself considered to be a form of assembly. Usually, the assembly sends matters into a committee as a way to explore them more ...

s on

Insurance Insurance is a means of protection from financial loss in which, in exchange for a fee, a party agrees to compensate another party in the event of a certain loss, damage, or injury. It is a form of risk management, primarily used to hedge ...

; on

Education Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty ...

Health Health, according to the World Health Organization, is "a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity".World Health Organization. (2006)''Constitution of the World Health Organ ...

and

Health care Health care or healthcare is the improvement of health via the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other physical and mental impairments in people. Health care is delivered by health pr ...

reform; and on Jobs and the

Economy An economy is an area of the production, distribution and trade, as well as consumption of goods and services. In general, it is defined as a social domain that emphasize the practices, discourses, and material expressions associated with th ...

. Nygren was re-elected seven times, facing a Democratic opponent in six of the seven general elections. After the 2011

redistricting Redistribution (re-districting in the United States and in the Philippines) is the process by which electoral districts are added, removed, or otherwise changed. Redistribution is a form of boundary delimitation that changes electoral distri ...

, Nygren's district became more safely Republican, and he did not receive less than 59% in any election after redistricting.

2011 recall elections

In 2011, a recall campaign was initiated by Democrats, resulting from the upheaval over the Budget Repair bill. Republicans retaliated by launching their own recall effort, targeting Democratic state senators. One of the senators who was successfully pulled into a recall was Democrat Dave Hansen. Nygren, who lived in his district, sought to challenge him in the

recall election A recall election (also called a recall referendum, recall petition or representative recall) is a procedure by which, in certain polities, voters can remove an elected official from office through a referendum before that official's term of of ...

. However, the Wisconsin Government Accountability Board ruled that he was two signatures short of the necessary 400 signatures on his nomination petition, and thus his name would not appear on the ballot.

Resignation

Nygren won a substantial victory in 2020 with 68% of the vote. However, only a month after the election, Nygren announced he would immediately resign his seat.

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

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 ...

announced he would call a

special election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

to fill the vacancy. On December 14, it was announced that Nygren would work as executive director at the Wisconsin Association of Health Plans, a lobbying group for health insurers.

Personal life

Nygren is married to Maggie, a family and

consumer education Consumer education is the preparation of an individual to be capable of making informed decisions when it comes to purchasing products in a consumer culture. It generally covers various consumer goods and services, prices, what the consumer can e ...

teacher at

, and they have three children; Cassie, Cali and Colin. The Nygren family is active at Faith Lutheran Church. John serves as church elder, and previously spent four years as church president. In January 2020, Nygren's daughter, Cassie, was found guilty of being a party to a first-degree

reckless homicide Reckless homicide is a crime in which the perpetrator was aware that their act (or failure to act when there is a legal duty to act) creates significant risk of death or grievous bodily harm in the victim, but ignores the risk and continues to a ...

stemming from the death of a pregnant woman to whom she sold drugs.

Electoral history

Wisconsin Assembly (2006, 2008, 2010, 2012)

, colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", Republican Primary, September 12, 2006 , colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", General Election, November 7, 2006 , colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", General Election, November 4, 2008 , colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", General Election, November 2, 2010 , colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", General Election, November 6, 2012

Wisconsin Assembly (2014, 2016, 2018, 2020)

, colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", General Election, November 8, 2016 , colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", General Election, November 6, 2018 , colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", General Election, November 3, 2020

References

External links

* *
Official website

Campaign website

Representative John Nygren
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 ...

Wisconsin Association of Health Plans
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nygren, John 1964 births American Lutherans Living people Republican Party members of the Wisconsin State Assembly People from Marinette, Wisconsin American restaurateurs Businesspeople from Wisconsin 21st-century American politicians