John Nygren

John Nygren (born February 27, 1964) is an American insurance and financial services agent, politician, and lobbyist. A Republican, he was a member of the Wisconsin State Assembly 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 youth organization.

John Nygren
Member of the Wisconsin State Assembly
from the 89th district
In office
January 1, 2007 – December 2, 2020
Preceded byJohn Gard
Succeeded byVacant
Personal details
Born (1964-02-27) February 27, 1964
Marinette, Wisconsin, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
Spouse(s)Maggie
ChildrenCassie, Cali, and Colin
ResidenceMarinette, Wisconsin
Professioninsurance and financial services agent, politician, lobbyist
WebsiteOfficial website

Early life and career

Nygren is a fourth generation resident of northeast Wisconsin. He graduated from Marinette High School in 1982, studied at the University of Wisconsin-Marinette,[1] 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 and other financial services.[2]

Nygren was involved with the Jaycees, serving as Marinette's chapter president, the regional director for Northeast Wisconsin, Wisconsin state president, and United States national president.[2]

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 Wisconsin State Assembly to replace Speaker John Gard, who was vacating his Assembly seat to run for United States House of Representatives. Nygren narrowly won the Republican primary election, defeating former state senator Gary Drzewiecki by just 37 votes.[3] Nygren went on to defeat Democrat Randy Koehn in the November general election with 54% of the vote.[4]

In the Assembly, he was assigned to the standing committees on Insurance; on Education, Health and Health care reform; and on Jobs and the Economy.[1]

Nygren was re-elected seven times, facing a Democratic opponent in six of the seven general elections. After the 2011 redistricting, 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. 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.[5]

Resignation

Nygren won a substantial victory in 2020 with 68% of the vote.[6] However, only a month after the election, Nygren announced he would immediately resign his seat.[7] Governor Tony Evers announced he would call a special election to fill the vacancy.[8] 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.[9][10]

Personal life

Nygren is married to Maggie, a family and consumer education teacher at Marinette High School,[11] and they have three children; Cassie, Cali and Colin.[2] The Nygren family is active at Faith Lutheran Church. John serves as church elder, and previously spent four years as church president.[2]

In January 2020, Nygren's daughter, Cassie, was found guilty of being a party to a first-degree reckless homicide stemming from the death of a pregnant woman to whom she sold drugs.[12]

Electoral history

Wisconsin Assembly (2006, 2008, 2010, 2012)
Wisconsin Assembly, 89th District Election, 2006[3][4]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Republican Primary, September 12, 2006
Republican John Nygren 2,777 50.32%
Republican Gary F. Drzewiecki 2,740 49.65%
Scattering 2 0.04%
Plurality 37 0.67%
Total votes 5,519 100.0%
General Election, November 7, 2006
Republican John Nygren 11,844 54.10% -9.71%
Democratic Randy Koehn 10,011 45.73% +9.59%
Scattering 36 0.16%
Plurality 1,833 8.37%
Total votes 21,891 100.0% -23.31%
Republican hold
Wisconsin Assembly, 89th District Election, 2008[13]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
General Election, November 4, 2008
Republican John Nygren (incumbent) 14,814 53.54% -0.56%
Democratic Randy Koehn 12,839 46.40% +0.67%
Scattering 15 0.05%
Plurality 1,975 8.37% -1.24%
Total votes 27,668 100.0% +26.39%
Republican hold
Wisconsin Assembly, 89th District Election, 2010[14]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
General Election, November 2, 2010
Republican John Nygren (incumbent) 15,788 67.68% +14.14%
Democratic Bob Orwig 7,520 32.24% -14.17%
Scattering 18 0.08%
Plurality 8,268 35.45% +28.31%
Total votes 23,326 100.0% -15.69%
Republican hold
Wisconsin Assembly, 89th District Election, 2012[15]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
General Election, November 6, 2012
Republican John Nygren (incumbent) 16,081 59.05% -8.63%
Democratic Joe Reinhard 11,129 40.87% +8.63%
Scattering 22 0.08%
Plurality 4,952 18.18% -17.26%
Total votes 27,232 100.0% +16.75%
Republican hold

Wisconsin Assembly (2014, 2016, 2018, 2020)
Wisconsin Assembly, 89th District Election, 2016[16]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
General Election, November 8, 2016
Republican John Nygren (incumbent) 19,429 68.20%
Democratic Heidi Fencl 9,055 31.78%
Scattering 5 0.02%
Plurality 10,374 36.41% +28.31%
Total votes 28,489 100.0% +53.17%
Republican hold
Wisconsin Assembly, 89th District Election, 2018[17]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
General Election, November 6, 2018
Republican John Nygren (incumbent) 17,091 66.85% -1.35%
Democratic Ken Holdorf 8,461 33.10%
Scattering 13 0.05%
Plurality 8,630 33.76% -2.66%
Total votes 25,565 100.0% -10.26%
Republican hold
Wisconsin Assembly, 89th District Election, 2020[18]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
General Election, November 3, 2020
Republican John Nygren (incumbent) 22,823 68.73% +1.88%
Democratic Karl Jaeger 10,374 31.24% -1.86%
Scattering 10 0.03%
Plurality 12,449 37.49% +3.73%
Total votes 33,207 100.0% +29.89%
Republican hold

References
  1. Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau (2007). "Biographies" (PDF). In Barish, Lawrence S. (ed.). State of Wisconsin 2007-2008 Blue Book (Report). Madison, Wisconsin: State of Wisconsin. p. 79. ISBN 978-0-9752820-2-1. Retrieved December 2, 2020.
  2. "Biography". State Representative John Nygren. Retrieved December 2, 2020.
  3. Results of Fall Primary Election - 09/12/2006 (PDF) (Report). Wisconsin State Elections Board. October 17, 2006. p. 70. Retrieved December 2, 2020.
  4. Results of Fall General Election - 11/07/2006 (PDF) (Report). Wisconsin State Elections Board. December 5, 2006. p. 41. Retrieved December 2, 2020.
  5. "Judge refuses to put candidate back on recall ballot". Pierce County Herald. Archived from the original on October 4, 2011. Retrieved July 5, 2011.
  6. "2020 Wisconsin State Assembly District 89 Election Results". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. November 3, 2020. Retrieved December 2, 2020.
  7. Vetterkind, Riley (December 1, 2020). "Budget committee co-chair John Nygren resigns Assembly seat". Wisconsin State Journal. Retrieved December 2, 2020.
  8. BeMiller, Haley (December 1, 2020). "State Rep. John Nygren resigns from Assembly weeks after winning reelection". Green Bay Press-Gazette. Retrieved December 2, 2020.
  9. Tempus, Kent (December 14, 2020). "John Nygren to lead health insurance lobbying group after resigning from Wisconsin Assembly". Green Bay Press-Gazette. Retrieved December 14, 2020.
  10. "John Nygren Announced as Association Executive Director". Wisconsin Association of Health Plans (Press release). December 14, 2020. Retrieved December 14, 2020.
  11. "Staff Details - Margarita Nygren". Marinette School District. Retrieved December 2, 2020.
  12. Associated Press (January 7, 2020). "Wisconsin legislator's daughter to be sentenced for role in woman's death". WDJT-TV. Retrieved January 8, 2020.
  13. Canvass Summary Fall General Election - 11/04/2008 (PDF) (Report). Wisconsin State Elections Board. November 24, 2008. p. 89. Retrieved December 2, 2020.
  14. 2010 Fall General Election Results Summary (PDF) (Report). Wisconsin Government Accountability Board. December 1, 2010. p. 31. Retrieved December 2, 2020.
  15. Canvass Results for 2012 Presidential and General Election - 11/6/2012 (PDF) (Report). Wisconsin Government Accountability Board. December 26, 2012. p. 30. Retrieved December 2, 2020.
  16. Canvass Results for 2016 General Election - 11/8/2016 (PDF) (Report). Wisconsin Elections Commission. December 22, 2016. p. 29. Retrieved December 2, 2020.
  17. Canvass Results for 2018 General Election - 11/6/2018 (PDF) (Report). Wisconsin Elections Commission. February 2, 2019. p. 30. Retrieved December 2, 2020.
  18. {{cite report|url= https://elections.wi.gov/sites/elections.wi.gov/files/Statewide%20Results%20All%20Offices%20%28pre-Presidential%20recount%29.pdf |title= Canvass Results for 2020 General Election - 11/3/2020 |publisher= Wisconsin Elections Commission |date= November 18, 2020 |page=


Non-profit organization positions
Preceded by
Sydney Ward		 President of the United States Jaycees
2002		 Succeeded by
Mike Faller
Wisconsin State Assembly
Preceded by
John Gard		 Member of the Wisconsin State Assembly from the 89th district
January 1, 2007 – December 2, 2020		 Pending special election
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