| Bob Ziegelbauer | |
| Term Start: | April 2006 |
| Party: | Democratic (1993–2010) Independent (2010–present) |
| Birth Date: | 26 August 1951 |
| Birth Place: | Manitowoc, Wisconsin, U.S. |
| Alma Mater: | University of Notre Dame Wharton Business School |
| Residence: | Manitowoc, Wisconsin, U.S. |
| Office: | Executive of Manitowoc County |
| District1: | 25th |
| Predecessor1: | Vernon W. Holschbach |
| Successor1: | Paul Tittl |
| State Assembly1: | Wisconsin |
| Term Start1: | January 3, 1993 |
| Term End1: | January 7, 2013 |
| Termstart2: | 1982 |
| Termend2: | 1988 |
Robert F. Ziegelbauer (born August 26, 1951) is an American politician who served as a Democratic, and then independent member of the Wisconsin State Assembly and is the current County Executive of Manitowoc County, Wisconsin. He represented the 25th Assembly District from 1993 until 2013.
Born in Manitowoc, Wisconsin, Ziegelbauer graduated from Roncalli High School. He then graduated from the University of Notre Dame and received his masters from Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Ziegelbauer was a business owner. He served as finance director of the city of Manitowoc; he also served on the Manitowoc County Board of Supervisors and the Manitowoc Common Council. Ziegelbauer also taught at Silver Lake College.[1]
In mid 1992, Vernon Holschbach announced he would not seek re-election to a seventh term. His son ran a campaign to succeed him, but was defeated by Ziegelbauer, who had ran for the nomination against the elder Holschbach in 1980 and 1982, being defeated both times.[2]
Having been one of the more conservative members of the Democratic Caucus, Ziegelbauer would often dissent with Democratic leaders and vote with Republicans on key issues. One particular flashpoint of this tension was in 2009, when, during a debate on the 2009 state budget, he voted for a Republican amendment to restrict abortion in the state.[3] As a result he was removed as chairman of the Assembly Ways and Means Committee.[4]
In years past Ziegelbauer had also faced criticism from his Democratic colleagues for his votes with Republicans on the issues of taxation and abortion, as well as for his support for John Gard over Steve Kagen in the 2006 House of Representatives elections in Wisconsin.
Ziegelbauer announced on June 21, 2010 that he would run as an Independent for the 2010 election.[5]
On November 2, 2010, Ziegelbauer was reelected to the Wisconsin Assembly.[6] After being re-elected, it was unclear who Ziegelbauer would caucus with, but eventually he stated that he would caucus with the Republicans.[7] [8]
In 2012 Ziegelbauer announced he would not run for reelection to the Assembly.[9]
Ziegelbauer was elected County Executive of Manitowoc County in April 2006. He has since been reelected as County Executive in 2010, 2014, 2018, and 2022 for a total of five terms.[10]
In 2018, Ziegelbauer endorsed Republican André Jacque's bid for the 1st district in the Wisconsin Senate and Republican Shae Sortwell's bid for state assembly in the 2nd district in the state assembly.[11] [12]
| Year | Election | Date | Elected | Defeated | Total | Plurality | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | Primary[13] | Democratic | 1,781 | 28.61% | Dem. | 1,523 | 24.46% | 6,226 | 258 | |||
| Dem. | 1,191 | 19.13% | ||||||||||
| Dem. | 1,056 | 16.96% | ||||||||||
| Dem. | 427 | 6.86% | ||||||||||
| Dem. | 248 | 3.98% | ||||||||||
| Year | Election | Date | Elected | Defeated | Total | Plurality | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1992 | Primary[15] | Democratic | 5,564 | 51.94% | Dem. | 2,555 | 23.85% | 10,713 | 3,009 | |||
| Dem. | 1,914 | 17.86% | ||||||||||
| Dem. | 680 | 6.35% | ||||||||||
| General | Democratic | 15,020 | 61.25% | Rep. | 9,503 | 38.75% | 24,523 | 5,517 | ||||
| 1994 | General[16] | Democratic | 11,647 | 100% | --unopposed-- | 11,647 | N/A | |||||
| 1996 | General[17] | Democratic | 14,771 | 100% | 14,771 | N/A | ||||||
| 1998 | General[18] | Democratic | 11,893 | 96.83% | Con. | 389 | 3.17% | 12,282 | 11,504 | |||
| 2000 | General[19] | Democratic | 18,528 | 99.58% | --unopposed-- | 18,607 | 18,449 | |||||
| 2002 | General[20] | Democratic | 12,701 | 99.61% | 12,751 | 12,651 | ||||||
| 2004 | Primary[21] | Democratic | 3,375 | 70.61% | Dem. | 1,405 | 29.39% | 4,780 | 1,970 | |||
| General[22] | Democratic | 20,268 | 99.50% | --unopposed-- | 20,369 | 20,167 | ||||||
| 2006 | Primary[23] | Democratic | 3,684 | 61.50% | Dem. | 2,306 | 38.50% | 5,990 | 1,378 | |||
| General[24] | Democratic | 11,163 | 54.00% | Rep. | 8,557 | 41.39% | 20,672 | 2,606 | ||||
| 2008 | General[25] | Democratic | 19,690 | 98.85% | --unopposed-- | 19,920 | 19,460 | |||||
| 2010 | General[26] | Independent | 9,702 | 49.77% | Dem. | 6,459 | 33.13% | 19,495 | 3,243 | |||
| Rep. | 3,325 | 17.06% | ||||||||||