Arthur Koegel
Encyclopedia
Arthur Koegel was a Socialist
Socialist Party of America
The Socialist Party of America was a multi-tendency democratic-socialist political party in the United States, formed in 1901 by a merger between the three-year-old Social Democratic Party of America and disaffected elements of the Socialist Labor Party which had split from the main organization...

 bricklayer
Bricklayer
A bricklayer or mason is a craftsman who lays bricks to construct brickwork. The term also refers to personnel who use blocks to construct blockwork walls and other forms of masonry. In British and Australian English, a bricklayer is colloquially known as a "brickie".The training of a trade in...

 from Milwaukee who served five terms from 1933-1942 as a member of the Wisconsin State Assembly
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....

.

Background

Koegel was born May 2, 1898 in Milwaukee. He graduated from local public schools and became a bricklayer. As of his 1932 election, he had been a member of the Bricklayers, Masons and Plasterers International Union of America
International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers
The International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers is a labor union in the United States and Canada which represents bricklayers, pointers/cleaners/caulkers, stone and marble masons, cement masons, plasterers, tilesetters, terrazzo and mosaic workers...

 for 24 years, and had never held public office.

Assembly service

Koegel was elected in November 1932 to the Assembly from the seventh Milwaukee County district (seventh ward) of the City of Milwaukee), succeeding fellow Socialist Philip Wenz
Philip Wenz
Philip F. Wenz was a carpenter and machinist who served three terms as a Socialist member of the Wisconsin State Assembly from the 7th Milwaukee County district .- Background :...

, who did not run for re-election. Koegel was unopposed in the primary election
Primary election
A primary election is an election in which party members or voters select candidates for a subsequent election. Primary elections are one means by which a political party nominates candidates for the next general election....

, and in the general election
General election
In a parliamentary political system, a general election is an election in which all or most members of a given political body are chosen. The term is usually used to refer to elections held for a nation's primary legislative body, as distinguished from by-elections and local elections.The term...

 polled 3063 votes, to 2960 for Democrat
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

 Charles Jungman, and 1537 for Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

 Robert Scheffing. He was assigned to the Assembly's standing committee
Standing Committee
In the United States Congress, standing committees are permanent legislative panels established by the United States House of Representatives and United States Senate rules. . Because they have legislative jurisdiction, standing committees consider bills and issues and recommend measures for...

 on elections.

In 1934, he was again unopposed in the primary, and received 2243 votes, to 1639 for Democrat Fred Stich, 1206 for Progressive
Wisconsin Progressive Party
The Wisconsin Progressive Party , was a third party which briefly held a dominant role in Wisconsin politics. The Party was the brainchild of Philip La Follette and Robert M. La Follette, Jr., the sons of the famous Wisconsin Governor and Senator Robert M. La Follette, Sr....

 Rudolph Korthals, and 665 for Republican George Becker. For the new session, he was assigned to the Assembly Committees on Contingent Expenditures and on State Affairs.

In 1936, under the Socialist/Progressive electoral fusion
Electoral fusion
Electoral fusion is an arrangement where two or more political parties on a ballot list the same candidate, pooling the votes for that candidate...

 arrangement then prevailing, he was for the first time opposed in the primary, although he defeated his opponent Mueller by over 2:1. He then won the general election, with 4741 votes to 3223 for Democrat Robert Lange. For the new session, he remained on State Affairs and was assigned to the Committee on Taxation.

In 1938 he was again unopposed in the Progressive/Socialist primary, and won re-election by
3030 votes, to 2048 for Republican George Schroeder, 1294 for Democrat Lange, and 69 votes for Herta Welch of William Lemke
William Lemke
William Frederick Lemke was a United States politician.-Life and career:He was born in Albany, Minnesota, and raised in Towner County, North Dakota, the son of Fred Lemke and Julia Anna Klier, pioneer farmers who had accumulated some of land...

's Union Party
Union Party (United States)
The Union Party was a short-lived political party in the United States, formed in 1936 by a coalition of radio priest Father Charles Coughlin, old-age pension advocate Francis Townsend, and Gerald L. K. Smith, who had taken control of Huey Long's Share Our Wealth movement after Long's assassination...

. He transferred to the Assembly's Committee on Labor.

In 1940, he again faced primary opposition, prevailing over challenger Ludwigsen by over 3:1. In the general election, he pulled 4248 votes, to 3973 for Republican Martin E. Schreiber
Martin E. Schreiber
Martin E. Schreiber was a carpenter, real estate agent and Republican politician from Milwaukee who served one term as a member of the Wisconsin State Assembly and 32 years as an alderman of the City of Milwaukee . He was the father of Martin J...

and 1828 for Democrat Clarence Findley. He remained on the Labor Committee.

In 1942, although unopposed in the Socialist primary (fusion having ended), he lost the general election, polling only 818 votes to 2696 for Republican Schreiber and 1652 for Progressive Walter Ensslin.
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