Jim Doyle
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James Edward Doyle (born November 23, 1945) is an American politician and the current and 44th Governor of Wisconsin. He is a member of the Democratic Party. He was elected Governor in 2002 and took office in January of 2003, after defeating incumbent Governor Scott McCallum by a margin of 45% to 41%. The race was influenced by a third party candidate, Ed Thompson, a Libertarian.
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Personal background
Governor Doyle was born in Madison, Wisconsin to James E. Doyle Sr. and Ruth Bachhuber Doyle. Doyle's parents were founding members of the modern Democratic Party in Wisconsin. James E. Doyle, Sr. ran for governor in 1954 and was appointed as a federal judge in 1965. Ruth Doyle was the first woman from Dane County to be elected to the Wisconsin State Assembly in 1948.
Doyle attended Stanford University for three years, then returned home to Madison to finish his senior year at UW-Madison. After graduating from college, Doyle left for Africa to work as a teacher in the Peace Corps, inspired by John F. Kennedy’s call to public service.
In 1972, Doyle earned his law degree from Harvard University. Doyle then moved to the Navajo Indian Reservation in Chinle, Arizona where he worked as an attorney in a federal legal services office.
Doyle is married to Jessica Laird Doyle and they have two adult sons, Gus and Gabe.
Attorney General
In 1975, Doyle returned to Madison, was elected Dane County District Attorney and served three terms from 1977 to 1982. After he left that office, he spent eight years building his own private law practice.
Doyle was elected Wisconsin Attorney General in 1990. Doyle was reelected as Attorney General in 1994 and 1998, during which time he served as the president of the National Association of Attorneys General (1997-1998). During his 12 years as Attorney General, Doyle was considered tough on crime, but not unsympathetic to its causes. He also gained recognition through several successful lawsuits against tobacco companies in the state.
The Election
After Tommy Thompson resigned as Wisconsin Governor to become Secretary of Health and Human Services under President George W. Bush in 2001, Lt. Gov. Scott McCallum became Governor, serving out the remaing two years of Thompson's term.
McCallum inherited a state with a $2.8 billion budget deficit. His solution to Wisconsin's economic problems turned out to be an ill-fated decision that more than likely cost him the Governor's mansion. In 2003, McCallum signed a budget-repair bill that traded most of a long-term return from the state’s $1.6 billion tobacco settlement for a one-time lump sum that fixed the deficit for a year but didn’t provide the necessary long-term solutions. He then spent all of the money in an attempt to balance the budget in under one year.
While McCallum didn't cause the state's deficit, he was accused of not creating long-term solutions for the state and poor decision making. Doyle seized McCallum's faults and brought them to the surface in his 2002 campaign, accusing him of fiscal mismanadgement.
The 2002 Wisconsin Governor's race is considered the most negative campaign in the state's history, with constant mud-slinging from both candidates. This negativity turned off voters and made them lose interested in both McCallum and Doyle. Therefore, Libertarian Ed Thompson, publically critical of the negative campaigning of both major party candidates, became a welcome option for many voters. Thompson garnered a surprising 10% of the vote, reviving the Libertarian party in Wisconsin and directly influencing the results of the election.
As the dust settled on election day, Doyle defeated McCallum by over four percentage points, becoming the first Democratic governor in the state since the long reign of Tommy Thompson began 16 years earlier with the defeat of Tony Earl. Doyle was sworn in on January 6, 2003 in Madison.
Governor
With Doyle's election, alongside Barbara Lawton, his Lieutenant Governor, nearly all of Wisconsin's statewide offices are now held by Democrats. Both of the state's U.S. Senators, the Governor, the Lieutenant Governor, the State Attorney General and the WI Secretary of State are all Democrats. This was a striking blow to the state Republican party, which controls both houses of the state legislature with a firm majority.
As Governor, Doyle is perceived as mildly successful, though it is hard to be popular in the swing state of Wisconsin, and it is certainly not free from partisanship. Doyle has been able to alleviate the budget deficit without raising taxes, and can also add transportation reform and heavily funding scientific pursuits such as stem cell research onto his list of successes. However, with a GOP-controlled state legislature, Doyle has had his share of difficulties turning many of his plans into actions.
Doyle holds a leadership position in the National Governors Association; he is a member of its Executive Committee.
Election 2006
Doyle will be up for reelection on November 3, 2006, along with all of Wisconsin's statewide offices and the U.S. Senate seat of Herb Kohl. Doyle's GOP opponents include Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker and Congressman Mark Green. Former four-term Governor Tommy Thompson, who recently announced his resignation as United States Secretary of Health and Human Services, has given indications that he will not run for governor again, though some still look to him as a contender. 2002 gubernatorial candidate Ed Thompson has also said he may run again as a Libertarian or independent if he can raise enough funds to win.
External links
- Wisconsin Office of the Governor (http://www.wisgov.state.wi.us/)
- Peace Corps biography of Jim Doyle (http://peacecorpsonline.org/messages/messages/467/2021474.html)
| Preceded by: Scott McCallum | Governor of Wisconsin 2003- | Succeeded by: Incumbent |