Mark W. Neumann (b. February 27, 1954) is an American politician and former Congressman from the state of Wisconsin.
Personal life
Neumann was born in East Troy, Wisconsin. He has been married to Sue Neumann since 1973. The couple has three children: Matt, Andy and Tricia. The family is devoutly Lutheran. As of 2004, Neumann ran a real estate development firm, Neumann Enterprises Inc. He lives in Nashotah, Wisconsin.
Early career
Neumann graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater in 1975, and from the University of Wisconsin-River Falls in 1977 with a Master of Science degree. He worked as a math teacher and started a business building homes.
Neumann decided to run for the House of Representatives as a Republican in 1992. He faced Congressman Les Aspin and lost by a large margin, while spending $700,000. Aspin was appointed Secretary of Defense by President Clinton in 1993 and Neumann run in a special election for the seat, losing narrowly to Peter Barca . He was persuaded to run again in 1994 and this time, he defeated Barca by 1,120 votes.
U.S. Congressman
Neumann was assigned to the powerful Appropriations committee. This assignment did not work out, as Neumann disapproved of pork-barrel projects, even for his own district. Neumann also wrote his own version of the budget which would produce a balanced budget by 1999. Bob Livingston kicked him off of the Appropriations committee after he proposed an amendment requiring congressional approval of troop deployment to Bosnia. Neumann won re-election by 4,260 votes in a close 1996 race against Lydia Spottswood .
Neumann voted present in the election for Speaker of the House in 1997, instead of voting for Newt Gingrich.
U.S. Senate Race
In September 1997, Neumann announced his candidacy for the United States Senate against Russell Feingold. Both candidates had similar views on the budget surplus, although Neumann was for banning partial-birth abortion while Feingold was against a ban. Both candidates limited themselves to $4 million in campaign spending, although outside groups spent a significant amount on behalf of Neumann. Feingold defeated Neumann by a slim 2% margin in the election. According to the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, Neumann won by 30,000 votes in 71 of the 72 Wisconsin counties, but was overwhelmed by a 68,000 vote margin in Milwaukee County. [1]
He stayed out of the 2004 Senate campaign, instead supporting former Lt. Governor Margaret Farrow, who did not run.
Neumann still has a statement of candidacy filed with the Federal Election Commission listing him as a candidate in 2006 against Herb Kohl, but he insists that it is only a "record-keeping matter." [2] He has not ruled out a run for governor in 2006 against Jim Doyle, though political observers see this as unlikely. [3]
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