Stan Gruszynski (born February 6, 1949) is an American farmer and Democratic politician from

Marinette County, Wisconsin Marinette County is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 41,872. Its county seat is Marinette, Wisconsin, Marinette. Marinette County is part of t ...

. He is a member of the Marinette County board of supervisors since 2020. During the

presidency of Barack Obama Barack Obama's tenure as the 44th president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 2009, and ended on January 20, 2017. Obama, a Democrat from Illinois, took office following his victory over Republican nomine ...

, he was Wisconsin state director for

USDA Rural Development USDA Rural Development (RD) is a mission area within the United States Department of Agriculture which runs programs intended to improve the economy and quality of life in rural parts of the United States. Rural Development has a loan portfolio o ...

. Earlier in his career, he served five terms in the

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. The Assembly is controlled by the Republican ...

, representing the 71st Assembly district from 1985 to 1995. He was also one of Wisconsin's representatives on the

Democratic National Committee The Democratic National Committee (DNC) is the principal executive leadership board of the United States's Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party. According to the party charter, it has "general responsibility for the affairs of the ...

in 2008, and thus served as a

superdelegate In American politics, a superdelegate is a delegate to a presidential nominating convention who is seated automatically. In Democratic National Conventions, superdelegates—described in formal party rules as the party leaders and electe ...

to the

2008 Democratic National Convention The 2008 Democratic National Convention was a quadrennial United States presidential nominating convention, presidential nominating convention of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party where it adopted its national platform an ...

Early life

Gruszynski was born in

Marinette, Wisconsin Marinette is a city in and the county seat of Marinette County, Wisconsin, United States. It is located on the south bank of the Menominee River, at its mouth at Green Bay (Lake Michigan), Green Bay, part of Lake Michigan; to the north is Stephe ...

. He graduated from Northland College, with a bachelor's degree in sociology and political science, and pursued graduate studies at the

University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point The University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point (UW–Stevens Point or UWSP) is a public university in Stevens Point, Wisconsin, United States. Established in 1894, it is part of the University of Wisconsin System. UW-Stevens Point grants associ ...

Assembly career

As a member of the State Assembly, Gruszynski authored the Wisconsin Environmental Education Law, Farms for the Future Act, and served as chairman of the Assembly's Colleges and Universities Committee.Gruszynski and Ambuehl hired for GEM

Later elections

In 1994, Gruszynski decided against seeking reelection, and instead ran unsuccessfully for

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

from

Wisconsin's 8th congressional district Wisconsin's 8th congressional district is a congressional district of the United States House of Representatives in northeastern Wisconsin. It has been represented by Republican Tony Wied since November 12, 2024. It was previously vacant from ...

losing to the incumbent,

Toby Roth Tobias Anton Roth Sr. (born October 10, 1938) is a retired American businessman, lobbyist, and Republican Party (United States), Republican politician from Appleton, Wisconsin. He served 18 years in the U.S. House of Representatives, representing ...

. Gruszynski again ran for the House of Representatives in 1996, but failed to receive the nomination of the Democratic Party, losing to Jay W. Johnson, who would go on to win the seat.

Later career

Gruszynski formerly served as the director of the Global Environmental Management (GEM) Rural Leadership and Community Development Program at the

. In 2008, he attempted to return to the

, challenging incumbent Republican

Jeffrey Mursau Jeffrey Mursau (June 12, 1954) is a Wisconsin politician, legislator and business owner. Born in Oconto Falls, Wisconsin, Mursau owned his business and served as president of the village of Crivitz, Wisconsin. Mursau has served in the Wisconsin ...

in the 36th Assembly district. He lost the general election, but received a respectable 48% of the vote in the generally safe Republican district. In 2009 he was appointed by the Obama administration to be the Wisconsin State Director of U.S.D.A. Rural Development. He was elected to the Marinette County board of supervisors in 2020. He lives in the town of Porterfield, Wisconsin.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gruszynski, Stan 1949 births Living people People from Marinette, Wisconsin Democratic Party members of the Wisconsin State Assembly Northland College (Wisconsin) alumni University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point alumni 20th-century members of the Wisconsin Legislature