Everett V. "Cy" Bidwell (October 22, 1899 – January 7, 1991) was a

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

who served as a member of 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. Representatives are elected for two-year terms, ...

and Wisconsin Senate, serving the 27th District of

Early life

Born in a

log cabin A log cabin is a small log house, especially a less finished or less architecturally sophisticated structure. Log cabins have an ancient history in Europe, and in America are often associated with first generation home building by settlers. Eur ...

Houston, Minnesota Houston is a city in Houston County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 997 at the 2020 census. History The community was named after Sam Houston, first president of the Republic of Texas. In 1852, William McSpadden platted the or ...

on October 22, 1899, Bidwell was the eldest of seven children. He was raised on a small farm, and at the age of sixteen was left with his father to raise the family when his mother died. Bidwell attended the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...

and served on the Columbia County Board of Supervisors for ten years. He was a farmer and an ice cream manufacturer.

Career

A member of the

Republican Party Republican Party is a name used by many political parties around the world, though the term most commonly refers to the United States' Republican Party. Republican Party may also refer to: Africa *Republican Party (Liberia) * Republican Part ...

, Bidwell was elected to the

from 1953 to 1967 and served in the Wisconsin State Senate from 1971 to 1983. During his years in the

Wisconsin State Legislature The Wisconsin Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The Legislature is a bicameral body composed of the upper house, Wisconsin State Senate, and the lower Wisconsin State Assembly, both of which have had Republican ...

, Bidwell earned the reputation as an " Irishman with a short fuse and an inability to carry a grudge for very long." While serving in the State Senate, Bidwell was the oldest serving legislator in the state. As a

state senator, Bidwell served as the chairman of the Committee on industry, labor, taxation, and banking and the Senate Committee on Commerce during the 1970s. Bidwell was defeated for reelection by future

United States Senator The United States Senate is the Upper house, upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States House of Representatives, House of Representatives being the Lower house, lower chamber. Together they compose the national Bica ...

Russell Feingold. On the November 2, 1982 Senate Election day against

Russ Feingold Russell Dana Feingold ( ; born March 2, 1953) is an American lawyer and politician who served as a United States Senator from Wisconsin from 1993 to 2011. A member of the Democratic Party, he was its nominee in the 2016 election for the same U.S ...

, Bidwell was declared the winner by a 19 vote margin. The recount started the day after the election and continued for three weeks. Two days after the election, Sauk County, Wisconsin uncovered 64 votes for Feingold that had not been counted on election night. Over forty additional votes for Feingold were also found on a broken voting machine in a North Madison school. The lead see-sawed back and forth until the very end. When all the votes had been recounted, in what was considered a major Republican Party of Wisconsin upset, Feingold defeated Bidwell by just 31 votes.

Death

Bidwell died at Divine Savior Hospital in

Portage Portage or portaging (Canada: ; ) is the practice of carrying water craft or cargo over land, either around an obstacle in a river, or between two bodies of water. A path where items are regularly carried between bodies of water is also called a ...

, on January 7, 1991 from unspecified causes.

References

External links

The Political Graveyard

Wisconsin Historical Society: Term: Bidwell, Everett V.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bidwell, Everett V. 1899 births 1991 deaths People from Houston, Minnesota Republican Party Wisconsin state senators Republican Party members of the Wisconsin State Assembly University of Minnesota alumni 20th-century American politicians