James J. Schmitt (born June 7, 1958) is an American politician from

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

. A Republican, he served as the mayor of

Green Bay, Wisconsin Green Bay is a city in Brown County, Wisconsin, United States, and its county seat. It is located at the head of Green Bay (Lake Michigan), Green Bay (known locally as "the bay of Green Bay"), a sub-basin of Lake Michigan at the mouth of the F ...

, from 2003 to 2019, becoming the city's longest-serving mayor.

Personal life

The fourth of 11 children born to James and Mary (née Gleichner) Schmitt in

Two Rivers, Wisconsin Two Rivers is a city in Manitowoc County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 11,271 at the 2020 census. It claims to be the birthplace of the ice cream sundae (though other cities, such as Ithaca, New York, make the same claim). The c ...

, he attended Roncalli High School and St. Norbert College He is an active

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

, and one of his brothers was ordained into religious life. In 2011 he was recognized by the ''

Green Bay Press-Gazette The ''Green Bay Press-Gazette'' is a newspaper whose primary coverage is northeastern Wisconsin, including Green Bay. History The newspaper was founded as the ''Green Bay Gazette'' in 1866 as a weekly paper, becoming a daily newspaper in 1 ...

'' editorial board as Person of the Year.

Career

Business

In the private sector, Schmitt was president of Famis Manufacturing Inc. and in 1997 received the Green Bay Area Chamber of Commerce Small Business Entrepreneur of the Year award.

Politics

Schmitt served two consecutive terms on the Brown County Board of Supervisors. On April 1, 2003 he was elected the 41st mayor of

, succeeding

Paul Jadin Paul F. Jadin (born May 2, 1955) is a retired American politician from Green Bay, Wisconsin. He was the last secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Commerce and the first C.E.O. of its successor, the Wisconsin Economic Development Corpo ...

who had not sought re-election. In 2007, Schmitt was re-elected with 70% of the vote and won again in April 2011."About the Mayor"
, greenbaywi.gov; accessed January 30, 2015. He serves on the Advisory Board of both the U.S. Conference of Mayors and the League of Wisconsin Municipalities. On February 17, 2015, Schmitt received 51 percent of the vote in a three-way primary. He went on to defeat Tom DeWane 53% to 47%. With this victory, Schmitt extended his tenure to 16 years and overtook Sam Halloin as the longest-serving mayor in Green Bay history.

Campaign finance investigation

In January 2015, Green Bay city council Aldermen Chris Wery, Guy Zima, and Andy Nicholson alleged that Schmitt had accepted as much as $10,000 in illegal donations for his mayoral campaign. Schmitt contended that the errors were unintentional and handed his records over to the Brown County District Attorney and the

Wisconsin Government Accountability Board The Wisconsin Government Accountability Board (G.A.B.) was a regulatory agency of the U.S. state of Wisconsin which administered and enforced Wisconsin law pertaining to campaign finance, elections, ethics, and lobbying. The board was composed of ...

to be audited. Due to a potential

conflict of interest A conflict of interest (COI) is a situation in which a person or organization is involved in multiple wikt:interest#Noun, interests, financial or otherwise, and serving one interest could involve working against another. Typically, this relates t ...

, the Brown County District Attorney turned the records over to the

Milwaukee County Milwaukee County () is a county located in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. At the 2020 census, the population was 939,489, down from 947,735 in 2010. It is both the most populous and most densely populated county in Wisconsin, containing about 1 ...

District Attorney. In September 2016, Schmitt agreed to plead guilty as part of a

plea agreement A plea bargain, also known as a plea agreement or plea deal, is a legal arrangement in criminal law where the defendant agrees to plead guilty or no contest to a charge in exchange for concessions from the prosecutor. These concessions can include ...

to three misdemeanor charges, including false statements to an election official, accepting campaign contributions not belonging to the reported contributor, and accepting campaign contributions in excess of state limits. He was subsequently convicted on these criminal charges and sentenced to a monetary forfeiture and community service. It was found that 17 individuals had donated more than the $1,040 contribution limit, and there were two

corporate A corporation or body corporate is an individual or a group of people, such as an association or company, that has been authorized by the state to act as a single entity (a legal entity recognized by private and public law as "born out of s ...

donations, which are illegal under state election laws. On February 20, 2017, the Common Council held a vote on the removal of Schmitt over campaign finance violations. While a majority of the 12 member board voted for removal, 9 votes were necessary to remove the mayor from office. As only 8 voted for removal, he retained his seat by one vote. In 2017, seven City Council members signed a letter stating their disapproval of the conduct of one of Schmitt's accusers, Alderman Chris Wery, who used his bank job to pry into an opponent's financial records.Council sends Wery letter of disapproval
greenbaypressgazette.com. Accessed August 10, 2022.

Family

Schmitt married Dona Degenhardt on May 26, 1990. They have three living children (all daughters) and another child who died in infancy.

References

External links

Green Bay mayor website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Schmitt, Jim 1958 births Living people People from Two Rivers, Wisconsin St. Norbert College alumni Businesspeople from Wisconsin County supervisors in Wisconsin Mayors of Green Bay, Wisconsin Harvard Kennedy School alumni American people of German descent Wisconsin Republicans Catholics from Wisconsin 21st-century mayors of places in Wisconsin