Joseph K. Leibham (born June 6, 1969) is an

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business executive and lobbyist who served as a Republican member of the

Wisconsin Senate The Wisconsin Senate is the upper house of the Wisconsin State Legislature. Together with the Wisconsin State Assembly they constitute the legislative branch of the state of Wisconsin. The powers of the Wisconsin Senate are modeled after those ...

, representing the 9th District from 2002 to 2014. He previously served in the

Wisconsin 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 Pa ...

, representing the 26th district from 1998 to 2002. In December 2014, he resigned from the Senate, to become chief

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for the

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-based

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Foley & Lardner Foley & Lardner LLP (often referred to simply as "Foley") is an international law firm founded in 1842. In terms of revenue, it ranked 45th on The American Lawyer's 2025 AmLaw 100 rankings of U.S. law firms, with $1.28 billion gross revenue in 2 ...

. Leibham is married to Heather (née Hanson); they have two sons and a daughter.

Early life, education and career

Leibham was born and raised in Sheboygan, the fourth oldest of 13 children. He attended Pigeon River Public Elementary School, Trinity Lutheran School and Sheboygan Area Lutheran High School. He attended the University of Wisconsin–La Crosse and Ealing College (London) before graduating from the

University of Wisconsin–Madison The University of Wisconsin–Madison (University of Wisconsin, Wisconsin, UW, UW–Madison, or simply Madison) is a public land-grant research university in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. It was founded in 1848 when Wisconsin achieved st ...

in 1991 with a

B.A. A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree ...

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and

Public Administration Public administration, or public policy and administration refers to "the management of public programs", or the "translation of politics into the reality that citizens see every day",Kettl, Donald and James Fessler. 2009. ''The Politics of the ...

. He worked in the food service industry as an account executive for Sargento Foods and the manager of membership development for the Sheboygan County Chamber of Commerce.

Political career

Sheboygan City Council

From 1993 to 2000, Leibham served on the Sheboygan City Council serving as its president from 1995 to 1996.

Wisconsin State Assembly

Leibham served 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 ...

from 1998 to 2002, representing Sheboygan, Sheboygan Falls,

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and surrounding areas.

Wisconsin State Senate

In 2002, Leibham announced his candidacy for the 9th Senate District. He narrowly defeated, by 46 votes, James Baumgart. His 9th Senate District comprises the northern half of Sheboygan and southern half of Manitowoc counties, as well as portions of Calumet and Fond du Lac counties. He served as the Senate President Pro Tempore. He was the assistant minority leader in 2007 and the majority caucus vice chairperson in 2003. Leibham has called for the repeal of the

Affordable Care Act The Affordable Care Act (ACA), formally known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) and informally as Obamacare, is a landmark U.S. federal statute enacted by the 111th United States Congress and signed into law by Presid ...

, calling it a "top priority." In December 2014, he resigned from the Senate, saying he was prohibited by state law from discussing job offers in the private sector while he was a sitting legislator. Two days later, it was announced that Leibham would accept a position as chief

for the

-based

Congressional bid

In 2014, rather than seek re-election, Leibham ran in the Republican

primary election Primary elections or primaries are elections held to determine which candidates will run in an upcoming general election. In a partisan primary, a political party selects a candidate. Depending on the state and/or party, there may be an "open pr ...

for the

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 ...

; he lost to

Glenn Grothman Glenn Sholes Grothman ( ; born July 3, 1955) is an American attorney and politician serving as the U.S. representative from Wisconsin's 6th congressional district. A member of the Republican Party, he was first elected to his seat in 2014. Gro ...

References

External links

Joseph K. Leibham
at Foley & Lardner
Joseph Leibham
at

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Senator Joseph K. Leibham
at

Wisconsin 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 Republ ...

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Leibham, Joe Republican Party Wisconsin state senators Republican Party members of the Wisconsin State Assembly 1969 births Living people Politicians from Sheboygan, Wisconsin Businesspeople from Wisconsin American lobbyists University of Wisconsin–Madison College of Letters and Science alumni Alumni of the University of West London University of Wisconsin–La Crosse alumni Candidates in the 2014 United States elections Lutherans from Wisconsin 21st-century members of the Wisconsin Legislature 20th-century members of the Wisconsin Legislature