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John Olof Norquist (born October 22, 1949) is a retired American
politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...
, urbanist consultant, and author. He served as the 43rd
mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...
of
Milwaukee, Wisconsin Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...
, winning four terms (1988–2004). He previously represented Milwaukee's south side 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 ...
(1975–1983) and
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 ...
(1983–1988). After serving as mayor, he worked for ten years as president of the
Congress for the New Urbanism New Urbanism is an urban design movement that promotes environmentally friendly habits by creating walkable neighbourhoods containing a wide range of housing and job types. It arose in the United States in the early 1980s, and has gradually in ...
.


Early life and career

Norquist was born in
Princeton, New Jersey The Municipality of Princeton is a Borough (New Jersey), borough in Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. It was established on January 1, 2013, through the consolidation of the Borough of Princeton, New Jersey, Borough of Princeton and Pri ...
, where his father was attending seminary. He attended Augustana College in western Illinois for two years, then transferred to 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 ...
, where he graduated with his
bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...
in political science in 1971. Shortly after graduation, he enlisted in the
United States Army Reserve The United States Army Reserve (USAR) is a Military reserve force, reserve force of the United States Army. Together, the Army Reserve and the Army National Guard constitute the Army element of the reserve components of the United States Armed ...
and was trained as a medic. Later that year, he went to work at
Milwaukee Electric Tool Milwaukee Electric Tool Corporation, known more commonly as Milwaukee Tool, is an American multi-national company that develops, manufactures, and markets power tools, hand tools, tool accessories, tool storage, and personal protective equipment ...
, where he operated machinery on the assembly line and also served as a first aid attendant.


Early political career

While working at Milwaukee Electric Tool in 1974, Norquist launched a primary challenge against incumbent state representative Earl Keegan Jr., in
Wisconsin's 8th Assembly district The 8th Assembly district of Wisconsin is one of 99 districts in the Wisconsin State Assembly. Located in southeast Wisconsin, the district is entirely contained within Milwaukee County. It comprises part of the city of Milwaukee's near-south s ...
. He ran against completing the Stadium South Freeway, which was to run from Milwaukee County Stadium south to I-894. In 1974, nearly 50% of the freeway segment was either built or the land was cleared for construction. Norquist defeated Keegan in the Democratic primary and faced no opposition in the general election. He continued to oppose the new freeway despite his constituents voting for completion in the November 1974 Milwaukee County freeway referendums (complementing the April 1967 city vote in favor of the Park East-Lake Freeway project). In the Assembly, Norquist joined forces with emerging generation of legislators including James Moody (later a US representative) in opposing freeway expansion. Norquist was re-elected to three more terms in the Assembly before winning a seat in 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 ...
in 1982. While in the Senate, Norquist served on the powerful Joint Finance Committee and was recognized by Milwaukee Magazine as a leading legislator. He was re-elected to another term in the Senate in 1986 and served as Assistant Majority Leader in the 1985–1986 and 1987–1988 sessions. While serving in the Senate, Norquist also attended graduate school at the University of Wisconsin and earned his Master's in Public Administration in 1987.


Mayor of Milwaukee

In 1987, Milwaukee mayor
Henry Maier Henry Walter Maier (February 7, 1918 – July 17, 1994) was an American politician and the longest-serving mayor of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, holding office from 1960 to 1988. A Democrat, Maier was a powerful and controversial figure, presiding ove ...
announced he would not run for another term as mayor in 1988, and would leave office after 28 years in the role. Norquist announced his candidacy for mayor, advanced through the nonpartisan primary, and defeated former governor Martin J. Schreiber in the April 1988 general election, taking 54% of the vote. Norquist can perhaps best be described as a "fiscally conservative socialist". He was strongly in favor of light rail as a solution for the city's transit problems and was known throughout the country for his anti-freeway stance and for the removal of the Park East Freeway, the largest highway ever purposely destroyed. He consistently reduced the property tax rate every year since becoming mayor and kept city budgets from growing beyond the rate of inflation. One of the first controversies of Norquist's tenure occurred in 1988, when he took a trip to Israel. The trip was paid for by local Milwaukee Jewish organizations, but as a result of the controversy, Norquist afterward paid much of the cost himself. On his return, the ''Milwaukee Sentinel'' printed a political cartoon showing him getting off a plane dressed as a
Hasidic Jewish Hasidism () or Hasidic Judaism is a religious movement within Judaism that arose in the 18th century as a spiritual revival movement in contemporary Western Ukraine before spreading rapidly throughout Eastern Europe. Today, most of those aff ...
rabbi. The cartoon created an uproar, and the ''Sentinel'' published an apology for it. In December 2000, Norquist's future as mayor was thrown into doubt after a staff assistant alleged that the mayor had sexually harassed her. Norquist admitted to a five-year consensual affair, but whether it was consensual is contested. Eventually, in April 2002, Norquist announced that he would not seek a fifth term as mayor in 2004. In July, 2001, when the Communist Party held its 27th national convention in the
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Univ ...
student union, Norquist sent the convention his greetings, noting commonalities between the city's socialist heritage and the goals of the Communist Party. Norquist later released a statement saying he "does not endorse Communist ideology and condemns many elements of Communist history." When presented in June 2003 with the opportunity to lead the
Congress for the New Urbanism New Urbanism is an urban design movement that promotes environmentally friendly habits by creating walkable neighbourhoods containing a wide range of housing and job types. It arose in the United States in the early 1980s, and has gradually in ...
, Norquist said that he would resign at the beginning of the following year rather than serve out his full term. The announcement was timed to prevent a special election. Instead, the head of the common council,
Marvin Pratt Marvin E. Pratt (born May 26, 1944) is an American politician who served as acting List of mayors of Milwaukee, mayor of Milwaukee in 2004 and as interim Milwaukee County Executive in 2011. He was the first African-American to act as mayor of Mi ...
, served as acting mayor. His term was marked by public conflicts with other city leaders, including Bo Black, former head of
Summerfest Summerfest is an annual music festival held in downtown Milwaukee, Wisconsin. First held in 1968, Summerfest is located at Henry Maier Festival Park, adjacent to Lake Michigan and Milwaukee's Third Ward business district. Summerfest is known ...
; Arthur Jones, his one-time bodyguard who became chief of police; and Bradley DeBraska, head of the police union. Despite some conflict, Norquist's legacy in Milwaukee includes a decline in poverty, a boom in downtown housing, and reforms in both education and welfare.


Post mayoral career

At the beginning of 2004, Norquist began working full-time as the head of the
Congress for the New Urbanism New Urbanism is an urban design movement that promotes environmentally friendly habits by creating walkable neighbourhoods containing a wide range of housing and job types. It arose in the United States in the early 1980s, and has gradually in ...
, an urban planning and development reform organization based in Chicago, Illinois. He left CNU in 2014 after a decade with the organization. During his tenure, he spoke often and eloquently about the regulatory obstacles that continue to get in the way of good urbanism. Building on his experience taking down the Park East Freeway in Milwaukee, he championed a national CNU campaign that has helped advocates and local officials in their own highway teardown movements. Norquist is now the John M DeGrove Fellow at Florida Atlantic University and adjunct professor at DePaul University Real Estate Program.


Personal life and family

John Norquist is a son of Rev. Ernest O. Norquist and his wife Jeannette Norquist. He is of Swedish descent. He is married to Susan Mudd and has one son, Benjamin, and one daughter, Katherine. Susan is the descendant of
Samuel Mudd Samuel Alexander Mudd Sr. (December 20, 1833 – January 10, 1883) was an American physician who was imprisoned for conspiring with John Wilkes Booth concerning the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Mudd worked as a doctor and tobacco far ...
, the doctor who treated President
Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was the 16th president of the United States, serving from 1861 until Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, his assassination in 1865. He led the United States through the American Civil War ...
's assassin,
John Wilkes Booth John Wilkes Booth (May 10, 1838April 26, 1865) was an American stage actor who Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, assassinated United States president Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C., on April 14, 1865. A member of the p ...
.


Electoral history


Wisconsin Assembly (1974, 1976, 1978, 1980)


Wisconsin Senate (1982, 1986)


Milwaukee Mayor (1988, 1992, 1996, 2000)


Published works

*


Awards

* Edmund N. Bacon Prize, Ed Bacon Foundation (now under the Philadelphia Center for Architecture), 2008


References


External links


Biographical sketch from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Retrospective on Norquist's term as mayor from the Milwaukee Journal-SentinelMilwaukee Journal-Sentinel urban design critic Whitney Gould on Norquist's legacy
* https://web.archive.org/web/20041201064357/http://www.jsonline.com/news/metro/may01/norq26052501a.asp?format=print * {{DEFAULTSORT:Norquist, John 1949 births Living people 20th-century mayors of places in Wisconsin 21st-century mayors of places in Wisconsin Politicians from Princeton, New Jersey American people of Swedish descent Democratic Party members of the Wisconsin State Assembly Democratic Party Wisconsin state senators Mayors of Milwaukee Writers from Princeton, New Jersey Writers from Wisconsin New Urbanism University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni 20th-century members of the Wisconsin Legislature