Roger James Roth Jr. (born February 5, 1978)Senator Roger Roth: Senate District 19 (R-Appleton)
Wisconsin State Legislature. is an American politician from

Appleton, Wisconsin Appleton () is the county seat of Outagamie County, Wisconsin, United States, with small portions extending into Calumet County, Wisconsin, Calumet and Winnebago County, Wisconsin, Winnebago counties. Located on the Fox River (Green Bay tributary ...

. He was a 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 ...

for eight years, representing Wisconsin's 19th Senate district from 2015 to 2023, and was president of the Senate during the 2017–2018 and 2019–2020 legislative terms. Before serving in the Senate, he was 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. The Assembly is controlled by the Republican ...

, representing

Wisconsin's 56th Assembly district The 56th Assembly district of the Wisconsin is one of 99 districts in the Wisconsin State Assembly. Located in east-central Wisconsin, the district comprises much of central and western Outagamie County, Wisconsin, Outagamie County and part of e ...

for two terms from January 2007 until January 2011. He was the Republican nominee for

Lieutenant Governor of Wisconsin The lieutenant governor of Wisconsin is the first person in the Gubernatorial lines of succession in the United States#Wisconsin, line of succession of Wisconsin's executive branch, thus serving as governor in the event of the death, resignation, ...

in the 2022 election, and ran unsuccessfully for the Republican nomination for

U.S. House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the 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 Article One of th ...

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 ...

in 2024. His uncle,

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 ...

, was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives for nine terms.

Early life, education, and career before politics

Roth was born in

on February 5, 1978.Senator Roger Roth: Senate District 19 (R-Appleton)
Wisconsin State Legislature. Roth graduated from St. Mary Central High School in

Neenah, Wisconsin Neenah ( ) is a city in Winnebago County, Wisconsin, United States. It is situated on the banks of Lake Winnebago, Little Lake Butte des Morts, and the Fox River (Green Bay tributary), Fox River approximately northeast of Oshkosh, Wisconsin, O ...

in 1996 and received his bachelor's degree from the

University of Wisconsin–Oshkosh The University of Wisconsin–Oshkosh (UW Oshkosh or UWO) is a public university in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, United States. It is part of the University of Wisconsin System and offers bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degree programs to around 13,0 ...

in 2001. He was a member of "Students for Bush" while in college, and also worked on

Tommy Thompson Tommy George Thompson (born November 19, 1941) is an American politician who served as the 19th United States secretary of Health and Human Services from 2001 to 2005 in the Presidency of George W. Bush, cabinet of President of the United State ...

's reelection campaign. Prior to entering politics, Roth worked for his family's homebuilding business. In 2003, Roth joined the

Wisconsin Air National Guard The Wisconsin Air National Guard (WI ANG) is the aerial militia of the State of Wisconsin, United States of America. It is a reserve of the United States Air Force and along with the Wisconsin Army National Guard, an element of the Wisconsin Nat ...

; he served four tours of duty during the

Iraq War The Iraq War (), also referred to as the Second Gulf War, was a prolonged conflict in Iraq lasting from 2003 to 2011. It began with 2003 invasion of Iraq, the invasion by a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition, which ...

, doing

F-16 The General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon is an American single-engine supersonic multirole fighter aircraft originally developed by General Dynamics for the United States Air Force (USAF). Designed as an air superiority day fighter, it e ...

maintenance.

Political career

Roth was a member of the

as a Republican from 2007 to 2011. He supported a resolution backing a Republican lawsuit challenging 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 ...

, the federal health care reform legislation signed into law by President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

. Roth called for the repeal of the ACA.Larry Sandler
3 vying to take on Kagen
''Milwaukee Journal Sentinel'' (August 27, 2010). In 2010, Roth sought the Republican nomination for the

seat from

, seeking to challenge incumbent Democratic Representative

Steve Kagen Steven Leslie Kagen (born December 12, 1949) is an American politician and physician who was the U.S. representative for from 2007 to 2011. He is a member of the Democratic Party. He was defeated in his bid for re-election in 2010 by Reid Rib ...

. However, Roth was defeated by Reid Ribble 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 ...

. In the 2014 election, Roth ran for the

Wisconsin State 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 o ...

against Penny Bernard Schaber in the 19th state Senate district to replace longtime incumbent Michael Ellis, who retired after holding the seat since 1982. The seat covered

Appleton Appleton may refer to: People and fictional characters * Appleton (surname), including a list of people and fictional characters * Appleton family, an American political, religious and mercantile family * Appleton P. Clark Jr. (1865–1955), Am ...

and a large portion of the Fox Valley. Roth won the November 2014 election. Roth was reelected to the state Senate in 2018, defeating Democratic nominee Lee Snodgrass. Roth considered seeking the 2016 Republican nomination to fill the U.S. House seat held by Ribble, who decided not to seek reelection. However, Roth ultimately chose not to run. In 2017, Roth introduced legislation in the state Senate that would abolish the

Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR) is a government agency of the U.S. state of Wisconsin charged with conserving and managing Wisconsin's natural resources. The Wisconsin Natural Resources Board has the authority to set polic ...

permitting system for

wetland A wetland is a distinct semi-aquatic ecosystem whose groundcovers are flooded or saturated in water, either permanently, for years or decades, or only seasonally. Flooding results in oxygen-poor ( anoxic) processes taking place, especially ...

filling, allowing developers to fill state wetlands without oversight. Fellow Republican Jim Steineke introduced a companion bill in the state Assembly. The bill was opposed by environmental and conservation groups. The bill was unsuccessful. As Senate president, Roth opposed proposals to legalize marijuana in Wisconsin. In January 2019, Roth falsely claimed that Wisconsin Republicans did not curb the powers of the incoming Democratic administration of Governor

Tony Evers Anthony Steven Evers ( ; born November 5, 1951) is an American politician and educator serving since 2019 as the 46th governor of Wisconsin. A member of the Democratic Party, he served from 2009 to 2019 as Wisconsin's 26th superintendent of p ...

and State Attorney General

Josh Kaul Joshua Lautenschlager Kaul (born February 2, 1981) is an American lawyer, politician and member of the Democratic Party who has served as the 45th Attorney General of Wisconsin since January 2019. Early life and education Kaul is the son of ...

, during the

lame-duck session A lame-duck session of Congress in the United States occurs whenever one Congress meets after its successor is elected, but before the successor's term begins. The expression is now used not only for a special session called after a ''sine die'' ...

. In fact, after Evers and Kaul unseated Republicans in the 2018 election, the Republican-majority state legislature passed, and outgoing Republican Governor Scott Walker signed, an array of last-minute bills transferring various powers from the executive to the legislature. In 2020, Roth proposed a resolution in the Wisconsin Senate, condemning

human rights abuses Human rights are universally recognized moral principles or norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both national and international laws. These rights are considered inherent and inalienable, meaning t ...

and atrocities by the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

and the

Chinese Communist Party The Communist Party of China (CPC), also translated into English as Chinese Communist Party (CCP), is the founding and One-party state, sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Founded in 1921, the CCP emerged victorious in the ...

, including the occupation of Tibet, persecution of Uyghurs, harvesting of organs from Falun Gong practitioners and other political prisoners, and restrictions on religious freedom and freedom of speech; the resolution criticized Chinese propaganda efforts and accused the Chinese government of sustained

intellectual property theft An intellectual property (IP) infringement is the infringement or violation of an intellectual property right. There are several types of intellectual property rights, such as copyrights, patents, trademarks, industrial designs, plant breeders rig ...

. In January 2021, amid a campaign by President Donald Trump to subvert his defeat by Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election, Roth opposed a resolution in the Wisconsin Senate to affirm Biden's victory and condemn the U.S. Capitol attack. As chairman of the Senate Committee on Universities and Technical Colleges, Roth blocked the Evers' nominees to the state technical college system board; years into Evers' governorship, the committee had refused to confirm Evers's nominees while allowing Walker's appointees to continue to serve even though their terms were expired. In 2021, Roth and fellow Republican

Shae Sortwell Shae A. Sortwell (born August 3, 1985) is an American truck driver and Republican politician from Green Bay, Wisconsin. He is a member of the Wisconsin State Assembly, representing the 2nd Assembly district since 2019. He previously serve ...

proposed an amendment to the Wisconsin state Constitution to eliminate elections for the state superintendent, state treasurer, and secretary of state (all positions currently held by Democrats). Roth and Sortwell's proposed amendment would convert these positions into appointed posts filled by the governor with confirmation by the state Senate.

Run for lieutenant governor (2022)

On February 27, 2022, Roth announced his campaign for Lieutenant Governor of Wisconsin, with a sizeable funding lead compared to his opponents. On August 9, 2022, he won the primary alongside Trump-endorsed gubernatorial candidate and businessman Tim Michels. On November 8, 2022, the pair lost to the Democratic ticket of incumbent Governor

and State Representative

Sara Rodriguez Sara Rodriguez (born July 25, 1975) is an American politician and former health care professional who has served since 2023 as the 46th lieutenant governor of Wisconsin, having been elected on a ticket with Governor Tony Evers. A member of the D ...

in the

general election A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from By-election, by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. Gener ...

Run for U.S. House (2024)

In February 2024,

incumbent, Mike Gallagher, announced he would not run for re-election. Within hours, Roth announced his campaign to succeed Gallagher in the

. The open seat in the Republican-trending district attracted several prominent Republicans to consider bids, but ultimately only two others entered the race—state senator André Jacque and gas station chain owner Tony Wied. After trying to distance himself from Donald Trump in his 2022 campaign, in 2024 Roth endorsed Trump and sought his endorsement. Trump, however, endorsed the political newcomer, Wied. Trump then went on to attack Roth, saying, "Tony is running against RINO Roger Roth, who is a 'clone' of

Paul Ryan Paul Davis Ryan (born January 29, 1970) is an American politician who served as the List of Speakers of the United States House of Representatives, 54th speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 2015 to 2019. A member of the ...

, and no friend to MAGA — He should drop out of the Race NOW." Despite Trump's attacks, Roth maintained his support for Trump. Wied prevailed in the primary, receiving 41% of the vote to Roth's 34%.

Personal life and family

Roger Roth Jr. is the second of four sons born to Roger Roth Sr. and his wife Karen (' Schaefer). Roger Roth Sr. is a retired realtor and a younger brother of Tobias Roth, who served 18 years in the U.S. House of Representatives, representing Wisconsin's 8th congressional district.

Electoral history

Wisconsin Assembly (2006, 2008)

U.S. House (2010)

Wisconsin Senate (2014, 2018)

Wisconsin Lieutenant Governor (2022)

U.S. House (2024)

References

External links

2024 campaign website (Archived Aug. 14, 2024)State Senate website (Archived Oct. 31, 2022)Senator Roger Roth (2021)
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 ...

Senator Roger Roth (2015)
at

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Roth, Roger 1978 births Businesspeople from Wisconsin Living people Military personnel from Wisconsin Politicians from Appleton, Wisconsin Presidents of the Wisconsin Senate Republican Party members of the Wisconsin State Assembly Republican Party Wisconsin state senators University of Wisconsin–Oshkosh alumni Candidates in the 2024 United States House of Representatives elections 21st-century members of the Wisconsin Legislature