William D. "Bill" Lorge (born August 31, 1960) is an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

real estate broker, farmer, and Republican politician. He served ten years 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 ...

, and was an unsuccessful candidate for

Governor of Wisconsin The governor of Wisconsin is the head of government of Wisconsin and the commander-in-chief of the state's Wisconsin Army National Guard, army and Wisconsin Air National Guard, air forces. The governor has a duty to enforce state laws, and the ...

in 2002.

Early life

Born in Bear Creek, Wisconsin, Lorge graduated from

Clintonville High School Clintonville High School is a public high school in Clintonville, Wisconsin, that serves the town of Clintonville, as well as the neighboring villages of Embarrass and Bear Creek. It has occupied its current building since 2003. Athletics C ...

and then received 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 ...

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 ...

. He also attended the Austro-American College in

Vienna, Austria Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

Career

Lorge has been a real estate broker and a farmer.Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau.
State of Wisconsin 1997-1998 Blue Book
'. Madison: Wisconsin Department of Administration, 1997, p. 49. He served as a Congressional aide and a Wisconsin state senate legislative assistant for his father. In 1984 he ran for the 14th District State Senate seat vacated by his father, losing in the primary to

Joseph Leean Joseph S. "Joe" Leean (born March 10, 1942) is an American businessman and retired Republican politician. He served as Secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Health and Family Services for seven years under Governor Tommy Thompson and was ins ...

. He served in the

as a Republican from 1989 until 1999. A 1996 survey of legislators conducted by Madison Magazine rated Lorge poorly in several categories. In 1998 Lorge lost to Jean Hundertmark in the primary. That same year, Lorge submitted the highest expense report of any member of the Wisconsin State Assembly. In 2002, Lorge entered the Republican gubernatorial primary, challenging incumbent Republican Governor

Scott McCallum James Scott McCallum (born May 2, 1950) is an American businessman and former politician. A member of the Republican Party, he was the 43rd governor of Wisconsin, ascending from the lieutenant governorship when Tommy Thompson resigned in 2001 to ...

. He garnered only 8 percent of the vote, as McCallum was renominated.

Personal life

His father, Gerald Lorge, served 30 years in 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 ...

. Lorge married Molly McGinty on April 11, 1996, in Bear Creek. They had four children together before divorcing in 2014. Lorge has worked as an Elvis Presley impersonator.Elvis impersonator running for GOP nomination for governor
, ''The Journal Times'', Racine, Wisconsin, June 2, 2002. Retrieved July 19, 2015. He owned Badgerland MLS, a real estate company."Meet the Broker"
BadgerlandMLS.com

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lorge, William 1960 births Living people People from Outagamie County, Wisconsin Businesspeople from Wisconsin Farmers from Wisconsin Elvis impersonators University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni Republican Party members of the Wisconsin State Assembly 20th-century members of the Wisconsin Legislature