Margaret Ann "Peggy" Krusick (born October 26, 1956) is a retired American Democratic politician from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She was a member of the Wisconsin State Assembly for nearly thirty years (1983–2013), representing southwest wards of the city of Milwaukee and neighboring areas. She lost her seat to a primary challenge from Daniel Riemer in the 2012 assembly elections due to her stances on certain issues.
In 1983, Czarnezki won a special election for Wisconsin Senate, vacating his Assembly district, which, after the 1982 redistricting, was then the 17th Assembly district. Krusick entered the special election to succeed him in the Assembly. She easily prevailed in the May special primary, taking 71% of the vote over Guy Soucie, a brother of former state representative Kevin Soucie.[2] She went on to defeat the Republican candidate, Bob Donovan, in the June special election.[4] After the 1983 redistricting act, Krusick's district was unchanged but renumbered as the 24th Assembly district; in that district she won four more terms, though she only faced an opponent in the 1986 election.[5][6][7][8]
During this early stretch in the Assembly, she was active in a variety of legislative activity. She was a member of the committees on criminal justice and public safety, on children and human services, and on education. She sponsored several anti-truancy laws, as well as laws on mining permits, therapist credentialing, cigarette control, lobbying regulation, and nursing home quality regulation.[9][10] She also sponsored a law to allow law enforcement agencies to use state welfare data to search for people suspected of crimes.[11]
In 1992, another redistricting plan took effect, and under the new plan she resided in the 97th Assembly district. The district contained much of her original territory in southwest Milwaukee, but stretched further to the south and west, adding several wards of suburban Greenfield, Wisconsin. Despite the changes, the district remained overwhelmingly Democratic. In 1992, she faced her first contested primary since 1983, but easily defeated challenger John F. Baumgartner.[12] She went on to win four more terms in the 97th district; she defeated perennial Libertarian candidate Donald Carlson in three of those races.[13][14][15][16]
After the 2002 redistricting, Krusick was moved into another new district, the 7th Assembly district. She faced no opponents for her first three elections in the new district,[17][18][19] but in 2008, she faced her closest election since winning office in 1983, prevailing with just 59% of the vote in a year where Democratic turnout was unusually high.[20]
These years sowed seeds of political trouble for Krusick. In 2002, a Democratic governor was elected for the first time since 1982, and in 2006, Democrats gained a majority of the state Senate and drew nearly even in the state Assembly. Krusick was one of the more conservative members of the Democratic caucus, and after Democrats gained the Assembly majority in 2008, Krusick was a member who frequently stood against measures of importance to the Democratic majority. Significantly, she was one of three Democrats who, in 2009, prevented the Legislature from repealing an 1849 law which was read at the time as a full ban on abortion.[21]
2012 defeat
In 2010, she faced her first contested primary since 1998, defeating Scott Dettman with 64% of the vote.[22] Her general election margin ticked down again as well, receiving just 57% of the vote in 2010.[23] The 2010 election ushered in full Republican control of government, and immediately resulted in major political strife. The Republicans also used their majority to pass a dramatic redistricting act, which reshaped the legislative map. Krusick still resided in the 7th Assembly district, but the district contained just 1/3 of the voters who had lived in the previous version of the 7th district.[24]
In that environment, Krusick further aggravated her Democratic colleagues by proposing an amendment to a college grant program which prohibited the use of race as a factor in grant awards. Republicans embraced her proposal, but Democrats were so incensed that it turned into an all-night debate in the Assembly.[25] Krusick was also the lone Democrat to vote along with Republicans in a bill to limit recall elections, a reaction to a rash of recall elections in the state during that legislative term.[26] Subsequently, Democrats in the Assembly asked her to remove herself from the caucus.[27]
Krusick was one of three incumbent Democratic state representatives who faced a primary challenge from the left in 2012. Krusick faced political newcomer, law student Daniel Riemer, whose father had previously been a high-ranking staffer in the administration of Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle and ran unsuccessfully for Milwaukee County executive in 2004.[28] Riemer argued that Krusick was too conservative to properly represent the district.[29] For her past anti-abortion positions, Krusick won an endorsement from Wisconsin Right to Life, which may not have helped in a Democratic primary.[30] On the other side of that issue, a Wisconsin pro-choice PAC targeted anti-abortion Democrats to assist their primary challengers.[31] Krusick was soundly beaten in the primary, receiving only 33% of the vote.[32] After losing the primary, Krusick attempted a write-in campaign for the general election, emphasizing her record as an effective independent.[33][34] She garnered only 13% of the vote.[35]
Personal life and family
Peggy Krusick married Roger Mroczenski, a carpenter and homebuilder, on March 23, 1996.[36] They had two children together.[1]
