Eugene Dorff

Eugene Joseph Dorff (February 25, 1930 – September 7, 2005) was an American politician from Wisconsin. A member of the Democratic Party, he represented Kenosha in the Wisconsin State Assembly for twelve years and served as interim mayor of Kenosha for nearly a year, following the resignation of mayor John D. Bilotti.

Early life and career

Born in Kenosha, Wisconsin, Dorff graduated from Mary D. Bradford High School, where he met his future wife, Donna. While in high school, Dorff enlisted with the United States Navy Reserve and remained in the service until 1962.

Career After graduating from high school, Dorff worked as a sheet metal worker before becoming a supervisor in the facilities and equipment department of the American Motors Corporation plant in Kenosha. He served three terms on the Kenosha Common Council from 1964 until 1970, but did not run for a fourth term in 1970.

Wisconsin Assembly

Dorff made his first bid for Wisconsin State Assembly in 1968. Kenosha County, in 1968, was divided into two assembly districts: the 1st, which only contained wards of the city of the Kenosha; and the 2nd, which contained the remaining southern city wards plus the rest of Kenosha County.

During a special session in 1972, the Legislature passed a significant new redistricting law, which ended the practice of allocating assembly districts to counties, and instead allowed for districts to be drawn across county boundaries. Dorff now resided in the 65th assembly district, composed of just the southern part of the city of Kenosha and the neighboring town of Pleasant Prairie. After redistricting, Dorff went on to win re-election five times in his new district with relative ease before retiring at the end of his sixth term.

During his time in the Assembly, he served on the committees for Labor (1971–1974 & 1979–1980), Transportation (1971–1974 & 1977–1978 & 1981–1982), Veterans and Military Affairs (1975–1976), Insurance and Banking (1975–1978), Financial Institutions (1979–1980), Consumer and Commercial Credit (1981–1982), and was chairman of the committee on Excise and Fees from 1975 until the end of his assembly career. He went on to win another term in 1986. In 1987, when Kenosha mayor John D. Bilotti resigned to accept an appointment in the Wisconsin Department of Revenue, the City Council elected Dorff to act as interim mayor until the 1988 election.

Dorff decided to run for a full term as mayor in 1988. He survived a crowded six-person primary, but was defeated in the head-to-head general election by freshman alderman Patrick Moran. Following his defeat in the mayoral election, Dorff was elected to one final term on the Kenosha Common Council in 1990. He did not seek re-election in 1992.

Later in life, Dorff moved to Mesa, Arizona, where he died of cancer in 2005.

Personal life

Eugene Dorff married Donna Lupi on November 26, 1948, shortly after graduating from high school. They had three sons.

Wisconsin Assembly (1972–1980)

Kenosha Mayor (1988)