Mary Panzer

Mary E. Panzer (September 19, 1951) is an American lobbyist, banker, and former politician from Washington County, Wisconsin. A Republican, she served 25 years in the Wisconsin Legislature, including 11 years in the Wisconsin Senate (1993–2005) and 14 years in the State Assembly (1980–1993). In her last five years in office, she was floor leader of the Republicans in the Senate, serving as majority leader for the 2003–2004 term. Since leaving office, she has worked as a consultant and lobbyist in Madison, Wisconsin, with her firm Panzer Public Affairs Consulting, LLC.

Her father, Frank E. Panzer, was one of the longest-serving state legislators in Wisconsin history, having served more than 34 years in the Wisconsin Senate, from the 1930s through the 1960s.

Biography

Born in Waupun, Wisconsin, Panzer was educated at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, after which she was a banker and worked in the Wisconsin State Legislature.

In 1980, Panzer was elected to the Wisconsin State Assembly in a special election to replace fellow Republican James R. Lewis (who had been convicted of perjury). (She had almost defeated then-incumbent Lewis in the 1974 Republican primary.) She served until 1993, when she was elected to the Wisconsin State Senate in another special election. Panzer eventually rose to be the majority leader of the senate.

In the Republican primary election in September 2004, Panzer was herself defeated for renomination by her successor in the state assembly, Glenn Grothman, who alleged that she was not sufficiently conservative for the modern-day Republican Party. Grothman won with a vote of 79% to 21% for Panzer.

After leaving office, Panzer started Panzer Public Affairs Consulting in Madison, Wisconsin, and has worked as a lobbyist and government affairs consultant since that time.