Vernon W. Holschbach

Vernon W. "Vern" Holschbach (October 17, 1926 – April 28, 2014) was an American construction worker and Democratic politician from Manitowoc, Wisconsin. He represented Manitowoc County in the Wisconsin State Assembly for 12 years (1981–1993). He was the author of Wisconsin's lemon law. Earlier in his life, he was president of the International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers local in Manitowoc and served 12 years on the Manitowoc County board of supervisors.

Early life Vern Holschbach was born, raised, and lived most of his life in Manitowoc, Wisconsin. He attended St. Boniface parochial grade school and graduated from Lincoln High School in 1944. He went on to attend college at Manitowoc County's Lakeshore Technical College. He was employed as a bricklayer and mason and became an active member of the International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers, and was elected president of the local. Through his union and local government activities, Horschbach was increasingly active in the Democratic Party of Wisconsin.

After his first election, the Wisconsin legislature was redistricted by court order by a panel of federal judges. The redistricting was intentionally punitive to incumbent representatives, but had little effect on Holschbach's district, his district was changed to the 76th Assembly district, it lost some of the suburban areas around Manitowoc, and expanded into rural areas further south and west, but he improved his margin in the 1982 general election, receiving over 58% of the vote that year.

After the 1982 elections, Democrats held full control of state government and passed a new redistricting act to supersede the court-ordered plan. Holschbach's district again was mostly unchanged, but renumbered again. For the remainder of his time in office he resided in the 25th Assembly district. He won his re-elections in 1984, 1986, and 1988, receiving a similar portion of the general election vote. He faced no opponent in the 1990 election.

In the 1989–1990 and 1991–1992 legislative sessions, Holschbach served as chairman of the Assembly labor committee.

In the summer of 1992, Holschbach announced that he would not run for a seventh term. His son, Todd Holschbach sought to succeed him in the 1992 Democratic primary, but was defeated by Bob Ziegelbauer, who went on to win the general election.

Personal life and family Vern Holschbach was the son of Paul Holschbach and his wife Clara ( Dirkmann).

He married Dorothy Reed on September 3, 1949, at St. Paul Catholic Church in Manitowoc. They were active throughout much of their lives with Saint Boniface Catholic Parish in Manitowoc. They had 11 children and were married for 64 years.

Wisconsin Assembly, 76th district (1982) Year Election Date Elected Defeated Total Plurality 1982 Democratic 4,032 59.43% Dem. 2,753 40.57% 6,785 1,279 General Democratic 9,499 58.52% Rep. 6,588 40.58% 16,233 2,911 Con. 146 0.90%

Wisconsin Assembly, 25th district (1984–1990) Year Election Date Elected Defeated Total Plurality 1984 General Democratic 12,087 57.25% Rep. 9,027 42.75% 21,114 3,060 1986 General Democratic 8,783 56.29% Rep. 6,820 43.71% 15,603 1,963 1988 General Democratic 12,088 59.60% Rep. 8,194 40.40% 20,282 3,894 1990 General Democratic 10,139 100.0% 10,139 10,139