Elmer H. Baumann was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 electrician

Electrician

An electrician is a tradesman specializing in electrical wiring of buildings, stationary machines and related equipment. Electricians may be employed in the installation of new electrical components or the maintenance and repair of existing electrical infrastructure. Electricians may also...

 from Milwaukee who served one term (1927–1928) as a Socialist

Socialist Party of America

The Socialist Party of America was a multi-tendency democratic-socialist political party in the United States, formed in 1901 by a merger between the three-year-old Social Democratic Party of America and disaffected elements of the Socialist Labor Party which had split from the main organization...

 member of the Wisconsin State Assembly

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....

 representing Milwaukee County's 11th Assembly district (the 11th and 24th wards of the City of Milwaukee).

Background

He was born February 15, 1902, in Milwaukee and was educated in public grade schools. He became an electrician and a member of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers

International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers

The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers is a labor union which represents workers in the electrical industry in the United States, Canada, Panama and several Caribbean island nations; particularly electricians, or Inside Wiremen, in the construction industry and linemen and other...

, served as assistant business agent of his local union

Local union

A local union, often shortened to local, in North America, or a union branch in the United Kingdom and other countries is a locally-based trade union organization which forms part of a larger, usually national, union.Local branches are organized to represent the union's members from a particular...

 in 1925, and as a delegate to the 1925 international convention of the IBEW in Seattle, Washington

Seattle, Washington

Seattle is the county seat of King County, Washington. With 608,660 residents as of the 2010 Census, Seattle is the largest city in the Northwestern United States. The Seattle metropolitan area of about 3.4 million inhabitants is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the country...

. He held various offices in the Milwaukee labor movement. and at the time of his election was vice-president of IBEW Local 494.

In the Assembly

He had never held public office until his successful 1926 bid for the Assembly to replace fellow Socialist Olaf C. Olsen

Olaf C. Olsen

Olaf C. Olsen was a Socialist from Milwaukee. He was a law student at Marquette University Law School in 1922 when he was elected to the first of his two terms in the Wisconsin State Assembly representing the 11th Milwaukee County district .- Background :Olsen was born February 26, 1899 in...

. Due to the failure of his only opponent to complete necessary paperwork, he ran unopposed (one of three Socialists to run unopposed in the 1926 election). He was assigned to the Assembly's standing committee

Standing Committee

In the United States Congress, standing committees are permanent legislative panels established by the United States House of Representatives and United States Senate rules. . Because they have legislative jurisdiction, standing committees consider bills and issues and recommend measures for...

 on education

Education

Education in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts...

.

He was defeated in his 1928 bid for re-election by Republican

Republican Party (United States)

The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

 Alex Chmurski, who polled 3358 votes to 3056 for Democrat

Democratic Party (United States)

The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...

 George Brier and 2989 for Baumann.

After the Assembly

He served for some time on the Milwaukee Board of School Directors

Milwaukee Public Schools

Milwaukee Public Schools is the largest school district in Wisconsin. As of 2007, it had an enrollment of 87,360 students, and as of 2006 employed 6,100 full-time and substitute teachers in 223 schools. The Milwaukee Public Schools system is the 33rd largest in the United States by enrollment...

, and died in March 1935 while seeking re-election to that office, in which he was seen as a strong advocate for higher pay for teachers and educational staff.