Timothy J. Michels is a former U.S. Senate candidate from Wisconsin

Wisconsin

Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...

. He earned the Republican nomination on September 15, 2004 for the U.S. Senate to run against the incumbent Senator, Russ Feingold

Russ Feingold

Russell Dana "Russ" Feingold is an American politician from the U.S. state of Wisconsin. He served as a Democratic party member of the U.S. Senate from 1993 to 2011. From 1983 to 1993, Feingold was a Wisconsin State Senator representing the 27th District.He is a recipient of the John F...

. He defeated well-known car dealer Russ Darrow, Jr., State Senator Bob Welch, and attorney Robert Lorge in the Republican primary. However, he lost in the general election to Feingold; 55% to 44%.

Family & Personal life

Tim Michels is married to Barbara, they have three children; Hank, Sophie, and Will. Tim has 3 brothers: Kevin, Patrick, and Steve. His father was Dale, and his mother is Ruth. He continues to work at Michels Corporation in Brownsville, Wisconsin

Brownsville, Wisconsin

Brownsville is a village in Dodge County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 570 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Brownsville is located at ....

, the small farming town where Tim grew up.

Education background

• Lomira High School, 1980 (public school)
• St. Norbert College
  St. Norbert College
  St. Norbert College is a private Catholic liberal arts college in De Pere, Wisconsin. Founded in October 1898 by Abbot Bernard Pennings, a Norbertine priest and educator, the school was named after Saint Norbert of Xanten. In 1952, the college became coeducational and today enrolls about 2,175...
  
  , Green Bay, Wisconsin
  Green Bay, Wisconsin
  Green Bay is a city in and the county seat of Brown County in the U.S. state of Wisconsin, located at the head of Green Bay, a sub-basin of Lake Michigan, at the mouth of the Fox River. It has an elevation of above sea level and is located north of Milwaukee. As of the 2010 United States Census,...
  
  , Bachelor Arts, Political Science, 1984
• University of Chicago
  University of Chicago
  The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
  
  , Masters of Business Administration, 1997
• Illinois Institute of Technology
  Illinois Institute of Technology
  Illinois Institute of Technology, commonly called Illinois Tech or IIT, is a private Ph.D.-granting university located in Chicago, Illinois, with programs in engineering, science, psychology, architecture, business, communications, industrial technology, information technology, design, and law...
  
  , Masters of Public Administration, 1997

Business career

Michels is Co-owner and Vice President of Michels Corporation

Michels Corporation

Michels Corporation is an international utility, engineering, design and construction contractor based in Brownsville, Wisconsin. With more than 4,500 employees in its 15 divisions and subsidiaries, Michels is the largest construction company in Wisconsin...

, Brownsville, Wisconsin

Brownsville, Wisconsin

Brownsville is a village in Dodge County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 570 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Brownsville is located at ....

. Michels Corp. is one of the top 5 utility construction firms in the U.S. and is the largest overall construction company in Wisconsin, and 47th largest in the U.S. While attending graduate school in Chicago he worked on the trading floors at the Chicago Board of Trade

Chicago Board of Trade

The Chicago Board of Trade , established in 1848, is the world's oldest futures and options exchange. More than 50 different options and futures contracts are traded by over 3,600 CBOT members through open outcry and eTrading. Volumes at the exchange in 2003 were a record breaking 454 million...

 in the agricultural and bond pits.

Military service

Michels has twelve years of active duty service as an Airborne Ranger Infantry Officer in the U.S. Army where he earned the rank of Major

Major

Major is a rank of commissioned officer, with corresponding ranks existing in almost every military in the world.When used unhyphenated, in conjunction with no other indicator of rank, the term refers to the rank just senior to that of an Army captain and just below the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...

. He is a former Commander of the Army’s elite Honor Guard

Honor guard

An honor guard, or ceremonial guard, is a ceremonial unit, usually military in nature and composed of volunteers who are carefully screened for their physical ability and dexterity...

 with duties at the White House

White House

The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...

, State Department, and Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier refers to a grave in which the unidentifiable remains of a soldier are interred. Such tombs can be found in many nations and are usually high-profile national monuments. Throughout history, many soldiers have died in wars without their remains being identified...

. He stays active in causes that support veterans and is a member of the American Legion

American Legion

The American Legion is a mutual-aid organization of veterans of the United States armed forces chartered by the United States Congress. It was founded to benefit those veterans who served during a wartime period as defined by Congress...

 and VFW

VFW

VFW may refer to:*Vereinigte Flugtechnische Werke*Veterans of Foreign Wars*Veterans of Future Wars*Video for Windows*VFW Parkway...

.

Electoral history

Michels holds the record through 2010 for the most votes for a Republican in the history of the state of Wisconsin. Tim received 1,301,183 votes, the most for any non-presidential state-wide candidate and the second highest Republican vote total in Wisconsin state history.

Bush ’04 1,478,120

Michels ’04 1,301,183

McCain '08 1,262,393

Bush ’00 1,235,035

Van Hollen '10 1,220,128

Walker '10 1,128,159

Johnson '10 1,125,637

Van Hollen '06 1,065,453

Thompson ’98 1,048,897

Green '06 979,427

Neumann ’98 850,210

• 2004 Race for U.S. Senate

{|
|2004
|
| |Russell D. Feingold
| align="right" |1,632,697
| |55%
|
| |Tim Michels
| align="right" |1,301,183
| |44%
|
| |Arif Khan
| |Libertarian

Libertarian Party (United States)

The Libertarian Party is the third largest and fastest growing political party in the United States. The political platform of the Libertarian Party reflects its brand of libertarianism, favoring minimally regulated, laissez-faire markets, strong civil liberties, minimally regulated migration...

| align="right" |8,367
| align="right" |1%
|
| |Eugene A. Hem
| |Independent

Independent (politician)

In politics, an independent or non-party politician is an individual not affiliated to any political party. Independents may hold a centrist viewpoint between those of major political parties, a viewpoint more extreme than any major party, or they may have a viewpoint based on issues that they do...

| align="right" |6,662
| align="right" |1%
|
|
|
|
|

External links

• Campaign homepage