Robert L. Turner

Robert L. Turner (born September 14, 1947), is a former Democratic member of the Wisconsin State Assembly, serving eleven terms from 1991 to 2013.[1] Turner currently serves on the City of Racine Police and Fire Commission.

Robert L. Turner
Member of the Wisconsin State Assembly from the 61st district
In office January 7, 1991 – January 7, 2013
Preceded by	Scott C. Fergus
Succeeded by	Samantha Kerkman
Member of the Racine City Council
In office 1976–2004
Personal details
Born	Robert L. Turner September 14, 1947 Columbus, Mississippi
Political party	Democratic
Residence	Racine, Wisconsin
Alma mater	University of Wisconsin–Parkside
Occupation	Politician
Military service
Allegiance	United States
Branch/service	United States Air Force
Years of service	1967–1970
Battles/wars	Vietnam War Tet Offensive

Biography

Turner was born in Columbus, Mississippi and moved with his family to Racine. He was employed by the J.I. Case Company, and served four years in the United States Air Force Security Police during the Vietnam War, from 1967 through 1970, including service during the 1968 Tet Offensive.[2] He was elected to the City Council in 1976, and was elected to the State Assembly in 1990.[3] He left the City Council in 2004 after serving concurrently as City Councilmember and State Assemblymember for 14 years.[2][4]

After the arrest and resignation of Racine Mayor Gary Becker in 2009, Turner announced his candidacy for the special election to fill the remainder of Becker's term.[5] Turner passed the primary, but was defeated in the runoff by John Dickert. Turner had previously defeated Dickert in the 1990 and 2002 primary elections for Wisconsin Assembly.[6]

He announced his retirement from the Assembly in 2012, after redistricting dramatically reshaped the Racine-area senate and assembly districts. His retirement cleared the way for Cory Mason to run in the redrawn 66th District, which was composed of the southern part of Turner's old 61st District and the eastern part of Mason's old 62nd District.[1]

In 2018, Cory Mason, now Racine Mayor, nominated Turner to the Racine Police and Fire Commission.[7]

Turner is a life member of the Vietnam Veterans of America, the American Legion, and a 33rd degree Mason.[3]

Electoral history

Wisconsin Assembly (1984)

Wisconsin Assembly 61st District Election, 1984[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
Primary Election
	Democratic	Scott C. Fergus	1,920	43.38%
	Democratic	Robert L. Turner	1,345	30.39%
	Republican	Donald Walsh	828	18.71%
	Democratic	William M. Frank	333	7.52%
Total votes			'4,426'	'100.0%'
General Election
	Democratic	Scott C. Fergus	10,880	55.21%
	Republican	Donald Walsh	8,827	44.79%
Total votes			'19,707'	'100.0%'
	Democratic gain from Republican

Wisconsin Assembly (1990-2008)

Wisconsin Assembly 61st District Election, 1990[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
Primary Election
	Democratic	Robert Turner	2,056	46.14%
	Democratic	John Dickert	1,193	26.77%
	Republican	Roderick D. Wilhelmi	722	16.20%
	Democratic	Cathleen A. Cotter	485	10.88%
Total votes			'4,456'	'100.0%'
General Election
	Democratic	Robert Turner	7,232	62.09%
	Republican	Roderick D. Wilhelmi	4,415	37.91%
Total votes			'11,647'	'100.0%'
	Democratic hold

Wisconsin Assembly 61st District Election, 1992[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
Primary Election
	Democratic	Robert Turner (incumbent)	3,296	78.51%
	Republican	Stella Young	902	21.49%
Total votes			'4,198'	'100.0%'
General Election
	Democratic	Robert Turner (incumbent)	11,963	66.66%
	Republican	Stella Young	5,984	33.34%	-4.57%
Total votes			'17,947'	'100.0%'	+54.09%
	Democratic hold

Wisconsin Assembly 61st District Election, 1994[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
Primary Election
	Democratic	Robert Turner (incumbent)	822	100.0%
Total votes			'822'	'100.0%'
General Election
	Democratic	Robert Turner (incumbent)	7,464	100.0%
Total votes			'7,464'	'100.0%'	-58.41%
	Democratic hold

Wisconsin Assembly 61st District Election, 1996[12]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
Primary Election
	Democratic	Robert Turner (incumbent)	1,477	98.07%
	U.S. Taxpayers	Thomas Rivers	16	1.06%
	Libertarian	Michael L. Wynhoff	13	0.86%
Total votes			'1,506'	'100.0%'
General Election
	Democratic	Robert Turner (incumbent)	10,218	85.97%	-14.03%
	U.S. Taxpayers	Thomas Rivers	904	7.61%
	Libertarian	Michael L. Wynhoff	764	6.43%
Total votes			'11,886'	'100.0%'	+59.24%
	Democratic hold

Wisconsin Assembly 61st District Election, 1998[13]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
Primary Election
	Democratic	Robert Turner (incumbent)	1,535	79.12%
	Democratic	Ken Lumpkin	405	20.88%
Total votes			'1,940'	'100.0%'
General Election
	Democratic	Robert Turner (incumbent)	9,515	100.0%	+14.03%
Total votes			'9,515'	'100.0%'	-19.95%
	Democratic hold

Wisconsin Assembly 61st District Election, 2000[14]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
Primary Election
	Democratic	Robert Turner (incumbent)	848	100.0%
Total votes			'848'	'100.0%'
General Election
	Democratic	Robert Turner (incumbent)	13,703	99.56%	-0.44%
		Write-ins	60	0.44%
Total votes			'13,763'	'100.0%'
	Democratic hold

Wisconsin Assembly 61st District Election, 2002[15]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
Primary Election
	Democratic	Robert L. Turner (incumbent)	3,194	52.25%
	Democratic	John Dickert	2,919	47.75%
Total votes			'6,113'	'100.0%'
General Election
	Democratic	Robert Turner (incumbent)	9,525	98.15%	-1.41%
		Write-ins	180	1.85%	+1.41%
Total votes			'9,705'	'100.0%'	-29.48%
	Democratic hold

Wisconsin Assembly 61st District Election, 2004[16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
Primary Election
	Democratic	Robert Turner (incumbent)	1,536	98.78%
	Libertarian	George Meyers	19	1.22%
Total votes			'1,555'	'100.0%'
General Election
	Democratic	Robert Turner (incumbent)	17,173	89.49%	-8.66%
	Libertarian	George Meyers	1,980	10.32%
Total votes			'19,189'	'100.0%'	+97.72%
	Democratic hold

Wisconsin Assembly 61st District Election, 2006[17]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
Primary Election
	Democratic	Robert Turner (incumbent)	1,774	100.0%
Total votes			'1,774'	'100.0%'
General Election
	Democratic	Robert Turner (incumbent)	11,431	99.06%	+9.57%
		Write-ins	108	0.94%
Total votes			'11,431'	'100.0%'	-40.43%
	Democratic hold

Wisconsin Assembly 61st District Election, 2008[18]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
Primary Election
	Democratic	Robert Turner (incumbent)	1,213	98.62%
	Libertarian	George Meyers	17	1.38%
Total votes			'1,230'	'100.0%'
General Election
	Democratic	Robert Turner (incumbent)	16,267	87.71%	-11.35%
	Libertarian	George Meyers	2,242	12.09%
Total votes			'18,547'	'100.0%'	+62.25%
	Democratic hold

Racine Mayor (2009)

Racine Mayoral Special Election, 2009

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
Primary Election
	Independent	John Dickert	2,307	23.09%
	Independent	Robert Turner	1,671	16.73%
	Independent	Kimberly Plache	1,313	13.14%
	Independent	James Spangenberg	1,249	12.50%
	Independent	Greg Helding	1,150	11.51%
	Independent	Pete Karas	851	8.52%
	Independent	Jody Harding	658	6.59%
	Independent	Q.A. Shakoor II	414	4.14%
	Independent	Lesia Hill-Driver	161	1.61%
	Independent	Raymond Fay	148	1.48%
	Independent	Jaimie Charon	69	0.69%
Total votes			'9,991'	'100.0%'
General Election
	Independent	John Dickert	6,027	55.46%
	Independent	Robert Turner	4,841	44.54%
Total votes			'10,868'	'100.0%'

Wisconsin Assembly (2010)

Wisconsin Assembly 61st District Election, 2010[19]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
Primary Election
	Democratic	Robert Turner (incumbent)	1,777	77.67%
	Democratic	James R. DeMatthew	504	22.03%
	Libertarian	George Meyers	7	0.31%
Total votes			'2,288'	'100.0%'
General Election
	Democratic	Robert Turner (incumbent)	10,026	81.96%	-5.75%
	Libertarian	George Meyers	2,167	17.71%	+5.62%
Total votes			'12,233'	'100.0%'	-34.04%
	Democratic hold

References

1. Stephanie Jones (2012-03-28). "State Rep. Turner not seeking re-election". Racine Journal Times. Retrieved 2019-02-10.
2. Rob Golub (2004-04-20). "Turner leaves Racine city government after 28 years". Racine Journal Times. Retrieved 2019-02-10.
3. Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau. "Biographies and photos". State of Wisconsin 2003-2004 Blue Book (Report). State of Wisconsin. p. 61. Retrieved 2019-03-05.
4. "Newsmakers: Exit Interview with Representative Robert Turner (D-Racine)". WisconsinEye. Retrieved 2019-02-10.
5. Leary, Patrick (2017-05-28). "A wave of change: Recounting Becker's fall from grace". Racine Journal Times. Retrieved 2019-03-05.
6. Brien, Stephanie (2009-04-07). "Dickert or Turner to be Racine's next mayor". Racine Journal Times. Retrieved 2019-03-05.
7. Christina Lieffring (2018-12-06). "Bob Turner joins Police and Fire Commission". Racine Journal Times. Retrieved 2019-02-10.
8. Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau. "Elections in Wisconsin". The state of Wisconsin 1985-1986 Blue Book (Report). State of Wisconsin. p. 908. Retrieved 2019-03-05.
9. Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau. "Elections in Wisconsin". State of Wisconsin 1991-1992 Blue Book (Report). State of Wisconsin. pp. 900, 916. Retrieved 2019-03-05.
10. Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau. "Elections in Wisconsin". State of Wisconsin 1993-1994 Blue Book (Report). State of Wisconsin. pp. 905, 922. Retrieved 2019-03-05.
11. Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau. "Elections in Wisconsin". State of Wisconsin 1995-1996 Blue Book (Report). State of Wisconsin. pp. 904, 922. Retrieved 2019-03-05.
12. Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau. "Elections in Wisconsin". State of Wisconsin 1997-1998 Blue Book (Report). State of Wisconsin. pp. 900, 904. Retrieved 2019-03-05.
13. Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau. "Elections in Wisconsin". State of Wisconsin 1999-2000 Blue Book (Report). State of Wisconsin. pp. 880, 883. Retrieved 2019-03-05.
14. Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau. "Elections in Wisconsin". State of Wisconsin 2001-2002 Blue Book (Report). State of Wisconsin. pp. 927, 930. Retrieved 2019-03-05.
15. Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau. "Elections in Wisconsin". State of Wisconsin 2003-2004 Blue Book (Report). State of Wisconsin. pp. 920, 923. Retrieved 2019-03-05.
16. Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau. "Elections". State of Wisconsin 2005-2006 Blue Book (Report). State of Wisconsin. pp. 926, 929. Retrieved 2019-03-05.
17. Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau. "Elections". State of Wisconsin 2007-2008 Blue Book (Report). State of Wisconsin. pp. 919, 922. Retrieved 2019-03-05.
18. Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau. "Elections". State of Wisconsin 2009-2010 Blue Book (Report). State of Wisconsin. pp. 921, 924. Retrieved 2019-03-05.
19. Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau. "Elections". State of Wisconsin 2011-2012 Blue Book (Report). State of Wisconsin. pp. 905, 908. Retrieved 2019-03-05.

External links

• Representative Robert L. Turner official government website
• Profile at Vote Smart
• Follow the Money - Robert L. Turner
  • 2008 2006 2004 2002 2000 1998 campaign contributions