Edmund V. Bobrowicz

{{Short description|20th century American politician and union organizer.}}

{{Infobox officeholder

| honorific-prefix =

| name = Edmund V. Bobrowicz

| image name =

| honorific-suffix =

| birth_name = Edmund Victor Bobrowicz

| birth_date = {{birth date|1919|5|1|mf=y}}

| birth_place = Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S.

| death_date = {{death date and age|2003|3|16|1919|5|1|mf=y}}

| death_place = Green Bay, Wisconsin, U.S.

| death_cause =

| restingplace = St. Adalbert's Cemetery
Milwaukee, Wisconsin

| party = Democratic
Progressive (1948)

| spouse = {{marriage|Dorothy A. Douglas|1942|2014|end=died}}

| children = {{unbulleted list

| Victor Douglas Bobrowicz

| (b. 1943; died 2005)

| Spring (Truckey)

}}

| relations =

| residence =

| alma_mater =

| occupation =

| profession = Union organizer, politician

| signature =

| website =

| footnotes =

| allegiance = {{flag|United States|1942}}

| branch = {{flag|United States Army}}

| serviceyears = 1943–1945

| battles = World War II

Asiatic-Pacific Theater

}}

Edmund Victor Bobrowicz (May 1, 1919{{spaced ndash}}March 16, 2003) was an American trade union activist and politician from the state of Wisconsin.

Biography

Bobrowicz was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the son of Polish immigrants. He served in the Army during the Second World War, in the South Pacific. In 1946, Bobrowicz (then working as a union organizer) ran successfully for the Democratic nomination for Wisconsin's 4th congressional district, ousting incumbent Representative Thaddeus Wasielewski, who was accused of voting for anti-labor legislation).

Before the general election, however, Bobrowicz was accused by the Milwaukee Journal of secretly being a Communist{{cite magazine |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tUwEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA45 |title= The G. O. P. Trend|magazine= Life |date= November 4, 1946 |page= 46 |issn=0024-3019 |access-date= August 2, 2020}} and was subsequently expelled from the Democratic Party.{{cite magazine |url= http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,934025,00.html |title= DEMOCRATS: Purge |magazine= Time |date= October 14, 1946 |access-date= August 2, 2020 }} Wasielewski, hoping to regain his seat, re-entered the race as an independent, but the two split the Democratic vote, allowing Republican John C. Brophy to win, with 49,144 votes to Bobrowicz' 44,398, Wasielewski's 38.502, and Socialist George Helberg's 2,470.

Bobrowicz subsequently left politics and became a union official, working for 35 years as a representative of the International Fur & Leather Workers Union and the Amalgamated Meat Cutters until his retirement in 1977. In 1987, he and his wife moved to Green Bay to be closer to family. He died at his home in Green Bay in 2003.{{cite news|url= https://www.newspapers.com/clip/56573302/obituary-for-edmund-bobrowicz-1919-2003/ |title= Bobrowicz, Edmund V. |newspaper= Green Bay Press-Gazette |location=Green Bay, Wisconsin |date= March 16, 2003 |page= 20 |access-date= August 2, 2020 |via= Newspapers.com }}

Electoral history

{{Election box begin | title= Wisconsin's 4th Congressional District Election, 1946{{cite report|chapter-url=http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/WI.WIBlueBk1948 |title= The Wisconsin Blue Book, 1948 |publisher= State of Wisconsin |year= 1948 |editor1-last= Ohm |editor1-first= Howard F. |editor2-last= Kuehn |editor2-first= Hazel L. |chapter= Parties and elections |pages= 605, 676 |access-date= August 2, 2020 }} }}

| colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;"| Democratic Primary, August 13, 1946

{{Election box winning candidate with party link|

|party = Democratic Party (United States)

|candidate = Edmund V. Bobrowicz

|votes = 11,998

|percentage = 52.83%

|change =

}}

{{Election box candidate with party link|

|party = Democratic Party (United States)

|candidate = Thaddeus Wasielewski (incumbent)

|votes = 10,713

|percentage = 47.17%

|change =

}}

{{Election box plurality

|votes = 1,285

|percentage = 5.66%

|change =

}}

{{Election box total

|votes = 22,711

|percentage = 100.0%

|change =

}}

| colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;"| General Election, November 5, 1946

{{Election box winning candidate with party link|

|party = Republican Party (United States)

|candidate = John C. Brophy

|votes = 49,144

|percentage = 36.53%

|change = +2.59%

}}

{{Election box candidate with party link|

|party = Democratic Party (United States)

|candidate = Edmund V. Bobrowicz

|votes = 44,398

|percentage = 33.01%

|change = -30.49%

}}

{{Election box candidate with party link|

|party = Independent Democrat

|candidate = Thaddeus Wasielewski (incumbent)

|votes = 38,502

|percentage = 28.62%

|change =

}}

{{Election box candidate with party link|

|party = Socialist Party of America

|candidate = George E. Helberg

|votes = 2,470

|percentage = 1.84%

|change = -0.72%

}}

{{Election box plurality

|votes = 4,746

|percentage = 3.53%

|change = -26.02%

}}

{{Election box total

|votes = 134,514

|percentage = 100.0%

|change = -17.54%

}}

{{Election box gain with party link |

|winner = Republican Party (United States)

|loser = Democratic Party (United States)

|swing = 33.08%

}}

{{Election box begin | title= Wisconsin's 4th Congressional District Election, 1948{{cite report|chapter-url=http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/WI.WIBlueBk1950 |title= The Wisconsin Blue Book, 1950 |publisher= State of Wisconsin |year= 1950 |editor1-last= Ohm |editor1-first= Howard F. |editor2-last= Kuehn |editor2-first= Hazel L. |chapter= Parties and elections |page= 754|access-date= August 2, 2020 }} }}

| colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;"| General Election, November 2, 1948

{{Election box winning candidate with party link|

|party = Democratic Party (United States)

|candidate = Clement J. Zablocki

|votes = 89,391

|percentage = 55.89%

|change = +22.89%

}}

{{Election box candidate with party link|

|party = Republican Party (United States)

|candidate = John C. Brophy (incumbent)

|votes = 63,161