Rep.-elect Scott Fitzgerald (R-Wis.-05)

Date of birth: Nov. 16, 1963
Residence: Clyman, Wis.
Occupation: Wisconsin state Senate majority leader
Education: B.S, University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh
Family: wife, Lisa; three sons: Scott, Brennan, Connor

Scott Fitzgerald beat out Democratic challenger Tom Palzewicz to keep Wisconsin’s 5th Congressional District in Republican hands.

Fitzgerald is joining Congress from the Wisconsin state Senate, to which he was first elected in 1994 and where he currently serves as majority leader. He was one of four Republican state senators to survive a recall election in 2012.

Fitzgerald joined the U.S. Army Reserve in 1981 and had a 27-year career before retiring as a lieutenant colonel.

In 1990, Fitzgerald purchased the Dodge County Independent News in Juneau, Wis., and ran it until selling the outlet in 1996 to the Watertown Daily Times, where he spent several years as an associate publisher.

Fitzgerald will be replacing Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (R), who decided to retire after serving 21 terms in the House.

– Jordan Williams