Thomas Weatherston
Member of the Wisconsin State Assembly
from the 62nd district
In office
January 7, 2013  January 7, 2019
Preceded byCory Mason
Succeeded byRobert Wittke
Member of the Caledonia, Wisconsin
Board of Trustees
Assumed office
April 2019
Preceded byJay Benkowski
In office
2010–2013
Personal details
Born (1950-02-15) February 15, 1950
Buffalo, New York, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
SpouseApril
Children1
Residence(s)Caledonia, Wisconsin, U.S.
Alma materErie Community College
Buffalo State College
ProfessionEngineer
Military service
Allegiance United States
Branch/service United States Air Force
Years of service19681972
Battles/warsVietnam War

Tom Weatherston (born February 15, 1950) is an American industrial engineer and Republican politician. He served in the Wisconsin State Assembly from 2013 through 2019, representing the northern half of Racine County.[1][2]

Early life

Born in Buffalo, New York, Weatherston served in the United States Air Force as a civil engineer and was stationed in Vietnam during the Vietnam War. He went to Erie Community College, where he received an associate degree. He then graduated from Buffalo State College, where he received his bachelor's degree in industrial engineering. In 1977, Weatherston was hired by the Modine Manufacturing Company and moved to Racine, Wisconsin.

Political career

In 2010, Weatherston was elected to the Caledonia, Wisconsin, Village Board of Trustees and served until 2013.

In November 2012, Weatherston was elected to the Wisconsin State Assembly in the newly redrawn 62nd Assembly District.[3] He won re-election in 2014 and 2016 without opposition.

In 2017, Weatherston spearheaded the law proposal American Laws for American Courts banning Sharia in Wisconsin.[4] It was criticised by the president of NAML, Asifa Quraishi-Landes, through statement "They see any acknowledgment of Sharia in American Muslim life as a first step to the Trojan Horse."

In April 2018, Weatherston announced that he would not seek re-election to a 4th term.[5]

He instead ran to rejoin the Caledonia Village Board of Trustees in 2019. He defeated incumbent trustee Jay Benkowski in the April 2, 2019, spring general election.[6][7][8]

Weatherston is a member of Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 767 and Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 10301.

Electoral history

Wisconsin Assembly, 62nd District Election, 2012
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Primary Election[9]
Republican Tom Weatherston 5,775 76.88%
Democratic Melissa Lemke 1,202 16.00%
Democratic Randy Bryce 522 6.95%
Write-ins 27 0.09%
Total votes '1,039' '100.0%'
General Election[10]
Republican Tom Weatherston 17,045 53.05%
Democratic Melissa Lemke 15,054 46.85%
Write-ins 31 0.10%
Total votes '32,130' '100.0%' +65.29%
Republican gain from Democratic
Wisconsin Assembly, 62nd District Election, 2014
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Primary Election
Republican Tom Weatherston 4,093 98.94%
Write-ins 44 1.06%
Total votes '4,137' '100.0%'
General Election
Republican Tom Weatherston 18,761 97.61%
Write-ins 460 2.39%
Total votes '19,221' '100.0%' -40.18%
Republican hold
Wisconsin Assembly, 62nd District Election, 2016
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Primary Election
Republican Tom Weatherston 5,209 99.77%
Write-ins 12 0.23%
Total votes '5,221' '100.0%'
General Election
Republican Tom Weatherston 22,523 100.0%
Total votes '22,523' '100.0%' +17.18%
Republican hold
Caledonia Village Trustee 1 Election, 2019
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
General Election, April 2, 2019
Independent Tom Weatherston 2,554 51.08%
Independent Jay Benkowski (incumbent) 2,434 48.68%
Write-ins 12 0.24%
Total votes '5,000' '100.0%'

Notes

  1. 'Weatherston Wins 62nd District Race, Vos and Wirch Retain Their Seats,' Caledonia Patch (Wisconsin), November 7, 2012
  2. Wisconsinvote.org-Tom Weatherston Archived 2012-11-13 at the Wayback Machine
  3. David Michael Miller (2014-02-06). "Slaying the Gerrymander". Isthmus. Retrieved 2019-02-10.
  4. Johnson, Annysa. "Wisconsin lawmakers propose anti-Sharia bill". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Retrieved 22 September 2021.
  5. Pete Wicklund (2018-04-10). "Weatherston not seeking re-election to the state Assembly". Racine Journal Times. Retrieved 2019-02-10.
  6. Rogan, Adam (2019-01-02). "Weatherston looks to make Caledonia comeback after state Assembly stint". Racine Journal Times. Retrieved 2019-03-27.
  7. Rogan, Adam (2019-03-20). "Incumbent facing familiar challenger in Caledonia Village Board election". Racine Journal Times. Retrieved 2019-03-27.
  8. Statement of Votes Cast (Report). Racine County Clerk. 2019-04-02. p. 41. Retrieved 2019-04-03.
  9. Canvass Results for 2012 Partisan Primary (PDF) (Report). Wisconsin Elections Commission. 2012-08-14. p. 47. Retrieved 2019-03-26.
  10. Canvass Results for 2012 Presidential and General Election (PDF) (Report). Wisconsin Elections Commission. 2012-11-06. p. 23. Retrieved 2019-03-26.
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