George Spencer Coggs (born August 6, 1949) is an American public administrator and Democratic politician from Milwaukee, Wisconsin who has served since 2012 as the Milwaukee City Treasurer. Coggs previously served 10 years in the Wisconsin Senate and 20 years in the Wisconsin State Assembly, representing Milwaukee's west side. His uncle, Isaac N. Coggs, and cousin, Elizabeth M. Coggs, also served in the Assembly.
Early life, education and career Coggs was a City of Milwaukee health officer (and Chief Steward of his AFSCME union localCoggs profile at freedomspeaks.com), postal worker and industrial printer.
Wisconsin legislature
Coggs was elected to the Wisconsin State Assembly for what was then the 10th district in 1982 and reelected until 2002. During his time in the assembly he was the Majority Caucus Vice Chairperson in 1985, 1987 and 1989.
He was elected in 2003 to the state senate in a special election and reelected in 2004 and 2008. He sat on the Committee on Housing and Financial Institutions, and Joint Committee for Review of Criminal Penalties.
Coggs was vice president of the National Labor Caucus of State Legislators.
2011 Wisconsin protests
During the protests in Wisconsin, Coggs, along with the 13 other Democratic State Senators, fled the state to deny the State Senate a quorum on Governor Scott Walker's controversial "Budget Repair" legislation.
Running for other offices Coggs announced December 22, 2009, that he was running for the position of Lieutenant Governor of Wisconsin in 2010. (Current Lt. Gov. Barbara Lawton was not seeking a third term."Milwaukee senator enters lieutenant governor's race", Associated Press, La Crosse Tribune December 22, 2009.) On September 14, he lost the Democratic nomination in a four-way race, with fellow legislator Tom Nelson winning an absolute majority (52%) over Coggs' 21% and two other candidates with smaller percentages."Fall 2010 primary election results", Milwaukee Journal Sentinel September 14, 2010.Noth, Dominique Paul. "Plale’s loss to Larson and Walker’s tactics may expose the price of being an attack dog." , Milwaukee Labor Press September 15, 2010.
In February 2012, Coggs was one of two State Senators (the other being fellow Democrat Tim Carpenter) to win a place on the ballot for Milwaukee City Treasurer in the Spring 2012 election, defeating former State Treasurer Dawn Marie Sass (like Coggs, a former AFSCME activist) and Socialist Rick Kissell in the non-partisan primary.Sandler, Larry. "Coggs, Carpenter to square off for treasurer", Milwaukee Journal Sentinel February 21, 2012. Coggs polled 13,559 votes; Carpenter 12,880; Sass 5,089 and Kissell 2,241.Official election results In the general election, Coggs won with 35,096 votes to Carpenter's 34,293.Sandler, Larry. "Coggs edges Carpenter in city treasurer's race", Milwaukee Journal Sentinel April 4, 2012.
After he was sworn in as Treasurer in mid-April, Coggs announced that he would not be resigning his position as Senator until a new Senator could be elected. "With us in the state Senate tied 16–16, it just makes sense for me to keep my position. If I were to leave, I'm not saying my Republican friends would cause mischief, but I don't want to give them any temptation," he stated. He said that he would donate his second salary to an as-yet-unnamed charity.WTMJ News. "Spencer Coggs to finish out Senate term while he's Milwaukee City Treasurer" , WTMJ-TV April 18, 2012. Two incumbent Assembly Democrats, his cousin Elizabeth Coggs and Sandy Pasch, had already announced that they would be running for the vacant seat (although Pasch later changed her mind).Marley, Patrick. "Elizabeth Coggs to seek Senate seat her cousin is vacating" All Politics Blog, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Online; April 17, 2012. In the end, he was succeeded in the Senate by another Democrat, Nikiya Harris.
References
External links at the Wisconsin State Legislature constituency site
6th Senate District, Senator Coggs in the Wisconsin Blue Book (2005–2006) Campaign 2008 campaign contributions at Wisconsin Democracy Campaign