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Fred Clark (politician)

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Fred Clark
Clark in 2025
Member of the Wisconsin State Assembly
In office
January 7, 2013 – January 5, 2015
Preceded byKelda Roys
Succeeded byDave Considine
Constituency81st district
In office
January 5, 2009 – January 7, 2013
Preceded byJacob Hines
Succeeded byKeith Ripp
Constituency42nd district
Personal details
Born (1959-05-14) May 14, 1959 (age 67)
Ann Arbor, Michigan, U.S.
PartyDemocratic
Children1
Education

Fred Clark (born May 14, 1959) is an American conservationist, businessman, and Democratic politician from Bayfield, Wisconsin. He served three terms in the Wisconsin State Assembly, representing Baraboo and surrounding municipalities in central Wisconsin.[1]

Clark is a candidate for Wisconsin's 7th congressional district seat in the Nov. 3, 2026 general election.[2]

Background

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Born in Ann Arbor, Michigan, Clark graduated from Huron High School in Ann Arbor in 1977. He attended Michigan Technological University before earning a B.S. from Michigan State University in 1985, and an M.S. in Forest Science from the University of Wisconsin–Madison 1992. He served as a Senior Forester with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and an ecologist with The Nature Conservancy.

Clark is a consulting forester. He previously owned and operated Clark Forestry in Baraboo, from 1995 to 2014.[3][4] Clark Forestry provided forestry management and consulting services to family forest owners, farmers, environmental groups, and government agencies.[5] Clark owned and operated Baraboo Woodworks of Madison, WI., a sawmill, dry kiln, and specialty hardwood and furniture business, from 2014 to 2018.[6] Clark worked as Executive Director of the Forest Stewards Guild, a national nonprofit organization, from 2014 to 2017.[7]

Clark worked from 2018 to 2023 as the first Executive Director of Wisconsin's Green Fire, a statewide nonprofit group promoting science-based management of natural resources.[7] He was the first host of Pulse of the Bay, a weekly interview program on WVCB community radio in Ashland, Wisconsin.[8]

Public service

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Clark was appointed by Republican Governor Tommy Thompson to the Lower Wisconsin Riverway Board in 1998, where he served as a representative for Columbia County. In 2004, Clark was appointed by Democratic Governor Jim Doyle to the Wisconsin Council on Forestry, where he leads the council's invasive species committee.

Clark was first elected to the Assembly in 2008, defeating incumbent Republican J.A. "Doc" Hines by a substantial margin (15,936 to 11,304);[9] he was assigned to the standing committees on forestry, (of which he became chair in December 2009), on natural resources, and on rural economic development, and the Wisconsin Council on Tourism. He was reelected in 2010 by a narrow margin (10,208 votes to 9921 for Republican Jack Cummings); he became the Minority Caucus Vice Chairperson for the 2011–2012 session.

In March 2011 Clark moved his desk outside of the capital building to meet with constituents, because of difficulties the public was having entering the building, as a result of an "essential" lock-down of the building to dissuade protests of Governor Walker and his efforts to strip collective bargaining rights away from teachers in Wisconsin.

On April 21, 2011, Clark announced his candidacy for the 14th district seat in the Wisconsin Senate, in the recall election against Luther Olsen, as part of the 2011 Wisconsin protests.[10] In the recall election, Clark was endorsed by the Capital Times, which described him as the "more able, independent and responsible candidate."[11] He lost the race, with Olsen polling fifty-two percent to Clark's forty-eight percent.[12]

In 2011, Clark was ordered to pay $6,500 in back child support payments for not paying enough between January 2009 and February 2011.[13] In June of 2011, Clark was recorded saying that he would like to "smack around" a female constituent.[13]

Clark did not run for a fourth term in 2014 and instead endorsed Dave Considine, who succeeded him.[14]

In 2019 Wisconsin governor Tony Evers appointed Clark to the Department of Natural Resources board. He replaced Preston Cole who was appointed to the board by Evers in December 2018. According to Laurie Ross, the DNR board liaison, Clark was appointed to the position on February 22, 2019.[15] Evers announced the appointment in March.[3]

Electoral history

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Wisconsin Assembly, 42nd district (2008, 2010)

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Year Election Date Elected Defeated Total Plurality
2008 General[16] Nov. 4 Fred Clark Democratic 15,936 58.47% J.A. Hines (inc) Rep. 11,304 41.47% 27,257 4,632
2010 General[17] Nov. 2 Fred Clark (inc) Democratic 10,208 50.69% Jack Cummings Rep. 9,921 49.27% 20,138 287

Wisconsin Senate (2011)

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Year Election Date Elected Defeated Total Plurality
2011
(recall)		 Primary[18] Jul. 12 Fred Clark Democratic 15,052 66.70% Rol Church Dem. 7,346 32.55% 22,567 7,706
Recall[19] Aug. 9 Luther S. Olsen (inc) Republican 26,553 52.10% Fred Clark Dem. 24,355 47.79% 50,964 2,198

Wisconsin Assembly, 81st district (2012)

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Year Election Date Elected Defeated Total Plurality
2012 General[20] Nov. 6 Fred Clark Democratic 17,829 61.83% Scott Frostman Rep. 10,995 38.13% 28,835 6,834

U.S. House (2026)

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Year Election Date Elected Defeated Total Plurality
2026 Primary[21] Aug. 11 Fred Clark Democratic 25,716 37.66% Ginger Murray Dem. 21,726 31.82% 68,282 3,990
Chris Armstrong Dem. 20,764 30.41%

References

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  1. ↑ "Biographies: Representative Clark". Wisconsin Blue Book 2009 – 2010. p. 47. Archived from the original (SWF) on August 11, 2011. Retrieved April 21, 2011.
  2. ↑ Redman, Henry (October 1, 2025). "Conservationist, former legislator Fred Clark announces run for 7th Congressional seat • Wisconsin Examiner". Wisconsin Examiner. Retrieved January 4, 2026.
  3. 1 2 "Gov. Evers Appoints Fred Clark to Natural Resources Board". Governor of Wisconsin Tony Evers. March 6, 2019. Retrieved January 8, 2026.
  4. ↑ "Fred Clark". LinkedIn. Retrieved January 8, 2026.
  5. ↑ "Instructors". The Aldo Leopold Foundation. Archived from the original on March 18, 2012. Retrieved June 27, 2011.
  6. ↑ Vanegeren, Jessica (September 6, 2014). "Baraboo Woodworks will turn Madison's damaged ash trees into handcrafted furniture". The Cap Times. Retrieved January 8, 2026.
  7. 1 2 "Fred Clark stepping back from work with WGF • Wisconsin's Green Fire". Wisconsin’s Green Fire. September 24, 2025. Retrieved January 5, 2026.
  8. ↑ Clark, Fred. "Pulse of the Bay – WVCB 97.7 FM". WCVB. Retrieved January 5, 2026.
  9. ↑ Jacob Stein, "'Wave of change' pushes Democrats into control of state Assembly Archived 2008-12-10 at the Wayback Machine" Wisconsin State Journal, November 5, 2008
  10. ↑ "Baraboo state Rep. Clark to challenge Ripon's Luther Olsen in recall". Oshkosh Northwestern. April 21, 2011. Retrieved April 21, 2011.
  11. ↑ "Elect Clark over Walker rubber-stamp Olsen". August 3, 2011.
  12. ↑ Barbour, Clay and Mary Spicuzza. Republicans hold off Dems in recalls, win enough seats to keep majority in Senate, Wisconsin State Journal, August 10, 2011.
  13. 1 2 Bice, Daniel (June 27, 2011). "Recall candidate paid off back child support last month". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Retrieved December 1, 2025.
  14. ↑ "Rep. Clark Endorses David Considine in 81st Assembly District Democratic Primary". Fred Clark - Wisconsin's Assembly District 81. July 31, 2014. Archived from the original on August 6, 2014. Retrieved October 26, 2021 – via Wayback Machine.
  15. ↑ "Evers appoints former legislator to DNR board". February 27, 2019.
  16. ↑ Results of Fall General Election - 11/04/2008 (Report). Wisconsin State Elections Board. December 1, 2008. p. 23. Archived from the original on December 12, 2022. Retrieved September 19, 2026 – via Wayback Machine.
  17. ↑ Results of Fall General Election - 11/02/2010 (Report). Wisconsin Government Accountability Board. December 1, 2010. p. 19. Archived from the original on October 9, 2024. Retrieved September 19, 2026 – via Wayback Machine.
  18. ↑ Canvass Results for 2011 Primary Recall Election State Senate 14 - 7/12/2011 (PDF) (Report). Wisconsin State Elections Board. July 18, 2011. p. 1. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 17, 2011. Retrieved September 19, 2026 – via Wayback Machine.
  19. ↑ Canvass Results for 2011 Recall Election State Senate 14 - 8/9/2011 (PDF) (Report). Wisconsin State Elections Board. August 15, 2011. p. 1. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 10, 2012. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
  20. ↑ Canvass Results for 2012 Presidential and General Election - 11/6/2012 (Report). Wisconsin Government Accountability Board. December 26, 2012. p. 28. Archived from the original on December 12, 2022. Retrieved September 19, 2026 – via Wayback Machine.
  21. ↑ Canvass Results for 2026 Partisan Primary - 8/11/2026 (PDF) (Report). Wisconsin Elections Commission. August 27, 2026. p. 9. Retrieved September 19, 2026.
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