Tom Weatherston

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]

Thomas Weatherston
Member of the Wisconsin State Assembly from the 62nd district
In office January 7, 2013 – January 7, 2019
Preceded by	Cory Mason
Succeeded by	Robert Wittke
Member of the Caledonia, Wisconsin Board of Trustees
Incumbent
Assumed office April 2019
Preceded by	Jay Benkowski
In office 2010–2013
Personal details
Born	(1950-02-15) February 15, 1950 (age 74) Buffalo, New York, U.S.
Political party	Republican
Spouse	April
Children	1
Residence(s)	Caledonia, Wisconsin, U.S.
Alma mater	Erie Community College Buffalo State College
Profession	Engineer
Military service
Allegiance	United States
Branch/service	United States Air Force
Years of service	1968–1972
Battles/wars	Vietnam War

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.