Peter Barca

Peter William Barca (born August 7, 1955) is an American Democratic politician and the current Secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Revenue in the administration of Governor Tony Evers.

Barca is a lifelong resident of the Kenosha area.

Barca was born in Kenosha, Wisconsin, on August 7, 1955, and spent his entire youth in the Kenosha area.

That year, Kenosha's north side state representative, Joseph Andrea, announced that he would run for Wisconsin Senate that fall, creating an open seat in the recently redrawn 64th Assembly district.

Barca was one of eight candidates who sought the Democratic nomination in that primary, including former county supervisor David Holtze, former city councilmember Gerald Bellow, former school board member Mark Lindas, former UAW local leader Frank Perone, and city police and fire commission member Marlene Mura.

Barca prevailed over the divided field with 34% of the vote.

At the time of the primary, Barca and others credited his victory to a strong campaign organization.

Barca also acknowledged the popularity of his family name, due to his father's decades operating popular Kenosha restaurants.

Barca went on to win the general election with nearly 80% of the vote in the heavily Democratic district.

During his initial tenure in the State Capitol, Barca authored and passed a wide variety of proposals covering issues such as economic development, protection for seniors and the disabled, education, employment and job training, criminal justice, and environmental protection.

He also worked closely with the Kenosha delegation to help pass legislation that led to the creation of the Lakeview Corporate Park.

Barca also chaired several special legislative committees that led to Wisconsin’s nationally recognized welfare reform program, implemented the award-winning 'one stop shop' employment and training systems, and developed the roadmap for rail services between Kenosha and Milwaukee.

He graduated from Kenosha's Mary D. Bradford High School in 1973 and went on to earn his bachelor's degree from the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee in 1977.

After earning his bachelor's degree, he returned to Kenosha and started his career as a teacher for emotionally disturbed children and a team leader for students with special needs, Barca went on to become the director of the Friendship Camp, a camp for children with disabilities.

Barca's work as a teacher led to involvement with the teacher's union and local politics; he soon became active in the Democratic Party of Wisconsin and was elected chairman of the Kenosha County Democratic Party in 1979.

He resigned from the office a year later to attend Harvard Graduate School.

He ultimately returned to Wisconsin and completed his M.A. in public administration and educational administration from the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 1983.

After returning to Kenosha, he was employed at the Kenosha Achievement Center and worked in job placement.

Barca made his first run for public office in 1984.

Barca represented the northern part of the city of Kenosha and surrounding areas in the Wisconsin State Assembly for nine terms, covering the years 1985 through 1993 and 2009 through 2019, and was the Democratic floor leader from 2011 through 2017.

After winning his fourth term in 1990, Barca was elected to a party leadership position in the Assembly, serving as majority caucus chair for the 1991 legislative term.

In the general election, Barca faced Republican Mark Neumann, who had been Aspin's opponent in the 1992 congressional election.

Barca won by only 675 votes, mainly due to a weak showing in Racine.

He also served as a member of the United States House of Representatives during the 103rd Congress (1993–1995), and was the Midwest Regional Administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration during the presidency of Bill Clinton.

He was re-elected to that leadership position in the 1993 term, but resigned from the Assembly after his election to the U.S. House of Representatives that May.

In early 1993, newly-inaugurated President Bill Clinton appointed 22-year incumbent congressman Les Aspin as United States Secretary of Defense.

Neumann, in turn, defeated Barca in the regular 1994 election 17 months later, winning by a similarly narrow margin of just 1,120 votes.

After Barca narrowly lost his re-election bid, President Clinton appointed him to serve as Midwest Regional Administrator to the U.S. Small Business Administration.

He also served as National Ombudsman to the SBA.

Barca was also leader of the National Regulatory Fairness Program, an initiative which included more than fifty company presidents throughout the country aimed at making regulatory enforcement small business friendly.

He later went on to become Vice President and then President of Aurora Associates International, an international project management company.

In November 2008, after a 14-year absence, Barca was elected to represent the 64th District once again.

He was again chosen to be Majority Caucus Chairperson, and served as co-chair of the Joint Legislative Audit Committee, and chair of the Partnership for a Stronger Economy.

As chair of the Partnership for a Stronger Economy, Barca traveled the state meeting with various small businesses owners and economic development professionals to craft an economic plan for Wisconsin.

The Partnership led the way in helping to pass over 50 economic initiatives in the 2009–10 legislative session, including the Small Business Capital Access Program and the Entrepreneurial Assistance Grant Program, both authored by Barca.

Aspin therefore had to resign his seat in Wisconsin's 1st congressional district and a special election was called to fill the balance of his term in the 103rd United States Congress.

Barca was one of three incumbent state representatives who ran for the Democratic nomination in the special election, the others being Jeffrey A. Neubauer of Racine and Wayne W. Wood of Janesville.

Barca won the primary with 48% of the vote, assisted by strong turnout from his native Kenosha County, where he won the support of 80% of Democratic primary voters.

In the 2010 midterm elections, Republicans won complete control of government in Wisconsin.

Following the election, Barca was elected by his colleagues to serve as Assembly Democratic Leader in the 100th Wisconsin Legislative Session.