Dale Kooyenga

Dale Kooyenga (born February 12, 1979) is an American C.P.A. and Republican politician from Waukesha County, Wisconsin.

Kooyenga earned a bachelor's degree in 2000 and MBA from Marquette University in 2007.

Kooyenga has also completed the Young American Leaders Program in Civic Engagement through the Harvard Business School as well as the U.S. Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School's Civil Affairs course.

He is an Iraq War veteran.

He continues to serve in the Army Reserve as a Lieutenant Colonel in Civil Affairs Corps.

He is married and a father of four children.

Kooyenga moved to Milwaukee in 2001, passed the Certified Public Accounting exam, and began working for accounting firm KPMG.

In 2005, Kooyenga and his two brothers joined the United States Army, a decision they made as a result of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

He attended the United States Army's basic training, Officer Candidate School and the Military Intelligence Officer Course.

After completing the year-long Army training Kooyenga returned to his career in public accounting.

Kooyenga was deployed to active duty in Iraq from January 2008 to November 2008.

Although trained as a Military Intelligence Officer, Kooyenga was assigned as the 4th Infantry Division's Officer in Charge of Economic Development in Baghdad.

Kooyenga was awarded the Bronze Star for his service.

His experience in Iraq overseeing the construction of roads and bridges, as well as the death of a friend at the hands of a suicide bomber, inspired his interest in politics.

Kooyenga still serves in the U.S. Army Reserve and in June 2022 was selected for the rank of lieutenant colonel.

In Fall 2010, Kooyenga was elected to represent the 14th District for the Wisconsin State Assembly.

He previously served eight years in the State Assembly (2011–2018), representing the 14th Assembly district.

Born in Oak Lawn, Illinois, Kooyenga grew up as the oldest of four siblings in the southwest Chicago suburb of Evergreen Park, Illinois.

He attended Chicago Christian High School and went on to attend Moraine Valley Community College.

Kooyenga played basketball at Moraine Valley and was subsequently recruited by Lakeland College in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, where he played NCAA Division III basketball and graduated with honors.

He worked at KPMG as a senior manager until 2011, performing work for some of Wisconsin's largest healthcare, manufacturing, financial services, government and not-for-profit entities.

He was sworn into office on January 3, 2011.

Kooyenga endorsed Mitt Romney in the 2012 presidential election.

During his time in the Assembly, Kooyenga emerged as a conservative star as part of the "CPA Caucus," a group of four certified public accountants in the Assembly who specialized in analyzing state finances.

The group's work led to the discovery of a previously unreported $650 million surplus within the books of UW System institutions.

That discovery led to an 8-year tuition freeze, which was lifted in 2021 with Kooyenga's support.

Kooyenga said as a result of the tuition freeze, the UW System "has dramatically increased their transparency."

Kooyenga later praised the UW System for voluntarily freezing tuition for another year.

Kooyenga then served as chief financial officer for Milwaukee-based IT Services and IT Consulting firm Mpirik starting in January 2015, a role he served in until May 2017.

In May 2017, Kooyenga became chief financial officer for Stonehouse Water Technologies, LLC, a Milwaukee firm that engineers and manufactures water purification systems for residential homes, commercial buildings and farms.

In May 2017, Kooyenga removed a protester's sign, which had a valid permit, from a public area of the Wisconsin State Capitol which was critical of President Donald Trump and Republicans.

Kooyenga removed the sign because he thought it was inappropriate.

Kooyenga announced his campaign for Wisconsin State Senate's 5th District in September 2017, seeking to fill the seat left vacant by Leah Vukmir, who was running for the U.S. Senate.

The owner filed a lawsuit against Kooyenga and the State of Wisconsin for violating his First Amendment rights, which led to the State paying him $30,000 to settle the lawsuit in April 2018.

Kooyenga repaid the $30,000 to the state in July 2018.

He won the November 2018 election with 51.15% of the vote against Democratic opponent Julie Henszey.

During his time in the Senate, Kooyenga worked on a range of issues related to education, tax cuts and budgeting, professional licensure, and healthcare.

He was a member of the Wisconsin State Senate from 2019 through 2022, representing the 5th Senate district.

From June 2019 until the present day, Kooyenga has served as a board member and consultant for Alligator Holdings, an early stage investor group that focuses on bringing innovative products to market through strategic investments and advanced engineering and manufacturing processes.

In August 2019, he and Rep. Amy Loudenbeck introduced telehealth legislation that was signed into law months before the COVID-19 pandemic began.