John Martin Antaramian was born on September 21,1954 and is an American businessman and Democratic politician from Kenosha, Wisconsin.
25 Facts About John Antaramian
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John Antaramian has served a total of 24 years as mayor of Kenosha, having been in office from 1992 to 2008 and again from 2016 to 2024.
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John Antaramian represented Kenosha for 10 years in the Wisconsin State Assembly, from 1983 to 1993.
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John Antaramian was born and raised and has lived most of his life in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
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John Antaramian ran a spirited campaign, attacking Dorff for becoming inaccessible to his constituents and not taking a significant part in the business of the Assembly.
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The primary results were surprisingly tight, with John Antaramian falling just 196 votes short.
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John Antaramian said he was satisfied that he had sent a message to Dorff, and promised he would run again in 1982.
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John Antaramian based his primary campaign on juvenile law reforms, saying that juveniles accused of severe crimes should face adult court and exceptions from the limits on penalties for juvenile offenders.
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John Antaramian advocated for increasing financial penalties for parents of juveniles who engage in certain crimes, and wanted Wisconsin's drinking age raised to 19.
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John Antaramian was unopposed in the general election and assumed office in January 1983.
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For several consecutive sessions, John Antaramian pushed for a state health insurance program to cover the estimated 500,000 Wisconsinites who then were lacking insurance coverage, seeking to expand on the WISCONCARE plan passed in 1985.
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John Antaramian went on to win re-election in 1996,2000, and 2004, leaving office in 2008.
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John Antaramian suffered a heart attack at his home on May 27,2019.
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John Antaramian was able to receive medical attention and had a heart catheterization procedure; he ultimately made a successful recovery.
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John Antaramian faced no opposition in the 2020 Spring election, which was complicated by the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic in Wisconsin.
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John Antaramian advocated for the entire election to be conducted via mail-in ballot, to encourage social distancing, but ultimately the city did still open ten in-person polling places on election day.
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Hundreds of protesters later forced John Antaramian to relocate his press conference on the shooting from a local park to the city's public safety building, where the protestors were contained by police with pepper spray after tearing the building's front entrance door from its hinges.
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John Antaramian remained an advocate for vote-by-mail and other early voting options which allowed voters to avoid congregating in person at polling places.
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In October 2020, John Antaramian participated in a challenge with the mayors of Wisconsin's five largest cities to see which city would have the highest rate of absentee and early voting.
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John Antaramian described the investigation as a waste of time and money.
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In May 2023, John Antaramian announced that he would not run for a seventh term in 2024.
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John Antaramian is one of four children born to Martin B Antaramian and his wife Noreen.
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Martin John Antaramian was a successful lawyer in Kenosha for 43 years, in partnership with his brother, Richard, who was a municipal judge.
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John Antaramian was prominent in the state bar association, in state Freemasonry, and in the local veteran community.
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On January 16,1982, John Antaramian married Linda Catherine Wesnick at St Hagop Armenian Apostolic Church in Racine, Wisconsin.