Arthur Balzer

Arthur J. Balzer (March 6, 1895 - January 31, 1962) was an American merchant and lecturer from West Allis, Wisconsin who served several terms as a member of the Wisconsin State Assembly from Milwaukee County, first in the 1930s and again for a single term in the 1950s.

Balzer was born March 6, 1895 in Mequon, Wisconsin, the son of Constantine Balzer, a public school teacher. During World War I, he served as a hospital corpsman in the United States Navy. He attended Marquette University, studying political science; he was a cheerleader, and in 1922 won a medal for "proficiency in debate". In 1924 he became a resident of West Allis. He went into what he described as "general merchandising business", and became a part-time lecturer.

He was first elected to the Assembly's 3rd Milwaukee County district in 1932, at which time he was in the real estate business, unseating Republican incumbent Allen Busby. He received 7,728 votes; Busby 5,234; Socialist Frank Puncer 3,757, and independent Grace Brown 165. He was a Democrat, but in the Wisconsin Blue Book for 1933 described himself specifically as a "Progressive Democrat", in a state where the term "Progressive" had a special significance. He was assigned to the standing committee on labor, serving as its chairman.

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