Former Democratic assemblyman, Lewis T. Mittness, Jr., was born in La Crosse, Wisconsin on July 29, 1929. After graduation from Tomah High School in 1946 he enrolled at UW-La Crosse, although he dropped out to work and to serve (1951-1953) in the Army during the Korean War. He returned to school after the war, graduating from UW-Stevens Point in 1954 with a major in history. In 1959 he received a master's degree in educational administration from UW-Madison.
In 1964 Mittness was a junior high school teacher of history and civics when he decided to put his teaching specialty into practice by running for elective office. In a tightly contested race he upset incumbent William Merriam to become the first Democrat to hold a seat from Janesville since the 1890's. Although his district was in a predominantly Republican area, Mittness won reelection five times by increasingly large margins. (In 1967, however, he was unsuccessful in a special election for the State Senate.) In several campaigns Mittness' hold on the district was considered so secure that his campaigns were very limited and inexpensive. In 1974 the Republican Assembly Campaign Committee designated his district as a top priority, but although this election was more closely contested than former races, Mittness was again victorious by a wide margin.
In the Assembly Mittness was best known for his strong support of environmental issues, and he was sometimes referred to in the media as “Clean Water Lew.” From the 1971 through the 1975 session he was chairman of the Natural Resources Committee, and he authored or co-authored legislation on air quality, water management, wetlands preservation, pesticides, snowmobile safety, billboard regulation, and regional planning. In recognition of his work on environmental protection, Mittness was honored by the Soil Conservation Society of America and UW-Stevens Point named him as their outstanding alumnus in 1973.
During his early years in the Assembly Mittness continued to hold his position at Marshall Junior High School, teaching during the years when the Legislature did not meet. His full time attention to legislative duties when the Assembly was in session was then unusual, and in 1971 John Wyngaard wrote that Mittness typified the small “new breed” of full-time professional legislators. However, his teaching was locally controversial, and Mittness eventually turned to real estate sales to supplement his legislative salary. The fact that legislative salaries failed to keep pace with the responsibilities of the job was at least partly responsible for his resignation in December 1975 to accept a position as executive secretary of the Public Service Commission. From 1981 to 1984 he served as Assembly Sergeant-at-Arms. Since his retirement Mittness has resided in Janesville and has been active in local civic affairs.
