Alvin Baldus, former Democratic congressman from Wisconsin's Third District, was born in Hancock County, Iowa, on April 27, 1926. He grew up on a dairy farm and received his education in Minnesota at Elkton High School and Austin Junior College (1948). During World War II Baldus served in the Merchant Marines; he is also a veteran of service in the Army during the Korean conflict.
After the war Baldus eventually settled in Menomonie, Wisconsin, where he was employed by Allis-Chalmers for 15 years and later was a broker for Investor Diversified Services. During this period Baldus was active in a host of civic organizations including Rotary, American Legion, Toastmasters, Theatre Guild, United Fund, the local Chamber of Commerce, and the Dunn County Cancer Society. He was not, however, politically active until he began his own campaign for elective office in 1966. Baldus' election to the Assembly, while won by only a narrow margin, was the only Democratic victory in Dunn County. He was also the first Democrat to hold that seat in 30 years. Baldus was successfully reelected to the Wisconsin Legislature in 1968, 1970, and 1972. In the Assembly he served as vice-chairman of the Insurance and Banking (1973) and the Retirement Research (1971) committees and as chairman of the State Affairs Committee (1973); other committee assignments are listed in biennial editions of the Wisconsin Blue Book. In 1973 his fellow Democrats elected Baldus assistant majority leader.
Baldus gave up his Assembly seat in 1974 to run against the incumbent Vernon Thomson for the U.S. Congress. Again his highly personal campaign style (coupled with the post-Watergate anti-Republican trend) brought Baldus victory in a traditionally Republican district. Because of this Republican tradition, the 1976 election was expected to be close, but Baldus was able to increase his hold on the district. He was reelected in 1978 in a much less heavily contested race.
In order to represent the district, one of the most rural in the nation, in 1975 Baldus sought and won seats on the Agriculture and the Small Business Committees. In this capacity he chaired the Dairy and Poultry (1980) and the Energy, Environment, Safety, and Research (1977-1978) subcommittees and he was able to advance legislative initiatives in which he was concerned such as the problems of small business, the dairy industry, and alternative energy sources..
In 1980 Baldus was defeated in his attempt for reelection by Steve Gunderson. Since returning to private life Baldus has resided in Prescott, Wisconsin, and has been employed by Cenex.
