Edward Robert Garvey (April 18, 1940 – February 22, 2017) was an American lawyer, activist, and Democratic politician from Wisconsin. He was executive director of the National Football League Players Association (players' union) from 1971 to 1983. He also ran unsuccessfully for United States Senate (1986 and 1988) and Governor of Wisconsin (1998). Later in life he organized the first "Fighting Bob Fest", an annual gathering of progressive activists in Wisconsin.
Ed Garvey | |
|---|---|
 Garvey in 1982 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Edward Robert Garvey April 18, 1940 Burlington, Wisconsin, U.S. |
| Died | February 22, 2017 (aged 76) Verona, Wisconsin, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Education | University of Wisconsin, Madison (BA, JD) |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance | United States |
| Branch/service | United States Army |
Background
editGarvey graduated from the University of Wisconsin (now the University of Wisconsin–Madison) and spent two years in the U.S. Army; he then returned to Madison and entered the University of Wisconsin Law School, where he earned a Juris Doctor degree.[1]
Law and union work
edit
Soon after graduation, Garvey joined Lindquist & Vennum, a Minneapolis law firm. The firm worked for the National Football League Players Association (NFLPA), the labor organization representing the professional American football players in the National Football League (NFL), and in 1970 Garvey was assigned to counsel union president John Mackey regarding negotiations on a new four year contract with the league's owners. Garvey was later offered the position of executive director in the now-certified NFLPA in 1971.[1]
Garvey served as its executive director until 1983, through two strikes (in 1974 and 1982) and frequently invoking antitrust legislation in his many court battles with the league. Garvey directed the NFLPA though a series of court battles that led, in 1975, to the ruling in Mackey v. NFL that antitrust laws applied to the NFL's restrictions on player movement. In 1976, armed with leverage regarding player movement from team to team, Garvey and the union won major concessions from the owners. Garvey's negotiations with the league exchanged the players' threat of pursuing a system of unfettered free agency for an improved package of player benefits.[2]
The NFLPA became recognized by the owners as a full-fledged National Labor Relations Board union, and damages totaling $13.65 million were awarded to past and present players for antitrust violations against them.[3]
After leaving the NFLPA
editAfter leaving the NFLPA, Garvey served as deputy attorney general in Wisconsin under Bronson La Follette, serving as the number-two official in the Wisconsin Department of Justice and specializing in environmental issues. Garvey also became a prominent leader with Wisconsin labor groups, particularly the Paperworkers Union (now United Steelworkers) in contract disputes with International Paper.
He organized the Fighting Bob Fest, named for Robert M. La Follette[4]
Political career
editIn 1986, Garvey ran for the U.S. Senate from Wisconsin, losing to Republican incumbent Bob Kasten by a small margin after a very bitter election.[5] In an unsuccessful bid for Wisconsin governor in 1998 against three-term incumbent Tommy Thompson, Garvey sought to highlight campaign finance reform and limited contributions to his campaign to a fixed amount per donor. Thompson won by a wide margin.
Garvey was the editor and publisher of the political website FightingBob.com, which focused on Wisconsin and national issues from a progressive perspective. He regularly appeared on the local NPR national public radio affiliate WHAD to provide a progressive viewpoint on a variety of topics.
Death
editGarvey died of complications from Parkinson's disease at a nursing home in Verona, Wisconsin.[6]
Electoral history
editU.S. Senate (1986)
edit| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic Primary, September 9, 1986 | |||||
| Democratic | Edward R. Garvey | 126,408 | 47.60% | ||
| Democratic | Matthew J. Flynn | 101,777 | 38.33% | ||
| Democratic | Gary R. George | 29,485 | 11.10% | ||
| Democratic | Roman R. Blenski | 7,890 | 2.97% | ||
| Plurality | 24,631 | 9.28% | |||
| Total votes | 265,560 | 100.0% | |||
| General Election, November 4, 1986 | |||||
| Republican | Robert W. Kasten (inc) | 754,473 | 50.91% | ||
| Democratic | Edward R. Garvey | 702,963 | 47.44% | ||
| Independent | Peter Y. Taylor | 19,266 | 1.30% | ||
| Socialist Workers | Margo Storsteen | 2,926 | 0.20% | ||
| Independent | Eugene A. Hem | 2,234 | 0.15% | ||
| Plurality | 51,510 | 3.48% | |||
| Total votes | 1,481,862 | 100.0% | |||
| Republican hold | |||||
U.S. Senate (1988)
edit| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic Primary, September 13, 1988 | |||||
| Democratic | Herb Kohl | 249,226 | 46.76% | ||
| Democratic | Tony Earl | 203,479 | 38.18% | ||
| Democratic | Edward R. Garvey | 55,225 | 10.36% | ||
| Democratic | Doug La Follette | 19,819 | 3.72% | ||
| Democratic | Edmond C. Hou-Seye | 5,040 | 0.95% | ||
| Scattering | 215 | 0.04% | |||
| Plurality | 45,747 | 8.58% | |||
| Total votes | 533,004 | 100.0% | |||
Wisconsin Governor (1998)
edit| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic Primary, September 8, 1998 | |||||
| Democratic | Edward R. Garvey | 175,082 | 79.98% | ||
| Democratic | Gary R. George | 43,830 | 20.02% | ||
| Plurality | 131,252 | 59.96% | |||
| Total votes | 218,912 | 100.0% | +79.56% | ||
| General Election, November 3, 1998 | |||||
| Republican | Tommy Thompson (inc) & Scott McCallum (inc) |
1,047,716 | 59.66% | −7.56pp | |
| Democratic | Edward R. Garvey & Barbara Lawton |
679,553 | 38.70% | +7.82pp | |
| Libertarian | Jim Mueller & James Dean |
11,071 | 0.63% | −0.11pp | |
| U.S. Taxpayers | Edward J. Frami & Thomas R. Rivers |
10,269 | 0.58% | −0.00pp | |
| Independent | Mike Mangan | 4,985 | 0.28% | ||
| Independent | A-ja-mu Muhammad & Vida Harley Bridges |
1,604 | 0.09% | ||
| Green | Jeffrey L. Smith & R. Smith |
14 | 0.00% | ||
| Scattering | 802 | 0.05% | +0.00pp | ||
| Plurality | 368,163 | 20.97% | -15.39pp | ||
| Total votes | 1,756,014 | 100.0% | +12.29% | ||
| Republican hold | |||||
References
edit- ^ a b Heidi Holland (October 11, 1982). "Owners Fume and Fans Despair, but Lawyer Ed Garvey Won't Tell the NFL Players to Punt". People Magazine. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 26 September 2012.
- ^ Robert H. Boyle (February 1, 1982). "This is the controversial proposal of Ed Garvey and the NFL players' union as contract talks approach". Sports Illustrated. Archived from the original on August 31, 2010. Retrieved 26 September 2012.
- ^ John Clayton (March 28, 2010). "Packers' Murphy comes full circle: Once considered a radical, team president is now trying to settle NFL's labor problems". ESPN. Retrieved 26 September 2012.
- ^ Sandomir, Richard (2017-02-22). "Ed Garvey, Leader of N.F.L. Players' Union, Dies at 76". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2017-02-24.
- ^ Solovy, Stephen (March 7, 1989). "Wisconsin Voters". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved September 25, 2012.
- ^ Longtime political activist Ed Garvey has died
- ^ Theobald, H. Rupert; Barish, Lawrence S., eds. (1987). "Elections in Wisconsin". State of Wisconsin Blue Book 1987–1988 (Report). Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau. p. 881, 887. Retrieved December 3, 2023.
- ^ Barish, Lawrence S.; Theobald, H. Rupert, eds. (1989). "Elections in Wisconsin". State of Wisconsin Blue Book 1989–1990 (Report). Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau. p. 904. Retrieved December 3, 2023.
- ^ Barish, Lawrence S.; Meloy, Patricia E., eds. (1999). "Elections in Wisconsin". State of Wisconsin Blue Book 1999–2000 (Report). Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau. p. 885, 887. Retrieved December 1, 2023.
Sources
edit- "Garvey McNeil & McGillivray, S.C. Biography". Archived from the original on 2009-07-25. Retrieved 2009-08-02.
- Archived FightingBob, Garvey's blog.