lawyer, politician, b. Mauston; He attended Ripon College and received an LL.B. degree from the Univ. of Wisconsin Law School (1917). After serving with the AEF in France (1918-1919), he returned to Mauston to practice law and was city attorney (1922-1931) . A Republican, he was state assemblyman (1929-1930), and state senator (1931-1934), serving as president pro tern of the Senate (1933-1934). During his legislative career, he sponsored many measures associated with the progressive movement in Wisconsin and was especially active in promoting the regulation of public utilities. In 1934 he was among the group that split with the Republicans to form the new Progressive party. He was state director of the REA (1935-1936), and represented Wisconsin at the World Power Conference (1936). He was attorney general for Wisconsin (1937-1938), but was defeated for re-election in the Republican landslide of 1938. In 1942 he was elected governor over the incumbent Republican, Julius P. Heil (q.v.), but died before taking office. Madison Capital Times, Dec. 8, 1942; Wis. Blue Book (1944); F. L. Holmes, et al., eds., Wis. (5 vols., Chicago, 1946); Who's Who in Amer., 21 (1940).

The Wisconsin Historical Society has manuscripts related to this topic. See the catalog description of the Orland S. Loomis Papers for details.

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[Source: Blue book]