Elected Office
Kasten was elected to the Wisconsin State Senate in 1972. In 1974, he was elected to the House of Representatives as a Republican. He was reelected in 1976. He ran for Governor of Wisconsin in 1978, but lost the Republican nomination to Lee S. Dreyfus. Kasten ran for the United States Senate in 1980 and defeated liberal Democrat and environmentalist incumbent Senator Gaylord Nelson. Kasten's victory was propelled in part by the popularity of Ronald Reagan at the top of the Republican ticket. In the Senate, Kasten was an outspoken conservative. He was the first Republican to represent Wisconsin in the Senate since Alexander Wiley left office in 1963.
In 1985 Kasten was arrested and charged with driving under the influence after a District of Columbia police officer observed him running a red light and driving on the wrong side of the road. The charges were later dropped.
In 1986, Kasten narrowly defeated Democrat Ed Garvey to win re-election. Kasten was defeated by Democrat Russ Feingold in 1992.
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