Ed Garvey

Edward R. Garvey (April 18, 1940 – February 22, 2017) was an American lawyer, politician and activist.

Background
Garvey 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 law degree.

Law and union work
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.

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.

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.

After leaving the NFLPA
After leaving the NFLPA, Garvey served as deputy attorney general in Wisconsin under Bronson La Follette, 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 Sr.

Political career
Garvey was the editor and publisher of the political website FightingBob.com, which focused on Wisconsin and national issues from a center-left perspective. He regularly appeared on the local NPR national public radio affiliate WHAD to provide a progressive viewpoint on a variety of topics.

In 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. In an unsuccessful bid for Wisconsin governor in 1998 against three-term incumbent Tommy G. 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.

Death
Garvey died in a nursing home in Verona, Wisconsin.

Democratic primary

 * Ed Garvey (D)
 * Matt Flynn (D)

General election

 * Bob Kasten (R) (inc.), 50.9% (754,573 votes)
 * Ed Garvey (D), 47.4% (702,963 votes)

1988 Democratic primary for U.S. Senate

 * Herb Kohl
 * Tony Earl
 * Ed Garvey
 * Doug La Follette

1998 Gubernatorial election

 * Tommy Thompson (R) (inc.), 60%
 * Ed Garvey (D), 39%