Theodore Kanavas

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Theodore Kanavas

Member of the Wisconsin State Senate from the 33rd district
In office 2001 – present

Born	April 29, 1961 (1961-04-29) (age 47)
Political party	Republican
Residence	Brookfield, Wisconsin
Profession	businessman
Religion	Greek Orthodox

Theodore "Ted" Kanavas (born April 29, 1961) is an American politician currently serving as a member of the Wisconsin State Senate, representing the state's thirty-third district. He is a member of the Republican Party of Wisconsin.

Kanavas was raised in Brookfield, Wisconsin and graduated from Brookfield East High School. He graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1983. While attending the school, Kanavas worked as an aide to Congressman Jim Sensenbrenner. Kanavas subsequently attended Pepperdine University's school of law.

For the past fifteen years Kanavas has worked in the software industry.

Kanavas was elected to the school board for Elmbrook School District in 1999, and served until 2002. In July 2001, he was elected to the State Senate in a special election, defeating Democrat Dawn Marie Sass, and he was re-elected in 2002. He also won re-election in 2006 defeating Democratic candidate Andrew Stiffler by nearly 25,000 votes.

Kanavas is known for his efforts to promote job creation and economic development. His legislative successes include passage of the Angel Investment tax credits (known as Act 255) and passage of his Film Wisconsin tax credit bill allowing movie and television production companies to claim a tax credit for work done in Wisconsin. In January of 2008, the Michael Mann film Public Enemies staring Johnny Depp became the first production to take advantage of Wisconsin's film tax credits.

Kanavas attends the Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church and coaches his son's youth baseball team. He and his wife, Mary, have three children; Nick, Kelly and Kate.