Wisconsin's 16th Senate district
The 16th Senate District of Wisconsin is one of 33 districts in the Wisconsin State Senate.[2] Located in south-central Wisconsin, the district comprises much of eastern Dane County. It contains the east side of Wisconsin's capital city, Madison, as well as the cities of Monona and Sun Prairie, and the northern half of the city of Fitchburg.[3]
Wisconsin's 16th State Senate district | |||||
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Senator |
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Demographics | 71.2% White 10.1% Black 9.8% Hispanic 6.1% Asian 1.0% Native American 0.1% Hawaiian/Pacific Islander 1.2% Other | ||||
Population (2020) • Voting age | 178,608[1] 139,268 | ||||
Notes | South-central Wisconsin |
Current elected officials
Melissa Agard is the senator representing the 16th district. She was first elected in the 2020 general election. Before serving as senator, she served in the Wisconsin State Assembly from 2013 to 2021, representing Madison's north side.[4]
Each Wisconsin State Senate district is composed of three Wisconsin State Assembly districts. The 16th Senate district comprises the 46th, 47th, and 48th Assembly districts. The current representatives of those districts are:[5]
- Assembly District 46: Melissa Ratcliff (D–Cottage Grove)
- Assembly District 47: Jimmy P. Anderson (D–Fitchburg)
- Assembly District 48: Samba Baldeh (D–Madison)
The district is located entirely within Wisconsin's 2nd congressional district, which is represented by U.S. Representative Mark Pocan.[6]
Past senators
Notable past senators include:[7]
- Christopher Latham Sholes, 1848-1850, "father of the typewriter"
- John Sharpstein, 1852, Justice of the Supreme Court of California
- Nelson Dewey, 1854-1856, 1st Governor of Wisconsin
- J. Allen Barber, 1856-1858, U.S. Congressman (1871-1875), 15th Speaker of the Wisconsin State Assembly
- George Cochrane Hazelton, 1868-1872, U.S. Congressman (1877-1883), 1st Attorney General for the District of Columbia
- John J. Blaine, 1909-1913, 24th Governor of Wisconsin, United States Senator (1927-1933)
- Gaylord Nelson, 1949-1958, 35th Governor of Wisconsin, United States Senator (1963-1981)
- Charles Chvala, 1985-2005, Majority Leader (1999-2002)
- Mark F. Miller, 2005-2021, Majority Leader (2012-2013)
Senator | Party | Notes | Session | Years | District Definition |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
District created | 1848 | ||||
C. Latham Sholes[8] | Dem. | 1st | |||
Free Soil | 2nd | 1849 | |||
Elijah Steele[8] | Dem. | Resigned. | 3rd | 1850 | |
Orson S. Head[8] | Whig | Won 1851 special election. | 4th | 1851 | |
John Sharpstein[8] | Dem. | Redistricted to 8th district | 5th | 1852 | |
Joel C. Squires[8] | Dem. | Resigned. | 6th | 1853 | Grant County |
James W. Seaton[8] | Dem. | Won 1853 special election | |||
Nelson Dewey[8] | Dem. | 7th | 1854 | ||
8th | 1855 | ||||
J. Allen Barber[8] | Rep. | 9th | 1856 | ||
10th | 1857 | ||||
Noah Virgin[8] | Rep. | 11th | 1858 | ||
12th | 1859 | ||||
13th | 1860 | ||||
14th | 1861 | ||||
Milas K. Young[8] | Rep. | 15th | 1862 | ||
16th | 1863 | ||||
Natl. Union | 17th | 1864 | |||
18th | 1865 | ||||
John H. Rountree[8] | Natl. Union | 19th | 1866 | ||
20th | 1867 | ||||
George C. Hazelton[8] | Rep. | 21st | 1868 | ||
22nd | 1869 | ||||
23rd | 1870 | ||||
24th | 1871 | ||||
John C. Holloway[8] | Rep. | 25th | 1872 | ||
26th | 1873 | ||||
27th | 1874 | ||||
28th | 1875 | ||||
Oscar C. Hathaway[8] | Rep. | 29th | 1876 | ||
30th | 1877 | ||||
31st | 1878 | ||||
32nd | 1879 | ||||
George W. Ryland[8] | Rep. | 33rd | 1880 | ||
34th | 1881 | ||||
35th | 1882 | ||||
36th | 1883–1884 | ||||
Edward I. Kidd | Rep. | 37th | 1885–1886 | ||
38th | 1887–1888 | ||||
39th | 1889–1890 | ||||
40th | 1891–1892 | ||||
Charles H. Baxter | Rep. | 41st | 1893–1894 | Crawford and Richland counties, and Northern Grant County
| |
42nd | 1895–1896 | ||||
43rd | 1897–1898 | Grant and Iowa counties | |||
44th | 1899–1900 | ||||
Edward E. Burns | Rep. | 45th | 1901–1902 | ||
46th | 1903–1904 | Crawford and Grant counties | |||
47th | 1905–1906 | ||||
48th | 1907–1908 | ||||
John J. Blaine | Rep. | 49th | 1909–1910 | ||
50th | 1911–1912 | ||||
Robert Glenn | Rep. | Elected 1912. Died 1915. |
51st | 1913–1914 | Crawford, Grant, and Richland counties |
52nd | 1915–1916 | ||||
--Vacant-- | |||||
Henry Edgar Roethe | Rep. | 53rd | 1917–1918 | ||
54th | 1919–1920 | ||||
55th | 1921–1922 | ||||
56th | 1923–1924 | Crawford, Grant, and Vernon counties | |||
Edward J. Roethe | Rep. | 57th | 1925–1926 | ||
58th | 1927–1928 | ||||
59th | 1929–1930 | ||||
60th | 1931–1932 | ||||
William D. Carroll | Dem. | 61st | 1933–1934 | ||
62nd | 1935–1936 | ||||
Edward J. Roethe | Rep. | 63rd | 1937–1938 | ||
64th | 1939–1940 | ||||
Helmar Lewis | Rep. | 65th | 1941–1942 | ||
66th | 1943–1944 | ||||
Foster B. Porter | Rep. | 67th | 1945–1946 | ||
68th | 1947–1948 | ||||
69th | 1949–1950 | ||||
70th | 1951–1952 | ||||
71st | 1953–1954 | ||||
72nd | 1955–1956 | ||||
Gaylord Nelson | Dem. | Redistricted from 26th district. | 73rd | 1957–1958 | Most of Dane County |
Carl W. Thompson | Dem. | 74th | 1959–1960 | ||
75th | 1961–1962 | ||||
76th | 1963–1964 | ||||
77th | 1965–1966 | ||||
78th | 1967–1968 | ||||
79th | 1969–1970 | ||||
80th | 1971–1972 | ||||
81st | 1973–1974 | and Northern Rock County
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82nd | 1975–1976 | ||||
83rd | 1977–1978 | ||||
84th | 1979–1980 | ||||
85th | 1981–1982 | ||||
86th | 1983–1984 | Part of Rock County
Northern Green County
| |||
Charles Chvala | Dem. | 87th | 1985–1986 | Eastern Dane County Part of Jefferson County
Northwest Rock County Most of Green County
| |
88th | 1987–1988 | ||||
89th | 1989–1990 | ||||
90th | 1991–1992 | ||||
91st | 1993–1994 | Part of Dane County Southern Columbia County Part of Rock County | |||
92nd | 1995–1996 | ||||
93rd | 1997–1998 | ||||
94th | 1999–2000 | ||||
95th | 2001–2002 | ||||
96th | 2003–2004 | Part of Dane County Southern Columbia County Part of Sauk County | |||
Mark F. Miller | Dem. | 97th | 2005–2006 | ||
98th | 2007–2008 | ||||
99th | 2009–2010 | ||||
100th | 2011–2012 | ||||
101st | 2013–2014 | Central Dane County
| |||
102nd | 2015–2016 | ||||
103rd | 2017–2018 | ||||
104th | 2019–2020 | ||||
Melissa Agard | Dem. | 105th | 2021–2022 | ||
106th | 2023–2024 |
The boundaries of districts have changed repeatedly over history. Previous politicians of a specific numbered district have represented a completely different geographic area, due to redistricting. In the original constitution of the State of Wisconsin, it is stated that "The towns of Southport, Pike, Pleasant Prairie, Paris, Bristol, Brighton, Salem and Wheatland, in the county of Racine, shall constitute the sixteenth senate district."[9] (At that time, Racine County included what in 1850 would become Kenosha County; and the city later known as Kenosha was still called "Southport".)
References
- "LTSB Open Data: Wisconsin Senate Districts (2022)". Wisconsin Legislative Technology Services Bureau. Retrieved November 19, 2022.
- "Senate District 16". Wisconsin Legislature. Retrieved March 10, 2021.
- "Wisconsin Legislative Districts - Senate District 16 Boundaries". Wisconsin Legislature. Retrieved March 10, 2021.
- "Senator Melissa Agard". Wisconsin Legislature. Retrieved March 10, 2021.
- Wisconsin Blue Book, 2011-12 edition, page 50. ISBN 978-0-9752820-1-4.
- "State of Wisconsin Congressional Districts" (PDF). Wisconsin Legislature. Retrieved March 8, 2021.
- Wisconsin Blue Book, 1991-92 edition, Statistics: History, pages 657-666.
- Heg, J. E., ed. (1882). "Annals of the Legislature" (PDF). The Blue Book of the state of Wisconsin (Report). State of Wisconsin. Retrieved January 10, 2021.
- Manual for the Use of the Assembly, of the State of Wisconsin, for the year 1853. Prepared Pursuant to a Resolution of the Assembly. Madison: Brown & Carpenter, Printers; 1853