Wisconsin's 47th Assembly district

The 47th Assembly District of Wisconsin is one of 99 districts in the Wisconsin State Assembly.[2] Located in south-central Wisconsin, the district comprises several non-contiguous municipalities in south-central Dane County, including the city of Monona, the village of McFarland, and the northern half of the city of Fitchburg. It also contains the Capital Springs State Recreation Area, the Pflaum-McWilliams Mound Group, and the Alliant Energy Center.[3] The seat is represented by Democrat Jimmy P. Anderson since January 2017.[4] District 47 is often used as one of the more extreme examples of Gerrymandering in the Wisconsin Legislature with the boundaries being compared to "swiss cheese".[5]

Neighborhood in Fitchburg.
Exhibition Hall at the Alliant Energy Center
Fitchburg farm

Wisconsin's 47th
State Assembly district
2022 map defined in Johnson v. Wisconsin Elections Commission
2011 map was defined in 2011 Wisc. Act 43
Assemblymember
  Jimmy P. Anderson
D–Fitchburg
since January 2, 2017 (6 years)
Demographics69.2% White
9.4% Black
13.6% Hispanic
5.2% Asian
1.0% Native American
0.1% Hawaiian/Pacific Islander
1.1% Other
Population (2020)
 • Voting age		59,591[1]
46,489
NotesMadison metro area (southeast)

The 47th Assembly district is located within Wisconsin's 16th Senate district, along with the 46th and 48th Assembly districts.[6]

History

The district was created in the 1972 redistricting act (1971 Wisc. Act 304) which first established the numbered district system, replacing the previous system which allocated districts to specific counties.[7] The 47th district was drawn with novel boundaries, taking part of the former Dane County 5th district and part of the Rock County 2nd district. The last representative of the Rock County 2nd district, Janet Soergel Mielke, won the 1972 election to become the 1st representative of the 47th Assembly district.[8]

The boundaries of the 47th district have changed significantly in almost every one of the redistrictings since 1982. The court-ordered 1982 redistricting placed the district in northern Wisconsin.[9] The 1983 legislative redistricting, which superseded the court-ordered plan, brought the district back to southern Wisconsin, covering most of Green County, sprawling through western and northern Rock County into southwest Jefferson County.[10] The 1992 and 2002 maps had the district based in Columbia County and parts of northern Dane County.[11][12] The 2011 plan moved the district into central Dane County.

In its current boundaries, the 47th district is one of several districts which violates the Wisconsin Constitution's requirement for districts to "consist of contiguous territory."[13] The district has several isolated territorial islands, due to the inclusion of the now defunct town of Madison and Blooming Grove which also as of 2023 has been mostly annexed into the city, but not the wards of city of Madison which would be needed to connect the various pieces of the former towns.

List of past representatives
List of representatives to the Wisconsin State Assembly from the 47th district
Member Party Residence Counties represented Term start Term end Ref.
District created
Janet Soergel Mielke Dem. Milton Dane, Rock January 1, 1973 January 6, 1975 [8][14]: 160 
Lyman F. Anderson Rep. Oregon January 6, 1975 January 3, 1977 [14]: 120 
Jonathan B. Barry Dem. Mount Horeb January 3, 1977 January 3, 1983 [14]: 122 
Robert J. Larson Rep. Medford Barron, Price, Rusk, Taylor January 3, 1983 January 7, 1985 [9][14]: 154 
John T. Manske Rep. Milton Green, Jefferson, Rock January 7, 1985 January 5, 1987 [10][14]: 157 
David G. Deininger Rep. Monroe January 5, 1987 January 4, 1993 [14]: 133 
Eugene Hahn Rep. Cambria Columbia, Dane January 4, 1993 January 5, 2009 [11][14]: 143 
Columbia, Dane, Sauk
Keith Ripp Rep. Lodi January 5, 2009 January 7, 2013 [12]
Robb Kahl Dem. Monona Dane January 7, 2013 January 2, 2017 [15]
Jimmy P. Anderson Dem. Fitchburg January 2, 2017 Current [4]

References
  1. "LTSB Open Data: Wisconsin Assembly Districts (2022)". Wisconsin Legislative Technology Services Bureau. Retrieved November 20, 2022.
  2. "Assembly District 47". Wisconsin Legislature. Retrieved February 2, 2021.
  3. "Wisconsin Legislative Districts - Assembly District 47 Boundaries". Wisconsin Legislature. Retrieved February 2, 2021.
  4. "Representative Jimmy Anderson". Wisconsin Legislature. Retrieved February 2, 2021.
  5. https://apnews.com/article/wisconsin-contiguous-legislative-districts-lawsuit-b980d967c4e4375679d91278ff038c35
  6. "An Act ... relating to: legislative redistricting". Act No. 43 of 2011. Wisconsin Legislature. Retrieved February 2, 2021.
  7. Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau (1973). "Legislature" (PDF). In Theobald, H. Rupert; Robbins, Patricia V. (eds.). The state of Wisconsin 1973 Blue Book (Report). Madison, Wisconsin: State of Wisconsin. pp. 227–230. Retrieved February 24, 2021.
  8. Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau (1973). "Biographies" (PDF). In Theobald, H. Rupert; Robbins, Patricia V. (eds.). The state of Wisconsin 1973 Blue Book (Report). State of Wisconsin. pp. 52–53. Retrieved February 24, 2021.
  9. Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau (1983). "Biographies" (PDF). In Theobald, H. Rupert; Robbins, Patricia V. (eds.). The state of Wisconsin 1983-1984 Blue Book (Report). State of Wisconsin. pp. 78–79. Retrieved February 24, 2021.
  10. Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau (1985). "Biographies" (PDF). In Theobald, H. Rupert; Robbins, Patricia V. (eds.). The state of Wisconsin 1985-1986 Blue Book (Report). State of Wisconsin. pp. 52–53. Retrieved February 24, 2021.
  11. Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau (2001). "Biographies" (PDF). In Barish, Lawrence S.; Meloy, Patricia E. (eds.). State of Wisconsin 2001-2002 Blue Book (Report). State of Wisconsin. pp. 52–53. Retrieved February 24, 2021.
  12. Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau (2011). "Biographies" (PDF). In Barish, Lawrence S.; Lemanski, Lynn (eds.). State of Wisconsin 2011-2012 Blue Book (Report). State of Wisconsin. pp. 50–51. ISBN 978-0-9752820-1-4. Retrieved February 24, 2021.
  13. "Article IV, Section 4, Wisconsin Constitution". Wisconsin Legislature. Retrieved February 24, 2021.
  14. Barish, Lawrence S.; Lemanski, Lynn, eds. (2007). "Feature Article: Those Who Served: Wisconsin Legislators 1848 – 2007" (PDF). State of Wisconsin 2007-2008 Blue Book (Report). State of Wisconsin. pp. 120, 122, 133, 143, 154, 157, 160. ISBN 978-0-9752820-2-1. Retrieved February 24, 2021.
  15. "Representative Robb Kahl". Wisconsin Legislature. Retrieved February 2, 2021.
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