Wisconsin's 27th Senate district
The 27th Senate District of Wisconsin is one of 33 districts in the Wisconsin State Senate.[2] Located in south-central Wisconsin, the district comprises most of western Dane County, northern Green County, eastern Iowa County, eastern Sauk County, and parts of western Columbia County. It includes the cities of Baraboo, Middleton, Portage, and Verona, and the southern half of the city of Fitchburg. The district also contains landmarks such as Blue Mound State Park, Devil's Lake State Park, and Mirror Lake State Park.[3]
| Wisconsin's 27th State Senate district | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | |||||
  2022 map defined in Johnson v. Wisconsin Elections Commission 2011 map was defined in 2011 Wisc. Act 43 composed of Assembly districts 79, 80, and 81 | |||||
| Senator |
| ||||
| Demographics | 85.8% White 2.7% Black 4.6% Hispanic 4.4% Asian 1.1% Native American 0.1% Hawaiian/Pacific Islander 1.2% Other | ||||
| Population (2020) • Voting age | 178,960[1] 138,147 | ||||
| Notes | South-central Wisconsin | ||||
Current elected officials
Dianne Hesselbein is the senator representing the 27th district since January 2023. She previously served ten years in the Wisconsin State Assembly, representing the 79th district.[4]
Each Wisconsin State Senate district is composed of three Wisconsin State Assembly districts. The 27th Senate district comprises the 79th, 80th, and 81st Assembly districts. The current representatives of those districts are:
- Assembly District 79: Alex Joers (D–Middleton)
- Assembly District 80: Mike Bare (D–Verona)
- Assembly District 81: Dave Considine (D–Baraboo)[5]
The district is located almost entirely Wisconsin's 2nd congressional district, which is represented by U.S. Representative Mark Pocan. The area of the district in Columbia County, however, falls within Wisconsin's 6th congressional district, which is represented by U.S. Representative Glenn Grothman.[6]
Downtown Baraboo.
Blue Mounds viewed from Blue Mound State Park.
New Glarus Village Hall.
Downtown Prairie du Sac.
Past senators
The district has previously been represented by:[7]
Note: 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.
| Senator | Party | Notes | Session | Years | District Definition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| District created by 1856 Wisc. Act 109. | 1856 | Marathon, Portage, Waupaca, Waushara, and Wood counties | |||
| Luther Hanchett | Rep. | 10th | 1857 | ||
| 11th | 1858 | ||||
| 12th | 1859 | ||||
| 13th | 1860 | ||||
| Edward L. Browne | Rep. | 14th | 1861 | ||
| 15th | 1862 | Marathon, Portage, Waupaca, and Wood counties | |||
| Alexander S. McDill | Rep. | 16th | 1863 | ||
| Natl. Union | 17th | 1864 | |||
| Milan H. Sessions | Natl. Union | 18th | 1865 | ||
| 19th | 1866 | ||||
| Edward L. Browne | Natl. Union | 20th | 1867 | ||
| 21st | 1868 | ||||
| Charles M. Webb | Rep. | 22nd | 1869 | ||
| 23rd | 1870 | ||||
| Myron Reed | Dem. | Redistricted to 21st district. | 24th | 1871 | |
| William M. Griswold | Rep. | Redistricted from 25th district. | 25th | 1872 | Columbia County |
| Evan O. Jones | Rep. | 26th | 1873 | ||
| 27th | 1874 | ||||
| Levi W. Barden | Rep. | 28th | 1875 | ||
| 29th | 1876 | ||||
| 30th | 1877 | Adams and Columbia counties | |||
| 31st | 1878 | ||||
| Charles L. Dering | Rep. | 32nd | 1879 | ||
| 33rd | 1880 | ||||
| Gilbert E. McKeeby | Rep. | 34th | 1881 | ||
| 35th | 1882 | Adams, Columbia, and Marquette counties 1880 population: 43,713 1885 population: 46,263 | |||
| William T. Parry | Rep. | 36th | 1883–1884 | ||
| 37th | 1885–1886 | ||||
| Levi E. Pond | Rep. | 38th | 1887–1888 | ||
| 39th | 1889–1890 | ||||
| Russell C. Falconer | Dem. | 40th | 1891–1892 | ||
| 41st | 1893–1894 | Sauk County and Western Columbia County 1890 population: 44,629 | |||
| William F. Conger | Rep. | 42nd | 1895–1896 | ||
| 43rd | 1897–1898 | Columbia and Sauk counties 1895 population: 63,787 1900 population: 64,127 1910 population: 63,998 | |||
| William G. Bissell | Rep. | 44th | 1899–1900 | ||
| 45th | 1901–1902 | ||||
| George Wylie | Rep. | 46th | 1903–1904 | ||
| 47th | 1905–1906 | ||||
| Charles L. Pearson | Dem. | 48th | 1907–1908 | ||
| 49th | 1909–1910 | ||||
| John M. True | Rep. | 50th | 1911–1912 | ||
| 51st | 1913–1914 | ||||
| George Staudenmayer | Dem. | 52nd | 1915–1916 | ||
| 53rd | 1917–1918 | ||||
| Rep. | 54th | 1919–1920 | |||
| 55th | 1921–1922 | ||||
| 56th | 1923–1924 | Columbia, Richland, and Sauk counties | |||
| 57th | 1925–1926 | ||||
| Robert Caldwell | Rep. | 58th | 1927–1928 | ||
| 59th | 1929–1930 | ||||
| Fred W. Zantow | Rep. | 60th | 1931–1932 | ||
| 61st | 1933–1934 | ||||
| E. Myrwyn Rowlands | Prog. | 62nd | 1935–1936 | ||
| 63rd | 1937–1938 | ||||
| Jess Miller | Rep. | Died Dec. 1965. | 64th | 1939–1940 | |
| 65th | 1941–1942 | ||||
| 66th | 1943–1944 | ||||
| 67th | 1945–1946 | ||||
| 68th | 1947–1948 | ||||
| 69th | 1949–1950 | ||||
| 70th | 1951–1952 | ||||
| 71st | 1953–1954 | ||||
| 72nd | 1955–1956 | Columbia, Crawford, Richland, and Sauk counties | |||
| 73rd | 1957–1958 | ||||
| 74th | 1959–1960 | ||||
| 75th | 1961–1962 | ||||
| 76th | 1963–1964 | ||||
| 77th | 1965–1966 | Adams, Columbia, Juneau, Marquette, and Sauk counties | |||
| --Vacant-- | |||||
| Walter Terry | Rep. | 78th | 1967–1968 | ||
| 79th | 1969–1970 | ||||
| Everett Bidwell | Rep. | 80th | 1971–1972 | ||
| 81st | 1973–1974 | Columbia, Marquette, and Sauk counties and Southern Adams County Western Dodge County Southern Juneau County Part of Jefferson County | |||
| 82nd | 1975–1976 | ||||
| 83rd | 1977–1978 | ||||
| 84th | 1979–1980 | ||||
| 85th | 1981–1982 | ||||
| Russ Feingold | Dem. | Resigned 1992 after elected to United States Senate. | 86th | 1983–1984 | Columbia County and Most of Sauk County Most of Richland County Northwest Dane County Western Dodge County |
| 87th | 1985–1986 | Columbia County and Western Dane County Part of Dodge County Part of Green County Part of Rock County Part of Sauk County | |||
| 88th | 1987–1988 | ||||
| 89th | 1989–1990 | ||||
| 90th | 1991–1992 | ||||
| --Vacant-- | 91st | 1993–1994 | Green County and Western Dane County Western Rock County | ||
| Joe Wineke | Dem. | Won 1993 special election. | |||
| 92nd | 1995–1996 | ||||
| 93rd | 1997–1998 | ||||
| Jon Erpenbach | Dem. | 94th | 1999–2000 | ||
| 95th | 2001–2002 | ||||
| 96th | 2003–2004 | Green County and Western Dane County Part of Lafayette County Part of Rock County | |||
| 97th | 2005–2006 | ||||
| 98th | 2007–2008 | ||||
| 99th | 2009–2010 | ||||
| 100th | 2011–2012 | ||||
| 101st | 2013–2014 | Most of Sauk County Eastern Iowa County Part of Columbia County Part of Green County | |||
| 102nd | 2015–2016 | ||||
| 103rd | 2017–2018 | ||||
| 104th | 2019–2020 | ||||
| 105th | 2021–2022 | ||||
| Dianne Hesselbein | Dem. | Elected 2022. | 106th | 2023–2024 | eastern Sauk County eastern Iowa County parts of Columbia County northwest Green County |
Notes
- "LTSB Open Data: Wisconsin Senate Districts (2022)". Wisconsin Legislative Technology Services Bureau. Retrieved November 19, 2022.
- "Senate District 27". Wisconsin Legislature. Retrieved March 24, 2021.
- "Wisconsin Legislative Districts - Senate District 27 Boundaries". Wisconsin Legislature. Retrieved March 24, 2021.
- "Senator Dianne H. Hesselbein". Wisconsin Legislature. Retrieved January 3, 2023.
- "Representative Dave Considine". Wisconsin Legislature. Retrieved March 24, 2021.
- "State of Wisconsin Congressional Districts" (PDF). Wisconsin Legislature. Retrieved March 10, 2021.
- Wisconsin Blue Book, 1991-92 edition, Statistics: History, pages 657-666.