The 28th Senate district of Wisconsin is one of 33 districts in the Wisconsin Senate.[1] Located in southeast Wisconsin, the district comprises southeast Waukesha County and northwest Racine County. It includes the cities of Muskego, New Berlin, and most of the city of Waukesha, along with the villages of Big Bend, Mukwonago, and Waterford.[2]

Quick Facts Wisconsin's 28th State Senate district, Senator ...
Wisconsin's 28th
State Senate district

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2024 map defined in 2023 Wisc. Act 94
2022 map defined in Johnson v. Wisconsin Elections Commission
2011 map was defined in 2011 Wisc. Act 43
composed of Assembly districts 82, 83, and 84
Senator
  Julian Bradley
RFranklin
since January 4, 2021 (3 years)
Demographics87.41% White
1.8% Black
6.06% Hispanic
2.74% Asian
1.39% Native American
0.1% Hawaiian/Pacific Islander
Population (2020)
  Voting age
177,766
139,889
WebsiteOfficial website
NotesMilwaukee metro-area (southwest)
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Current elected officials

Julian Bradley is the senator representing the 28th district. He was first elected in the 2020 general election.[3]

Each Wisconsin State Senate district is composed of three Wisconsin State Assembly districts. The 28th Senate district comprises the 82nd, 83rd, and 84th Assembly districts. The current representatives of those districts are:

The district is located mostly within Wisconsin's 5th congressional district, which is represented by U.S. Representative Scott Fitzgerald. The portion of the district in Racine County is located in Wisconsin's 1st congressional district, represented by Bryan Steil.[4]

History

The boundaries of districts have changed over history. Previous politicians of a specific numbered district often represented a different geographic area, due to redistricting.

The 28th District was created in 1856, when the Senate was expanded from 25 to 30 members. At that time, it consisted of Burnett, Chippewa, Clark, Dallas (later renamed Barron), Douglas, Dunn County, La Pointe (later renamed Bayfield), Pepin, Pierce, Polk, and St. Croix Counties.

The first Senator from the 28th was William Wilson of Menomonie, who served in the 1857 session (the tenth session of the Wisconsin Legislature). As of the redistricting of 1861, the 28th now consisted of Ashland, Burnett, Dallas (later renamed Barron), Douglas, La Pointe (later renamed Bayfield), Pierce, Polk, and St. Croix counties (it was not changed in the redistricting of 1866).

The district was entirely changed for the 1871 election, being changed into one consisting of Crawford and Richland counties. In 1876, the district was changed again: it dropped Crawford County, and would instead consist of Iowa and Richland counties for many years.

An 1892 special session of the legislature declared that, The counties of Iowa and Lafayette and the towns of Cassvilla, Clifton, Ellenborough, Harrison, Hazel Green, Jamestown, Liberty, Lima, Paris, Platteville, Potosi, Smelser, Waterloo and Glen Haven in the county of Grant were now the 28th District.

The Legislature redistricted once again, and the 28th would consist of Crawford County, Wisconsin, Richland and Vernon counties for two terms. In the 1901 session of the legislature, another redistricting removed Crawford County from the district. The 1911 redistricting completely changed the district boundaries, moving it to Chippewa and Eau Claire countiesthese boundaries would remain consistent for the next fifty years.

In May 1964, the Wisconsin Supreme Court ordered a complete redistricting and re-numbering of all Wisconsin Senate districts. As a result, the 28th, which had historically been a northern and western Wisconsin district, was now a district consisting of portions of Milwaukee County (villages of Greendale and Hales Corners; and the cities of Franklin and Greenfield); Racine County (towns of Burlington, Caledonia, Dover, Norway, Raymond, Rochester, Waterford and Yorkville; the villages of Rochester, Union Grove and Waterford; and the city of Burlington); and Waukesha County (towns of Eagle, Mukwonago, Muskego, Ottawa, Summit and Vernon; the villages of Big Bend, Dousman, Eagle, Mukwongo and Oconomowoc Lake; and the city of New Berlin). Since 1964, the district has remained in the same general vicinity, at the meeting point between southwest Milwaukee County, southeast Waukesha County, northwest Racine County, and northeast Walworth County, with slight variations in boundaries between those four counties.

Past senators

Previous senators include:[5]

More information Senator, Party ...
Senator Party Notes Session Years District Definition
District created by 1856 Wisc. Act 109. 1856 Burnett, Chippewa, Clark, Douglas, Dunn, La Pointe, Pepin, Pierce, Polk, and St. Croix counties
William Wilson Rep. 10th 1857
Daniel Mears Dem. 11th 1858
12th 1859
Charles B. Cox Rep. 13th 1860
14th 1861
Herman L. Humphrey Rep. 15th 1862 Ashland, Burnett, Dallas, Douglas, La Pointe, Pierce, Polk, and St. Croix counties
16th 1863
Austin H. Young Natl. Union 17th 1864
18th 1865
Marcus Fulton Natl. Union 19th 1866
20th 1867 Ashland, Bayfield, Burnett, Dallas, Douglas, Pierce, Polk, and St. Croix counties
William J. Copp Rep. 21st 1868
22nd 1869
Edward H. Ives Dem. 23rd 1870
24th 1871
Henry L. Eaton Rep. 25th 1872 Crawford and Richland counties
26th 1873
George Krouskop Dem. 27th 1874
28th 1875
Daniel Downs Rep. 29th 1876
30th 1877 Iowa and Richland counties
1880 population: 41,802
1885 population: 48,175
Archibald Campbell Rep. 31st 1878
32nd 1879
Joseph McGrew Rep. 33rd 1880
34th 1881
William C. Meffert Rep. 35th 1882
36th 1883–1884
Norman L. James Rep. 37th 1885–1886
38th 1887–1888
Robert Joiner Rep. 39th 1889–1890
40th 1891–1892
Calvert Spensley Rep. 41st 1893–1894 Iowa and Richland counties and
Southern Grant County
42nd 1895–1896
Oliver Munson Rep. 43rd 1897–1898 Crawford, Richland, and Vernon counties
1895 population: 63,857
44th 1899–1900
45th 1901–1902
46th 1903–1904 Richland and Vernon counties
1900 population: 47,834
47th 1905–1906
48th 1907–1908
David G. James Rep. 49th 1909–1910
50th 1911–1912
Edward Ackley Rep. 51st 1913–1914 Chippewa and Eau Claire counties
1910 population: 64,824
52nd 1915–1916
Roy P. Wilcox Rep. 53rd 1917–1918
54th 1919–1920
Herman Lange Rep. 55th 1921–1922
56th 1923–1924
57th 1925–1926
58th 1927–1928
Peter J. Smith Rep. 59th 1929–1930
60th 1931–1932
G. Erle Ingram Rep. 61st 1933–1934
Prog. 62nd 1935–1936
63rd 1937–1938
64th 1939–1940
George H. Hipke Rep. 65th 1941–1942
66th 1943–1944
67th 1945–1946
68th 1947–1948
Arthur L. Padrutt Rep. 69th 1949–1950
70th 1951–1952
71st 1953–1954
72nd 1955–1956
Davis A. Donnelly Dem. 73rd 1957–1958
74th 1959–1960
75th 1961–1962
76th 1963–1964
Taylor Benson Dem. 77th 1965–1966 Most of Racine County
Southwest Milwaukee County
Southeast Waukesha County
78th 1967–1968
James Devitt Rep. 79th 1969–1970
80th 1971–1972
81st 1973–1974 Most of Waukesha County
Part of Jefferson County
Part of Milwaukee County
82nd 1975–1976
Lynn Adelman Dem. Resigned Dec. 1997 after appointed U.S. District Judge, E.D. Wis. 83rd 1977–1978
84th 1979–1980
85th 1981–1982
86th 1983–1984 Southwest Milwaukee County
Northwest Racine County
Southeast Waukesha County
Part of Walworth County
87th 1985–1986 Southwest Milwaukee County
Northwest Racine County
Southeast Waukesha County
Part of Walworth County
88th 1987–1988
89th 1989–1990
90th 1991–1992
91st 1993–1994 Southwest Milwaukee County
Northwest Racine County
Southeast Waukesha County
Part of Walworth County
92nd 1995–1996
93rd 1997–1998
—Vacant--
Mary Lazich Rep.
94th 1999–2000
95th 2001–2002
96th 2003–2004 Southwest Milwaukee County
Southeast Waukesha County
Part of Racine County
Part of Walworth County
97th 2005–2006
98th 2007–2008
99th 2009–2010
100th 2011–2012
101st 2013–2014
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Southwest Milwaukee County
Southeast Waukesha County
Part of Racine County
Part of Walworth County
102nd 2015–2016
Dave Craig Rep. 103rd 2017–2018
104th 2019–2020
105th 2021–2022
106th 20232024
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Southwest Milwaukee County,
southern Waukesha County,
northwest Racine County,
northeast Walworth County
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References

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