Wisconsin's 30th Assembly district

The 30th Assembly district of Wisconsin is one of 99 districts in the Wisconsin State Assembly.^[1] Located in western Wisconsin, the district comprises parts of southwest St. Croix County and northwest Pierce County. It includes the cities of Hudson and River Falls, as well as the village of North Hudson. It also contains the University of Wisconsin–River Falls campus, Willow River State Park, and Kinnickinnic State Park.^[2] The district is represented by Republican Shannon Zimmerman, since January 2017.^[3]

Wisconsin's 30th State Assembly district
From 2024 to 2031 From 2022 to 2031 From 2012 to 2021 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
Assemblymember	Shannon Zimmerman R–River Falls since January 3, 2017 (7 years)
Demographics	91.47% White 1.58% Black 2.69% Hispanic 1.71% Asian 1.74% Native American 0.14% Hawaiian/Pacific Islander
Population (2020)  • Voting age	59,314 46,155
Website	Official website
Notes	Northwest Wisconsin

The 30th Assembly district is located within Wisconsin's 10th Senate district, along with the 28th and 29th Assembly districts.^[4]

The 30th Assembly district is contained within the Wisconsin portion of the Minneapolis-Saint Paul Metropolitan Area.

• 
  Willow Falls in Willow River State Park
• 
  South Hall, on the University of Wisconsin–River Falls campus
• 
  John S. Moffat House in Hudson
• 
  Downtown Hudson

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.^[5] The 30th district was drawn mostly in line with the boundaries of the previous Buffalo County–Pepin County–Pierce County district, exchanging part of northeast Pierce County for part of western Trempealeau County. The last representative of the Buffalo–Pepin–Pierce district, Michael P. Early, was elected in 1972 as the first representative of the 30th Assembly district.^[6]

The 1982 court-ordered redistricting briefly moved the 30th district to eastern Waukesha County. The 1983 redistricting act moved it back to western Wisconsin, but in a much smaller geographic space than 1972, comprising just Pierce County and part of southwest St. Croix County, including the cities of Hudson and River Falls. As population grew in the two cities, the 1992 court-ordered plan removed more rural parts of northeast Pierce County and central St. Croix County, but maintained the core population of the district. The 2002 redistricting continued that trend, with the district comprising just the western third of Pierce County and a strip of southwest St. Croix County. The 2011 redistricting act (2011 Wisc. Act 43) also continued with Hudson and River Falls as the core of the district, but removed most of the rest of Pierce County and shifted the district north to contain more of St. Croix County. The 2022 court-ordered redistricting severed the Hudson and River Falls connection, removing nearly all of River Falls from the district and expanding it to include much more of rural St. Croix County.

The 2024 redistricting (2023 Wisc. Act 94) restored the old Hudson and River Falls core of the district, moving it back into northwest Pierce County and southwest St. Croix County. Under the new map configuration, the 30th Assembly district is projected to be one of the most competitive districts in the state legislature.

List of past representatives

List of representatives to the Wisconsin State Assembly from the 30th district

Member	Party	Residence	Counties represented	Term start	Term end	Ref.
District created
Michael P. Early	Dem.	River Falls	Buffalo, Pepin, Pierce, Trempealeau	January 1, 1973	August 15, 1977	[6][7]: 135
--Vacant--				August 15, 1977	November 7, 1977
James Harsdorf	Rep.	River Falls		November 7, 1977	January 5, 1981
Jule Berndt	Rep.			January 5, 1981	January 3, 1983
John C. Schober	Rep.	New Berlin	Waukesha	January 3, 1983	January 7, 1985
William Berndt	Rep.	River Falls	Pierce, St. Croix	January 7, 1985	January 2, 1989
Sheila Harsdorf	Rep.			January 2, 1989	January 4, 1999
Kitty Rhoades	Rep.	Hudson		January 4, 1999	January 3, 2011
Dean Knudson	Rep.			January 3, 2011	January 3, 2017	[8]
Shannon Zimmerman	Rep.	River Falls		January 3, 2017	Current	[3]

Electoral history

Year	Date	Elected				Defeated				Total	Plurality	Other primary candidates
1972[9]	Nov. 7	Michael P. Early	Democratic	10,443	57.88%	Robert M. Stoughton	Rep.	7,475	41.43%	18,043	2,968
						Donald Kohr	Amer.	125	0.69%
1974[10]	Nov. 5	Michael P. Early (inc)	Democratic	8,515	58.68%	William S. Hall	Rep.	5,829	40.17%	14,511	2,686
						Merlon Lingenfelter	Amer.	167	1.15%
1976[11]	Nov. 2	Michael P. Early (inc.)	Democratic	14,657	71.56%	Myrtle J. Wright	Rep.	5,824	28.44%	20,481	8,833
1977[12]	Oct. 25	James Harsdorf	Republican	3,920	51.07%	Rodney J. Nilsestuen	Dem.	3,755	48.93%	7,675	165	George C. Banta (Rep.) Robert I. Johnson (Rep.) Michael J. Manion (Rep.) Richard Truax (Rep.)
1978[12]	Nov. 7	James Harsdorf (inc)	Republican	8,033	57.80%	William O. Early	Dem.	5,866	42.20%	13,899	2,167
1980[13]	Nov. 4	Jule Berndt	Republican	10,911	52.31%	Earl Gilson	Dem.	9,947	47.69%	20,858	964	Louellyn Nestingen (Dem.)
1982[14]	Nov. 2	John C. Schober	Republican	10,078	67.60%	Victor S. Preuss	Dem.	4,830	32.40%	14,908	5,248	A. Vernon Jensen (Dem.)
1984[15]	Nov. 6	William Berndt	Republican	11,512	51.25%	Earl Gilson	Dem.	10,949	48.75%	22,461	563
1986[16]	Nov. 4	William Berndt (inc)	Republican	7,091	53.52%	Margaret Baldwin	Dem.	6,159	46.48%	13,250	932	Earl Gilson (Dem.)
1988[17]	Nov. 8	Sheila Harsdorf	Republican	13,480	56.04%	Brenda L. Kittilson	Dem.	10,575	43.96%	24,055	2,905	Earl Gilson (Dem.) Tobi R. Miller (Rep.)
1990[18]	Nov. 6	Sheila Harsdorf (inc)	Republican	9,626	67.11%	David Balin	Dem.	4,717	32.89%	14,343	4,909
1992[19]	Nov. 3	Sheila Harsdorf (inc)	Republican	17,950	92.58%	M. Felderman-Baldwin	Ind.	1,438	7.42%	19,388	16,512
1994[20]	Nov. 8	Sheila Harsdorf (inc)	Republican	10,413	68.31%	Jill Ann Berke	Dem.	4,830	31.69%	15,243	5,583
1996[21]	Nov. 5	Sheila Harsdorf (inc)	Republican	13,604	57.98%	James R. Johnson	Dem.	9,861	42.02%	23,465	3,743
1998[22]	Nov. 3	Kitty Rhoades	Republican	9,755	57.29%	James R. Johnson	Dem.	7,272	42.71%	17,027	2,483	Jay Griggs (Rep.)
2000[23]	Nov. 7	Kitty Rhoades (inc)	Republican	17,303	62.76%	Laurie J. Lundgaard	Dem.	10,247	37.17%	27,568	7,056
2002[24]	Nov. 5	Kitty Rhoades (inc)	Republican	12,563	69.01%	Bob Feickert	Dem.	5,635	30.95%	18,205	6,928
2004[25]	Nov. 2	Kitty Rhoades (inc)	Republican	20,540	61.09%	Tom Parent	Dem.	13,071	38.87%	33,624	7,469
2006[26]	Nov. 7	Kitty Rhoades (inc)	Republican	12,790	57.40%	Dan Gorman	Dem.	9,479	42.54%	22,282	3,311
2008[27]	Nov. 4	Kitty Rhoades (inc)	Republican	19,729	54.74%	Sarah A. Bruch	Dem.	16,278	45.17%	36,041	3,451	Bob Hughes (Rep.)
2010[28]	Nov. 2	Dean Knudson	Republican	14,124	62.00%	Matt Borup	Dem.	8,629	37.88%	22,780	5,495	Ben Plunkett (Dem.)
2012[29]	Nov. 6	Dean Knudson (inc)	Republican	17,261	55.79%	Diane Odeen	Dem.	13,657	44.14%	30,938	3,604
2014[30]	Nov. 4	Dean Knudson (inc)	Republican	13,951	59.70%	Darrel Laumann	Dem.	8,658	37.05%	23,368	5,293
						Laurie Kroeger	Ind.	747	3.20%
2016[31]	Nov. 8	Shannon Zimmerman	Republican	17,790	56.05%	Scott J. Nelson	Dem.	12,358	38.94%	31,739	5,432	Paul W. Berning (Rep.)
						Aaron S. Taylor	Ind.	1,574	4.96%
2018[32]	Nov. 6	Shannon Zimmerman (inc)	Republican	15,240	53.91%	Barry Hammarback	Dem.	13,015	46.04%	28,271	2,225
2020[33]	Nov. 3	Shannon Zimmerman (inc)	Republican	20,711	55.88%	Sarah Yacoub	Dem.	16,322	44.04%	37,062	4,389
2022[34]	Nov. 8	Shannon Zimmerman (inc)	Republican	17,719	58.48%	Sarah Yacoub	Dem.	12,557	41.44%	30,301	5,162

References

1. "Assembly District 30". Wisconsin Legislature. Retrieved January 31, 2021.
2. "Wisconsin Legislative Districts - Assembly District 30 Boundaries". Wisconsin Legislature. Retrieved January 31, 2021.
3. "Representative Shannon Zimmerman". Wisconsin Legislature. Retrieved January 31, 2021.
4. An Act ... relating to: legislative redistricting (Act 94). Wisconsin Legislature. 2023. Retrieved February 26, 2024.
5. 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 January 31, 2021.
6. Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau (1977). "Biographies" (PDF). In Theobald, H. Rupert; Robbins, Patricia V. (eds.). The state of Wisconsin 1977 Blue Book (Report). State of Wisconsin. pp. 40–41. Retrieved February 21, 2021.
7. 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. p. 135. ISBN 978-0-9752820-2-1. Retrieved February 21, 2021.
8. "Representative Rob Stafsholt". Wisconsin Legislature. Retrieved January 31, 2021.
9. Theobald, H. Rupert; Robbins, Patricia V., eds. (1973). "Elections in Wisconsin". The State of Wisconsin 1973 Blue Book (Report). Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau. pp. 807, 827. Retrieved May 3, 2024.
10. Theobald, H. Rupert; Robbins, Patricia V., eds. (1975). "Elections in Wisconsin". The State of Wisconsin 1975 Blue Book (Report). Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau. pp. 808, 829. Retrieved May 3, 2024.
11. Theobald, H. Rupert; Robbins, Patricia V., eds. (1977). "Elections in Wisconsin". The State of Wisconsin 1977 Blue Book (Report). Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau. pp. 892, 915. Retrieved May 3, 2024.
12. Theobald, H. Rupert; Robbins, Patricia V., eds. (1979). "Elections in Wisconsin". The State of Wisconsin 1979–1980 Blue Book (Report). Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau. pp. 905, 906, 924. Retrieved May 3, 2024.
13. Theobald, H. Rupert; Robbins, Patricia V., eds. (1981). "Elections in Wisconsin". The State of Wisconsin 1981–1982 Blue Book (Report). Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau. pp. 894, 916. Retrieved May 3, 2024.
14. Theobald, H. Rupert; Robbins, Patricia V., eds. (1983). "Elections in Wisconsin". State of Wisconsin 1983–1984 Blue Book (Report). Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau. pp. 889, 910. Retrieved May 3, 2024.
15. Theobald, H. Rupert; Robbins, Patricia V., eds. (1985). "Elections in Wisconsin". State of Wisconsin 1985–1986 Blue Book (Report). Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau. pp. 907, 925. Retrieved May 3, 2024.
16. Theobald, H. Rupert; Barish, Lawrence S., eds. (1987). "Elections". State of Wisconsin 1987–1988 Blue Book (Report). Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau. pp. 888, 907. Retrieved May 3, 2024.
17. Barish, Lawrence S.; Theobald, H. Rupert, eds. (1989). "Elections in Wisconsin". State of Wisconsin 1989–1990 Blue Book (Report). Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau. pp. 910, 926. Retrieved May 3, 2024.
18. Barish, Lawrence S.; Theobald, H. Rupert, eds. (1991). "Elections in Wisconsin". State of Wisconsin 1991–1992 Blue Book (Report). Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau. pp. 899, 915. Retrieved May 3, 2024.
19. Barish, Lawrence S.; Theobald, H. Rupert, eds. (1993). "Elections in Wisconsin". State of Wisconsin 1993–1994 Blue Book (Report). Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau. pp. 904, 922. Retrieved May 3, 2024.
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21. Barish, Lawrence S., ed. (1997). "Elections in Wisconsin". State of Wisconsin 1997–1998 Blue Book (Report). Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau. pp. 899, 903. Retrieved May 3, 2024.
22. Barish, Lawrence S.; Meloy, Patricia E., eds. (1999). "Elections". State of Wisconsin 1999–2000 Blue Book (Report). Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau. pp. 880, 882. Retrieved May 3, 2024.
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28. Results of Fall General Election - 11/02/2010 (Report). Wisconsin Government Accountability Board. December 1, 2010. p. 16. Retrieved May 3, 2024 – via Wisconsin Historical Society.
29. Canvass Results for 2012 Presidential and General Election - 11/6/2012 (Report). Wisconsin Government Accountability Board. December 26, 2012. p. 15. Retrieved May 3, 2024 – via Wisconsin Historical Society.
30. Canvass Results for 2014 General Election - 11/4/2014 (PDF) (Report). Wisconsin Government Accountability Board. November 26, 2014. pp. 15–16. Retrieved May 3, 2024 – via Wisconsin Elections Commission.
31. Canvass Results for 2016 General Election - 11/8/2016 (PDF) (Report). Wisconsin Elections Commission. December 22, 2016. p. 15. Retrieved May 3, 2024.
32. Canvass Results for 2018 General Election - 11/6/2018 (PDF) (Report). Wisconsin Elections Commission. February 22, 2019. p. 17. Retrieved May 3, 2024.
33. Canvass Results for 2018 General Election - 11/6/2018 (PDF) (Report). Wisconsin Elections Commission. February 22, 2019. p. 14. Retrieved May 3, 2024.
34. Canvass Results for 2022 General Election - 11/8/2022 (PDF) (Report). Wisconsin Elections Commission. November 30, 2022. p. 15. Retrieved December 1, 2022.