Wisconsin's 32nd Senate district

Wisconsin's 32nd Senate district is one of 33 districts in the Wisconsin Senate.^[1] Located in western Wisconsin, the district comprises all of La Crosse County and nearly all of Vernon County, along with parts of southwest Monroe County and southeast Trempealeau County. It includes the cities of La Crosse, Onalaska, Sparta, and Viroqua.^[2]

Wisconsin's 32nd State Senate district
From 2024 to 2031 From 2022 to 2023 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 composed of Assembly districts 94, 95, and 96
Senator	Brad Pfaff D–Onalaska since January 4, 2021 (3 years)
Demographics	90.66% White 1.78% Black 2.44% Hispanic 3.22% Asian 1.31% Native American 0.1% Hawaiian/Pacific Islander
Population (2020)  • Voting age	178,485 139,517
Website	Official website
Notes	Western Wisconsin

Current elected officials

Brad Pfaff is the current senator representing the 32nd district. He was elected in the 2020 general election. Before his election as senator, he served nearly two years as Acting Secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection.^[3]

Each Wisconsin State Senate district is composed of three Wisconsin State Assembly districts. The 32nd Senate district comprises the 94th, 95th, and 96th Assembly districts. The current representatives of those districts are:

• Assembly District 94: Steve Doyle (D–Onalaska)
• Assembly District 95: Jill Billings (D–La Crosse)
• Assembly District 96: Loren Oldenburg (R–Viroqua)

The district is located entirely within Wisconsin's 3rd congressional district, which is represented by U.S. Representative Derrick Van Orden.^[4]

• 
  Onalaska viewed from Lake Onalaska
• 
  Village of West Salem
• 
  The Mindoro Cut in the town of Hamilton
• 
  Black River delta
• 
  Downtown Historic District in Galesville
• 
  La Crosse Commercial Historic District
• 
  University of Wisconsin–La Crosse viewed from Grandad Bluff
• 
  Grandad Bluff
• 
  Entering Viroqua on Wisconsin Highway 56
• 
  Wildcat Mountain State Park

History

The 32nd district was created in 1861 after the 1860 United States census, when the State Senate was expanded from 30 to 33 members. The first to represent the district was M. D. Bartlett, a Republican from Durand who served in the 1862 and 1863 sessions. At that time, the district consisted of Buffalo, Chippewa, Clark, Dunn, Eau Claire, Jackson, Pepin and Trempealeau Counties.

Past senators

The district has been represented by:^[5]

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

Senator	Party	Notes	Session	Years	District definition
District created by 1861 Wisc. Act 216.				1861	Buffalo, Chippewa, Clark, Dunn, Eau Claire, Jackson, Pepin, and Trempealeau counties
M. D. Bartlett	Rep.		15th	1862
			16th	1863
Carl C. Pope	Natl. Union		17th	1864
			18th	1865
Joseph G. Thorp	Natl. Union		19th	1866
			20th	1867
Alfred W. Newman	Rep.		21st	1868
			22nd	1869
William T. Price	Rep.		23rd	1870
			24th	1871
Orlando Brown	Rep.		25th	1872	Buffalo, Clark, Jackson, and Trempealeau counties 1870 population: 32,992
			26th	1873
Robert C. Field	Rep.		27th	1874
			28th	1875
Mark Douglas	Rep.		29th	1876
			30th	1877	Jackson and Monroe counties 1875 population: 32,365 1880 population: 34,891
William T. Price	Rep.		31st	1878
			32nd	1879
			33rd	1880
			34th	1881
Charles K. Erwin	Rep.		35th	1882
			36th	1883–1884
			37th	1885–1886
			38th	1887–1888
Hugh H. Price	Rep.		39th	1889–1890	Jackson, Monroe, and Wood counties 1885 population: 53,809
			40th	1891–1892
Levi Withee	Rep.		41st	1893–1894	La Crosse and Trempealeau counties 1890 population: 57,721 1895 population: 65,573 1900 population: 66,111 1910 population: 66,924
			42nd	1895–1896
			43rd	1897–1898
			44th	1899–1900
John C. Gaveney	Rep.		45th	1901–1902
			46th	1903–1904
Thomas Morris	Rep.	Resigned 1910 after elected Lieutenant Governor of Wisconsin.	47th	1905–1906
			48th	1907–1908
			49th	1909–1910
Otto Bosshard	Rep.	Won 1910 special election.	50th	1911–1912
			51st	1913–1914
			52nd	1915–1916
Eugene F. Clark	Rep.		53rd	1917–1918
			54th	1919–1920
			55th	1921–1922
			56th	1923–1924	Jackson, La Crosse, and Trempealeau counties
Valentine S. Keppel	Rep.		57th	1925–1926
			58th	1927–1928
			59th	1929–1930
			60th	1931–1932
Harry W. Griswold	Rep.		61st	1933–1934
			62nd	1935–1936
Oscar S. Paulson	Prog.		63rd	1937–1938
			64th	1939–1940
Rudolph Schlabach	Rep.	Resigned Feb. 1953, appointed to Wisconsin Tax Appeals Commission.	65th	1941–1942
			66th	1943–1944
			67th	1945–1946
			68th	1947–1948
			69th	1949–1950
			70th	1951–1952
			71st	1953–1954
--Vacant--
Raymond Bice Sr.	Rep.
			72nd	1955–1956
			73rd	1957–1958
			74th	1959–1960
			75th	1961–1962
			76th	1963–1964
			77th	1965–1966	Crawford, Vernon, and La Crosse counties
			78th	1967–1968
Milo Knutson	Rep.		79th	1969–1970
			80th	1971–1972
			81st	1973–1974	Crawford, Vernon, and La Crosse counties and Northwest Grant County Southeast Trempealeau County Southwest Jackson County Part of Monroe County
			82nd	1975–1976
Paul Offner	Dem.	Resigned Feb. 1984.	83rd	1977–1978
			84th	1979–1980
			85th	1981–1982
			86th	1983–1984
--Vacant--
Brian Rude	Rep.	Won 1984 special election.
			87th	1985–1986	Crawford, Vernon, and La Crosse counties and Northern Grant County Southwest Monroe County
			88th	1987–1988
			89th	1989–1990
			90th	1991–1992
			91st	1993–1994	Crawford, Vernon, and La Crosse counties and Most of Richland County Part of Monroe County
			92nd	1995–1996
			93rd	1997–1998
			94th	1999–2000
Mark Meyer	Dem.		95th	2001–2002
			96th	2003–2004	Crawford, Vernon, and La Crosse counties and Northwest Richland County Southern Monroe County
Dan Kapanke	Rep.	Lost 2011 recall election.	97th	2005–2006
			98th	2007–2008
			99th	2009–2010
			100th	2011–2012
Jennifer Shilling	Dem.	Won 2011 recall election. Resigned May 2020.
			101st	2013–2014	Crawford and La Crosse counties and Most of Vernon County Southern Monroe County
			102nd	2015–2016
			103rd	2017–2018
			104th	2019–2020
--Vacant--
Brad Pfaff	Dem.		105th	2021–2022
			106th	2023–2024	Crawford County, most of La Crosse County, most of Vernon County, southern Monroe County

References

1. "Senate District 32". Wisconsin Legislature. Retrieved March 28, 2021.
2. "Wisconsin Legislative Districts - Senate District 32 Boundaries". Wisconsin Legislature. Retrieved March 28, 2021.
3. "Senator Brad Pfaff". Wisconsin Legislature. Retrieved March 28, 2021.
4. "State of Wisconsin Congressional Districts" (PDF). Wisconsin Legislature. Retrieved March 28, 2021.
5. Wisconsin Blue Book, 1991-92 edition, Statistics: History, pages 657-666.

External links

• Senate District 32 at Wisconsin Legislature
  • Senator Brad Pfaff (2023)
  • Senator Brad Pfaff (2021)
  • Senator Jennifer Shilling (2019)
  • Senator Jennifer Shilling (2017)