Wisconsin Capitol building rotunda facing the west gallery, November 2024, Photo by Carolyn Pralle

New Wisconsin State Senators and Assembly Representatives for the 2025-2026 Session

Wisconsin Legislative Districts – Senate and Assembly maps 2024. Visit https://maps.legis.wisconsin.gov/?version=2024 to view the maps and find your legislators.

Prepared by WGF Policy Director Paul Heinen, updated Dec. 12, 2024

In this WGF blog post, you will find the final Wisconsin State Senate and Assembly list of new members for the 2025-2026 Legislative session. Under each of the new 34 members’ names is a short biography taken from their campaign websites. Although each is a little different, it is best to get to know them through their own words.

Now is the perfect time for you to reach out to your newly elected legislator and introduce yourself and Wisconsin’s Green Fire. They are wide open to hearing from their new constituents and supporters and personally contacting them is the most powerful way of communicating with them.

The issues that you talk to them about now will be fresh in their minds as the session begins in January. Offering to share your knowledge if you have a specific area of expertise is a good way to keep them engaged with you in the future. Remember they have to have information on hundreds of legislative issues to do their jobs; an offer to help is very welcome.

The new legislators will not have their State Capitol phone numbers until January. Until then, the best way to get a number to call or email to send to is just type their names into Google…their websites will be the first thing to pop up.

Thanks for being an engaged Wisconsin’s Green Fire member!

 

Brief introductions from new legislators’ websites:

State Senators new in 2025-2026

Jamie Wall

Wall is a dairy farmer and educator who won the open Wisconsin Senate District 9 seat in the Green Bay area. He advocates for affordable housing, healthcare, and childcare, a real tax cut, public schools, and reproductive rights. Jamie is also a small business owner who helped establish New North, a NE WI economic development organization. He serves as VP of the Green Bay Water Commission and treasurer of his neighborhood association.

Jodi Habush Sinykin

Habush Sinykin won the Senate District 8 seat currently occupied by Senator Duey Stroebel. She joined Midwest Environmental Advocates in 2003, where she developed her expertise in water law, encompassing both groundwater and surface waters. After her early years working on Milwaukee-area pollution cases, Jodi was asked to represent environmental interests on a number of state-level advisory committees, including the Wisconsin Groundwater Advisory Committee and the Wisconsin Legislative Council’s Special Committee on the Great Lakes Compact. She was also formerly a board member for Wisconsin’s Green Fire. Through her work as a policy expert and her leadership on a state-wide coalition, Jodi contributed significantly to the successful enactment of the Great Lakes Compact in Wisconsin.

Sarah Keyeski

Keyeski beat the incumbent Senator Ballweg in Senate District 14. She highlighted the value of our public schools and the dedicated teachers educating the next generation of Wisconsinites. She ran on mental health issues knowing no boundaries and how she wants to do more upstream to improve the overall well-being of Wisconsinites. From ensuring people have access to quality health care and affordable childcare to increasing housing options and supporting our local municipalities, Keyeski wants to be a champion for working people and our local communities.

Kristin Alfheim

Alfheim won the open Senate seat in Appleton. She is a lifelong resident of Wisconsin. Growing up on her small family farm, Kristin learned early on the values of hard work and solving problems together. Kristin owns a small business helping people navigate the challenges of retirement and she mentors women who want to advance in their careers. She currently serves on Appleton’s Common Council and resides in the Historic Old Third Ward.

State Assembly freshman in 2025-26 – Democrats

Karen Kirsch – D, Greenfield

Kirsch will represent Assembly District (AD) 7 in Greenfield. She works for Citizen Action doing healthcare organizing. Healthcare is her number one issue along with education and worker’s rights.

Priscilla Prado – D, Milwaukee

Prado will represent AD 9 in Milwaukee, Representative Marisabel Cabral’s old seat. She has an accounting background, runs a bookkeeping business, and is the treasurer on the Wisconsin Latino Chamber of Commerce. She lists public safety, access to healthcare, and affordable housing as her priorities.

Sequanna Taylor – D, Milwaukee

Taylor will represent AD 11. She serves on the Milwaukee County Board and works for the City of Milwaukee as the Family Violence Prevention Program Coordinator.

Russel Goodwin – D, Milwaukee

Goodwin will represent AD 12. A small business owner he is a former County Supervisor who on his campaign page talks about fully investing in our public schools, combatting reckless driving, creating safer neighborhoods and ensuring fair property taxes.

Angelito Tenorio – D, West Allis

Tenorio will represent AD 14. Tenorio graduated from UW Madison in Political Science. He has worked as a teacher and is a military veteran and former West Allis Alderman. His campaign page talks about investing in our public schools, supporting small businesses, increasing affordable housing, expanding healthcare access, and fighting for good paying jobs.

Margaret Arney – D, Wauwatosa

Arney will represent AD 18. She is a Harvard and University of Chicago graduate who has worked for more than 30 years in the nonprofit sector as a program developer, fundraiser, and program director. She consults for the African American Leadership alliance Milwaukee and coordinates the African American Leadership Program.

Joe Sheehan – D, Sheboygan

Sheehan will represent AD 26. He spent the last twenty years as the superintendent of the Sheboygan Area School District and has more recently worked as the Executive Director of the Sheboygan County Economic Development Corporation. His campaign page talks at length about needing to work together, women’s rights, funding education, and expanding healthcare. He also talks about standing up for clean air and clean water.

Karen DeSanto – D, Baraboo

DeSanto will represent AD 40. She has been the CEO of the Boys and Girls Clubs of West Central Wisconsin for the past 12 years. Her campaign page talks about ensuring affordable health care, investing in public schools, building access to mental health services, protecting reproductive freedom, identify opportunities for small businesses, and safeguarding our state parks, waterways and rural land areas.

Maureen McCarville – D, DeForest

McCarville will represent AD 42. Her webpage talks about 40 years in business (she worked at MG&E and was both a union steward and a manager), and a decade with the National Guard. She highlights work for working families, safer communities, women’s health, veterans, improved water quality, and economic development.

Brienne Brown – D, Whitewater

Brown will represent AD 43. Brown has a background in geopolitical journalism and chronic disease epidemiology. She studies the health effects of pesticides and worked for the Texas Department of Health as an epidemiologist. Her campaign talked about prioritizing education, investing in small businesses, investing in public safety, women’s freedoms, empowering local governments, economic security for veterans, election integrity, and fair redistricting. She has talked about making sure corporations are not in control of how we protect our natural resources, protecting our water to protect our ag industries, and safeguarding our lands and waters for future generations.

Ann Roe – D, Janesville

Roe will represent AD 44. She currently owns a small business that helps students navigate high school, college, apprenticeships, jobs, and graduate school. She also serves on the Woman’s Club and Downtown Janesville Inc. Her campaign page talks about prioritizing education, reproductive rights, childcare, health care, fair wages, affordable housing, and clean water.

Joan Fitzgerald – D, Fort Atkinson

Fitzgerald will represent AD 46. Fitzgerald taught high school math for 33 years. She was a member of the Jefferson Education Association and served as its president, vice president, and treasurer. After retiring from teaching, she was a supervisor on the Jefferson County Board where she prioritized bringing in grant money to Jefferson County to upgrade systems at the sheriff’s department.

Randy Udell – D, Fitchburg

Udell will represent AD 47. He served on the city council from 2020-2024, where he was council president and chair of the finance committee for multiple years. Since 2024 he has been on the Dane County Board on the Broadband Task Force and the Public Works and Transportation committee.

Andrew Hysell – D, Sun Prairie

Hysell will represent AD 48. He is a Carroll University graduate who after graduation worked for Senate and Assembly Democrats in Madison. Issues on his page include the economy and inflation, tobacco control, labor, healthcare, small businesses, legalizing cannabis, veterans, and environment.

Angelina Cruz – D, Racine

Cruz will represent AD 62. She is a 22-year public school teacher and has served as the President of Racine Educators United. Cruz says she is committed to advocating for public education and labor rights at the state level.

Ben DeSmidt – D, Kenosha

DeSmidt will represent AD 65. He was a 15-year Associate Professor of classics at Carthage College. He is also on the Board of Trustees for Gateway Tech. His campaign page talks about his experience in education, small business ownership, and community service.

Vinnie Miresse – D, Stevens Point

Miresse will represent AD 71. Miresse is a long-time Portage County resident. He and his family practice regenerative agriculture and have an orchard. He is a four-time Portage County board member. Key issues on his webpage include education, supporting family farms, affordable access to healthcare, fighting for working folks, ecological stewardship, and protecting reproductive health.

Angela Stroud – D, Gingles

Stroud will represent AD 73. She moved to Ashland in 2012 to work as a professor of sociology and social justice at Northland College. Her top issues are protecting the Lake Superior watershed, supporting teachers and strengthening schools, fighting for reproductive justice and healthcare, and advocating for secure and affordable housing.

Renuka Mayadev – D, Madison

Mayadev will represent AD 77. She has a bachelor’s in economics from Northwestern and her JD from Georgetown. She worked in the Ohio Governor’s office on juvenile justice, public safety, rehabilitation and corrections, and workers’ comp. She lists as priorities fighting for reproductive freedom, strengthening public education, providing healthcare for all, enacting climate justice, ending gun violence, and safeguarding democracy.

Ryan Spaude – D, Green Bay

Spaude will represent AD 89. He is a prosecutor in the Brown County District Attorney’s Office. The five priorities listed on his campaign page include holding the line on taxes for the middle class, investing more money in public education, raising the minimum wage, fully funding childcare counts, and expanding Medicaid.

Amaad Rivera-Wagner – D, Green Bay

Rivera-Wager will represent AD 90, Representative Shelton’s old seat. He is the current Chief of Staff to Mayor Genrich in Green Bay and has a long background in public service work. His campaign website talked about prioritizing an economy that works for all, providing mental health services, creating safe streets for all, and strengthening democracy.

Christian Phelps – D, Eau Claire

Phelps will represent AD 93. His website talks about funding strong public schools, restoring reproductive freedom, expanding healthcare as a human right, protecting the environment, expanding workers’ rights, and legalizing cannabis.

Tara Johnson – D, Shelby

Johnson will represent AD 96. She has served as a La Crosse County Board Member and Chair, Executive Director of the United Way of Lacrosse, and is a former union member. Her priorities include protecting and expanding reproductive freedom, ensuring everyone has access to clean air and water, increasing access to affordable healthcare, childcare, and housing, supporting family farms and small businesses, fully funding and supporting public education, and restoring collective bargaining rights.

State Assembly freshman in 2025-26 – Republicans

Lindee Brill – R, Oostberg

Brill will represent AD 27. She has worked in HR at Kohler and Dutchland plastics, as a marketing manager at Oostburg state bank, as a marketing specialist at Anchor of Hope Health Center, and now as a marketing coordinator at Samaritan’s Hand. Her key issues include election integrity, pro-life, and addressing border security, fentanyl, and sex trafficking.

Rob Kreibich – R, New Richmond

Kreibich will represent AD 28. He is a former anchorman who served in the assembly between 1993 and 2007. He has since worked in marketing for the Marshfield Clinic and is the executive director of the New Richmond Chamber of Commerce. His campaign page lists his top three priorities as tax relief, government spending, and education.

Duke Tucker – R, Grantsburg

Tucker will represent AD 75. He has served as the operations manager at Grantsburg Telcom for 28 years. His listed issues include promoting strong family values, prioritizing education, attracting jobs to the area, protecting property rights, prioritizing community safety, stopping illegal immigration, budgeting for tomorrow, protecting our sporting heritage, and responsible use of taxpayer dollars.

Brent Jacobson – R, Mosinee

Jacobson will represent AD 87. He is the current Mayor of Mosinee and represents his community on the Marathon County Board. Jacobson’s campaign page talks about his plans on election integrity, income taxes, and tax credits for businesses relocating to Wisconsin.

Jim Piwowarcyzk – R, Erin

Piwowarcyzk will represent AD 98. He co-founded Wisconsin Right Now. The positions on his website include the economy and inflation, illegal immigration, election integrity, public safety, and protecting the second amendment.

Dean Kaufert – R, Neenah

Kaufert will represent AD 53. Kaufert served in the Assembly from 1992-2014, as mayor of Neenah from 2014 to 2022, and is the owner of Dome Sports Bar & Grill and All-Sport Trophy and Engraving. His priorities include addressing rising costs and lowering tax burdens, supporting quality healthcare, investing in roads, and fighting for the Fox Valley.

Benjamin Franklin – R, De Pere

Franklin will represent AD 88. He is the owner and operator of a business that employs nearly 200 people. His campaign page talks about prioritizing economic development, infrastructure development, education equity, public safety, and supporting public healthcare.

Paul Heinen, Carolyn Pralle, and Ben Becker, WGF staff members standing on the steps of the Wisconsin Capitol, November 2024

Stay engaged with WGF and Wisconsin legislative activity

As the legislative session continues, you can count on Wisconsin’s Green Fire to keep advancing science-based knowledge driven conservation and natural resources management in our state.

• Learn more and contact your legislators via the Wisconsin State Legislature website.
• Contact us at Wisconsin’s Green Fire with your questions or concerns about state conservation policy or our strategic priorities.
• Stay informed about legislative activity on conservation topics through our environmental legislation tracker (stay tuned for updates once the 2025-26 session is under way).

Contact us with your questions or thoughts about our work on science-based conservation!

If our work with policymakers, conservation policy, or other topics mentioned here inspired or informed you, please consider supporting our work with a donation to Wisconsin’s Green Fire. An annual gift of any amount makes you a member. Thank you!