Randy Udell (born 1961) is an American telecommunications engineer and Democratic politician from Fitchburg, Wisconsin. He will be a member of the Wisconsin State Assembly, representing Wisconsin's 47th Assembly district starting in 2025. He is also a member of the Dane County Board of Supervisors representing the Fitchburg area, since April 2024. He is also the current Treasurer of the Wisconsin Democratic Party.[1]
Randy Udell | |
|---|---|
| Treasurer of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin | |
| Assumed office June 6, 2015 | |
| Preceded by | Michael Childers |
| Member-elect of the Wisconsin State Assembly from the 47th district | |
| Assuming office January 6, 2025 | |
| Succeeding | Jimmy Anderson |
| Member of the Dane County Board of Supervisors from the 33rd district | |
| Assumed office April 16, 2024 | |
| Preceded by | Dana Pellebon |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1961 (age 62–63) Beloit, Wisconsin, U.S. |
| Spouse | Brad |
| Residence(s) | Fitchburg, Wisconsin, U.S. |
| Alma mater | University of Wisconsin–Whitewater (BS) |
| Occupation | Politician, legislator, telecommunications engineer |
Early life and career
editUdell was born in Beloit, Wisconsin in 1961. He attended public school in Janesville, Wisconsin, later attending the University of Wisconsin–Whitewater. While at UW–Whitewater, he was involved in student government, serving as a student senator, as well as party politics, working for Representative Les Aspin and chairing the Young Democrats association in the area.[2][3]
After graduating from university, Udell worked for Maryland Attorney General Stephen Sachs, later returning to Wisconsin and serving as the chair and treasurer of the 2nd Congressional District Democratic Party of Wisconsin.[2]
Political career
editLocal politics
editUdell was first elected to the Fitchburg city council in 2020 to the 4th district, and was re-elected in 2022. In 2023 Udell ran for Fitchburg mayor, but was defeated by Julia Arata-Fratta by four points.[4]
In December 2023 Udell announced a run for Dane County Board of Supervisors, and was subsequently elected to the 33rd district in the 2024 Spring election.[5]
Wisconsin State Assembly
editFollowing Senator Melissa Agard's retirement, 47th district representative Jimmy Anderson announced a bid to replace her, leaving the district open.[6] Shortly afterwards, Joe Maldonado and Udell both announced bids to replace him.[7] During the primary Udell campaigned on expanding broadband access to rural areas, while also emphasizing his experience in finances as chair of the Fitchburg city council's finance committee and as Treasurer of the state Democratic Party.[8]
In the primary election, Udell went on to defeat Maldonado by a slim 2 percent margin.[9] As no Republican filed to run for the seat, Udell was unopposed for election and will take office in January 2025.
Personal life
editUdell and his husband, Brad, live in Fitchburg with their rescue dog Morgan.[3]
Electoral history
editFitchburg City Council (2020, 2022)
edit| Year | Election | Date | Elected | Defeated | Total | Plurality | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Primary[10] | Feb. 18 | Randy Udell | Nonpartisan | 507 | 44.95% | Scott D. Lehmann | Non. | 353 | 31.29% | 1,128 | 154 |
| Marc A. Jones | Non. | 262 | 23.23% | |||||||||
| General[11] | Apr. 7 | Randy Udell | Nonpartisan | 1,417 | 55.20% | Scott D. Lehmann | Non. | 1,143 | 44.53% | 2,567 | 274 | |
| 2022 | General[12] | Apr. 5 | Randy Udell (inc) | Nonpartisan | 785 | 97.88% | --unopposed-- | 802 | 768 | |||
Fitchburg mayor (2023)
edit| Year | Election | Date | Elected | Defeated | Total | Plurality | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | General[13] | Apr. 4 | Julia Arata-Fratta | Nonpartisan | 5,687 | 51.76% | Randy Udell | Non. | 5,255 | 47.83% | 10,986 | 432 |
Dane County Board of Supervisors (2024)
edit| Year | Election | Date | Elected | Defeated | Total | Plurality | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | General[14] | Apr. 2 | Randy Udell | Nonpartisan | 2,937 | 98.82% | --unopposed-- | 2,972 | 2,902 | |||
Wisconsin State Assembly (2024)
edit| Year | Election | Date | Elected | Defeated | Total | Plurality | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Primary[15] | Aug. 27 | Randy Udell | Democratic | 6,699 | 50.95% | Joe Maldonado | Dem. | 6,438 | 48.97% | 13,148 | 261 |
| General | Nov. 5 | Randy Udell | Democratic | --unopposed-- | ||||||||
References
edit- ^ "WisDems Officers". Wisconsin Democratic Party. Retrieved November 3, 2024.
- ^ a b Wethal, Kimberly (March 11, 2022). "Meet the candidate running for City of Fitchburg's District 4 seat this spring". Fitchburg Star. Retrieved November 4, 2024.
- ^ a b "Randy Udell for Assembly - Bio". Retrieved November 4, 2024.
- ^ Chappell, Robert (April 4, 2023). "Julia Arata-Fratta wins race for Fitchburg Mayor". Madison365. Retrieved November 4, 2024.
- ^ "Udell Campaign: Announces candidacy for Dane County Board District 33". WisPolitics. December 11, 2023. Retrieved November 4, 2024.
- ^ "State Rep. Jimmy Anderson announces State Senate candidacy". HGN News. December 29, 2023. Retrieved November 4, 2024.
- ^ Bahl, Andrew (March 6, 2024). "Second Fitchburg alder, Randy Udell, gets into state Assembly race".
- ^ Menkes, Ava (June 24, 2024). "In Democratic primary, candidates emphasize broadband, education". Wisconsin Watch. Retrieved November 4, 2024.
- ^ "Ratcliff wins Senate District 16 Democratic primary; Udell eclipses Maldonado for 47th Assembly seat". Fitchburg Star. August 14, 2024. Retrieved November 4, 2024.
- ^ Spring Primary Election - February 18, 2020 (Report). Fitchburg city government. February 18, 2020. p. 1. Retrieved November 23, 2024.
- ^ Spring Election and Presidential Preference Primary - April 7, 2020 (Report). Fitchburg city government. April 7, 2020. p. 3. Retrieved November 23, 2024.
- ^ Spring Election - April 5, 2022 (Report). Fitchburg city government. April 5, 2022. pp. 2–3. Retrieved November 23, 2024.
- ^ Spring Election Official Results - April 4, 2023 (Report). Fitchburg City government. April 4, 2023. p. 1. Retrieved November 23, 2024.
- ^ "2024 Spring Election & Presidential Preference Primary - County Supervisor District 33". County of Dane, Wisconsin - Election and Voting Information. Retrieved November 23, 2024.
- ^ County by County Report - 2024 Partisan Primary (PDF) (Report). Wisconsin Elections Commission. August 26, 2024. p. 47. Retrieved November 4, 2024.