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Wisconsin's 4th Senate district

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The 4th Senate district of Wisconsin is one of 33 districts in the Wisconsin Senate.[1] Located in southeast Wisconsin, the district is entirely contained within northern Milwaukee County. It comprises part of the north side of the city of Milwaukee, as well as the city of Glendale, the village of Shorewood, and parts of northern Wauwatosa and western Brown Deer.[2] The 4th Senate district is one of two majority-black Senate districts in Wisconsin.

Wisconsin's 4th
State Senate district
Map
Map
Map
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 10, 11, and 12
Senator
  --Vacant--
since January 26, 2024 (0 years)
Demographics29.71% White
58.76% Black
4.93% Hispanic
6.28% Asian
1.44% Native American
0.13% Hawaiian/Pacific Islander
Population (2020)
 • Voting age		178,419
128,996
WebsiteOfficial website
NotesNorthern Milwaukee

Current elected officials

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The 4th Senate district seat is currently vacant. It was most recently represented by Lena Taylor. First elected in the 2004 general election, she served five terms before resigning the seat January 26, 2024, after being appointed a Wisconsin circuit court judge.[3]

Each Wisconsin State Senate district is composed of three State Assembly districts. The 4th Senate district comprises the 10th, 11th, and 12th Assembly districts. The current representatives of those districts are:[4]

The district is located within Wisconsin's 4th congressional district, which is represented by U.S. Representative Gwen Moore.[5]

Past senators

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At the time of the creation of the state of Wisconsin, the 4th Senate District was defined in the Constitution as consisting of Fond du Lac and Winnebago counties.[6] In the first two sessions of the state legislature, the 4th District was represented by:

The Senate was redistricted from 19 to 25 districts before the 1853 session; the old 4th Senate District was now the 20th and 21st Districts, and the new 4th District consisted of the Towns of Erin, Richfield, Germantown, Jackson, Polk, Hartford, Addison, West Bend, Newark, Trenton, Farmington, Kewaskum and Wayne, in Washington County, formerly part of the original 11th District. The new 4th was represented by:

For the 1857 session, the Senate was expanded to 30 seats; the new 4th district included all of Washington County now, and once more elected:

As of 1862, the Senate expanded to 33 seats, a size it would retain well into the 21st century; the 4th District remained unchanged. It elected:

In 1871, the Senate was drastically redistricted. Washington County became part of a revised 33rd District. A new 4th District was created, consisting of Monroe and Vernon Counties (formerly parts of the 31st and 30th Districts respectively). This new district elected:

In 1876, the District lost Monroe County, and gained Crawford County instead. The new district elected:

In 1887, the Senate districts were again totally revamped; the new 4th District consisted of the 1st, 6th, 9th, 13th and 18th Wards of Milwaukee (the old 4th was split between new 16th and 31st Districts). It elected

In 1891 and 1892, the Senate was redistricted; after lawsuits, the 4th District lost the 6th and 9th Wards, gaining the 3rd and 7th Wards instead. It elected:

By 1896, the Milwaukee portion of the 4th District had been reduced to the 6th, 13th, 18th and 21st Wards, but it gained Whitefish Bay, and the Towns of Granville and Milwaukee.

After the 1901 redistricting, the 4th consisted of Milwaukee's 1st, 13th, 18th and 21st Wards and added the Villages of East Milwaukee and North Milwaukee.

After the 1921 redistricting, the 4th lost Milwaukee's 1st Ward, but gained its 25th, and lost Granville and North Milwaukee (the former East Milwaukee was now Shorewood). This district re-elected Morris for over a decade to come. By the 1931 redistricting, the City of Milwaukee portion of the 4th was reduced to the 13th, 18th and 21st Wards, but the district included the Town of Milwaukee and the village of Shorewood, plus the addition of the villages of Fox Point and River Hills. It continued to elect Oscar Morris until his 1939 death in office.

The 1950s was a period of redistricting plans, referendums and lawsuits. By 1954, the 4th District still had three Milwaukee Wards (the 1st, 18th and 20th), Fox Point, River Hills, Shorewood, and Whitefish Bay, and added Bayside, Brown Deer, and Glendale (which between them had absorbed all of the old Town of Milwaukee). This new 4th District elected:

After more lawsuits and failure by the legislature to act, in 1964 the Wisconsin Supreme Court reapportioned the legislative districts for the 1964 elections. The 3rd and 18th Wards of the City of Milwaukee, the part of Bayside in Milwaukee County, Brown Deer, Fox Point, River Hills, Shorewood and Whitefish Bay became the new 4th.

  • Jerris Leonard was re-elected from the new district.
  • Nile Soik, 1969–1973 (Republican) of Whitefish Bay

In 1971, the legislature was reapportioned without incident. The new 4th encompassed the seven North Shore suburbs, but also Thiensville, Mequon, and eight townships in Southeastern Washington County, from Erin in the southwest to Farmington in the northeast. This new district elected:

  • Bob Kasten, 1973–1974 (Republican) of Brown Deer, who left when he was elected to Congress. A special election was held, electing:
  • Jim Sensenbrenner, 1975-1979 (Republican) of Shorewood, who in turn resigned when he was elected to Kasten's old seat in Congress. He was succeeded in another special election by:
  • Rod Johnston, 1979–1984 (Republican) of Whitefish Bay

In 1984, an election was held under a plan passed by the legislature in 1983, under which the 4th consisted of the North Shore suburbs east of Brown Deer and Glendale, plus part of Milwaukee's inner city and the East Side of Milwaukee east of the Milwaukee River south to where the river flows into Milwaukee's harbor.

A 1992 court-ordered redistricting moved most of the district west of the Milwaukee River, except for Glendale and part of Shorewood, and added a large slice of the inner city, extending at its westmost to the county line with Waukesha County. This new 4th elected:

A new court-ordered map was created in 2002, by which the District was moved even further west into the inner city and out to 124th Street. In 2004, it elected Lena Taylor, the present incumbent. The 2011 redistricting expanded the portion of the district in the inner city, while still retaining Shorewood and part of Glendale. Taylor was re-elected from that district in 2012.

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

Senator Party Notes Session Years District Definition
District created 1848
 
Fond du Lac & Winnebago counties
Warren Chase Dem. 1st
2nd 1849
John A. Eastman Dem. 3rd 1850
4th 1851
Bertine Pinckney Whig Redistricted to 20th district. 5th 1852
Baruch S. Weil Dem. 6th 1853
 
1852–1855

 
1855–1860

 
1861–1865

 
1866–1870
Washington County
Baltus Mantz Dem. Died in office. 7th 1854
--Vacant--
James Rolfe Ind. 8th 1855
Baruch S. Weil Dem. 9th 1856
10th 1857
Densmore Maxon Dem. 11th 1858
12th 1859
13th 1860
14th 1861
Frederick Thorpe Dem. 15th 1862
16th 1863
17th 1864
18th 1865
19th 1866
20th 1867
Adam Schantz Dem. 21st 1868
22nd 1869
23rd 1870
24th 1871
William Nelson Rep. 25th 1872
 
Monroe & Vernon counties
26th 1873
Adelbert Bleekman Rep. 27th 1874
28th 1875
J. Henry Tate Rep. 29th 1876
30th 1877
 
1876–1881

 
1882–1887
Crawford & Vernon counties
George W. Swain Rep. 31st 1878
32nd 1879
Ormsby B. Thomas Rep. 33rd 1880
34th 1881
Van S. Bennett Rep. 35th 1882
36th 1883–1884
Joseph W. Hoyt Rep. 37th 1885–1886
38th 1887–1888
John J. Kempf Rep. 39th 1889–1890
 
40th 1891–1892
James W. Murphy Dem. Resigned 41st 1893–1894
 
James C. Officer Rep. Won 1894 special election. 42nd 1895–1896
J. Herbert Green Rep. 43rd 1897–1898
 
44th 1899–1900
45th 1901–1902
46th 1903–1904
 
Theodore C. Froemming Rep. 47th 1905–1906
48th 1907–1908
Henry Bodenstab Rep. 49th 1909–1910
50th 1911–1912
William L. Richards Rep. 51st 1913–1914
 
52nd 1915–1916
Herman C. Schultz Rep. 53rd 1917–1918
54th 1919–1920
Oscar Morris Rep. Died in office 55th 1921–1922
56th 1923–1924
 
57th 1925–1926
58th 1927–1928
59th 1929–1930
60th 1931–1932
61st 1933–1934
 
62nd 1935–1936
63rd 1937–1938
--Vacant-- 64th 1939–1940
Milton T. Murray Rep. Won 1939 special election.
65th 1941–1942
66th 1943–1944
John C. McBride Rep. 67th 1945–1946
68th 1947–1948
George A. Mayer Rep. 69th 1949–1950
70th 1951–1952
Harry F. Franke Jr. Rep. 71st 1953–1954
72nd 1955–1956
 
Kirby Hendee Rep. 73rd 1957–1958
74th 1959–1960
Jerris Leonard Rep. 75th 1961–1962
76th 1963–1964
77th 1965–1966
 
78th 1967–1968
Nile Soik Rep. 79th 1969–1970
80th 1971–1972
Robert W. Kasten Rep. Resigned after election to U.S. House. 81st 1973–1974
 


--Vacant-- 82nd 1975–1976
Jim Sensenbrenner Rep. Won 1975 special election.
Resigned after election to U.S. House.
83rd 1977–1978
--Vacant-- 84th 1979–1980
Rod Johnston Rep. Won 1979 special election.
85th 1981–1982
86th 1983–1984
 
Barbara Ulichny Dem. 87th 1985–1986
88th 1987–1988
89th 1989–1990
90th 1991–1992
Gwen Moore Dem. 91st 1993–1994
 
92nd 1995–1996
93rd 1997–1998
94th 1999–2000
95th 2001–2002
96th 2003–2004
 
Lena Taylor Dem. Elected 2004.
Re-elected 2008, 2012, 2016, 2020.
Resigned Jan. 2024. 		97th 2005–2006
98th 2007–2008
99th 2009–2010
100th 2011–2012
101st 2013–2014
 
102nd 2015–2016
103rd 2017–2018
104th 2019–2020
105th 2021–2022
106th 2023–2024
 
Northern Milwaukee County
--Vacant--

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Senate District 4". Wisconsin Legislature. Retrieved March 6, 2021.
  2. ^ "Wisconsin Legislative Districts - Senate District 4 Boundaries". Wisconsin Legislature. Retrieved February 9, 2021.
  3. ^ "Senator Lena C. Taylor". Wisconsin Legislature. Retrieved February 9, 2021.
  4. ^ District Map
  5. ^ Congressional District Map
  6. ^ "Constitution of the state of Wisconsin: Article XIV, Sec. 12" in Manual for the use of the assembly, of the state of Wisconsin, for the year 1853 Madison: Brown and Carpenter, Printers, 1853; p. 37
  7. ^ "Members of the Wisconsin Legislature 1848–1999 State of Wisconsin Legislative Bureau. Information Bulletin 99-1, September 1999. p. 4
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