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Sylvia Ortiz-Velez
Sylvia Ortiz-Velez
Member of the Wisconsin State Assembly; from the 8th district
	Incumbent
	Assumed office ; January 4, 2021
Preceded by	JoCasta Zamarripa
Member of the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors from the 12th district
	In office; April 2018 – April 2022
Preceded by	Peggy A. West
Succeeded by	Juan Miguel Martinez
Personal details
Born	Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Political party	Democratic
Residence(s)	Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Alma mater	University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee (BA)
Occupation	politician, real estate agent
Website	Official bio; Campaign website;

Sylvia Ortiz-Velez is an American real estate broker and Democratic politician from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She is a member of the Wisconsin State Assembly, representing Wisconsin's 8th Assembly district since 2021. She previously served on the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors from 2018 until 2022.

Early life and education

Sylvia Ortiz-Velez was born and raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.^[1] She earned a B.A. in political science from the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee.^[2] She worked as a real estate broker for several years in Milwaukee before being elected to the County Board.^[2]

Political career

In 2012, Ortiz-Velez made her first attempt at election to the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors, challenging four term incumbent supervisor Peggy A. West (then going by the name "Peggy Romo West").^[3] West prevailed in the spring election with 55.71%.^[4] Ortiz-Velez challenged West again in 2018, however, and this time defeated her, taking 57% of the vote.^[5]^[6] Ortiz-Velez was one of several candidates to benefit from the support of then-County Executive Chris Abele in his attempts to reshape the County Board in 2018.^[7]^[8] She was re-elected without opposition in April 2020.

During her time on the County Board, she was a member of the Intergovernmental Relations Committee, the Judiciary, Safety and General Services Committee, and the Transportation, Public Works and Transit Committee. She was also a member of the Mitchell Park Domes Task Force, tasked with developing a long-term plan for the 50-year-old nature conservatory—Ortiz-Velez committed to preserving the domes for future generations in her campaign platform.^[2] In addition to her service on the County Board, Ortiz-Velez serves on the advisory board of the United Migrant Opportunity Services (UMOS).^[2]

In the spring 2020 election, incumbent Assemblymember JoCasta Zamarripa was elected to the Milwaukee Common Council and announced she would not run for another term in the Wisconsin State Assembly. On April 14, 2020, Ortiz-Velez formally announced her candidacy for Zamarripa's assembly seat.^[9] In the primary, she faced JoAnna Bautch, the sister of outgoing Assemblymember JoCasta Zamarripa, and the Wisconsin Director of Citizen Action.^[10]^[11] In the primary, Ortiz-Velez supported expanding BadgerCare (Wisconsin's Medicaid program) and legalization of medical marijuana.^[11] Despite trailing in the early in-person vote returns, Ortiz Velez narrowly won the primary, taking 53% of the vote after absentee ballots were counted.^[12] Ortiz-Velez earned 78% of the vote in the general election, defeating Republican Angel Sanchez.^[13]

Personal life and family

Ortiz-Velez is the daughter of a former evangelical minister; she has seven siblings.

Electoral history

Milwaukee County Board (2012)

Milwaukee County Board, 12th District Election, 2012^[4]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
General Election, April 3, 2012
	Nonpartisan	Peggy Romo West (incumbent)	1,278	55.71%
	Nonpartisan	Sylvia Ortiz	1,003	43.72%
		Scattering	13	0.57%
Plurality			275	11.99%
Total votes			2,294	100.0%

Milwaukee County Board (2018)

Milwaukee County Board, 12th District Election, 2018^[14]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
General Election, April 3, 2018
	Nonpartisan	Sylvia Ortiz-Velez	815	57.11%
	Nonpartisan	Peggy A. West (incumbent)	602	42.19%
		Scattering	10	0.70%
Plurality			213	14.93%
Total votes			1,427	100.0%

Wisconsin Assembly (2020)

Wisconsin Assembly, 8th District Election, 2020^[15]^[13]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
Democratic Primary, August 11, 2020
	Democratic	Sylvia Ortiz-Velez	901	53.06%
	Democratic	JoAnna Bautch	793	46.70%
		Scattering	4	0.24%
Plurality			108	6.36%
Total votes			1,698	100.0%
General Election, November 3, 2020
	Democratic	Sylvia Ortiz-Velez	8,914	78.70%	−3.00%
	Republican	Angel C. Sanchez	2,375	20.97%	+2.83%
		Scattering	37	0.33%
Plurality			6,539	57.73%	-5.83%
Total votes			11,326	100.0%	+25.32%
	Democratic hold