Wisconsin's 61st Assembly district

Wisconsin's 61st State Assembly 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
Assemblymember	Bob Donovan R–Greenfield since January 6, 2025 (98 days)
Demographics	80.33% White 4.18% Black 8.98% Hispanic 4.9% Asian 1.95% Native American 0.1% Hawaiian/Pacific Islander
Population (2020)  • Voting age	59,361 47,545
Website	Official website
Notes	Southeast Wisconsin

The 61st Assembly district of Wisconsin is one of 99 districts in the Wisconsin State Assembly.^[1] Located in southeastern Wisconsin, the district comprises part of southwest Milwaukee County, including the villages of Greendale and Hales Corners, most of the city of Greenfield, and parts of southwest Milwaukee and northeast Franklin.^[2] The district is represented by Republican Bob Donovan, since January 2025; Donovan previously represented the 84th district from 2023 to 2025.^[3]

The 61st Assembly district is located within Wisconsin's 21st Senate district, along with the 62nd and 63rd Assembly Districts.^[4]

• 
  Boerner Botanical Gardens in Hales Corners
• 
  Greendale village hall

History

The district was created in the 1972 redistricting act (1971 Wisc. Act 304) which first established the numbered district system, replacing the previous system which allocated districts to specific counties.^[5] The 61st district was drawn roughly in line with the boundaries of the previous Racine County 2nd district (the northern part of the city of Racine). The 61st district boundaries were relatively consistent in redistricting from 1972 to 2011, with the exception of the 1982 redistricting, which scrambled all State Assembly districts and moved the 61st district to north-central Wisconsin for the 1983–1984 legislative session. That changed with the controversial 2011 redistricting plan (2011 Wisc. Act 43) which moved the district to Kenosha County—the territory which had been covered by the 61st district was then split between the 62nd and 66th Assembly districts. This was part of a larger gerrymandering plan for the Racine and Kenosha County districts to convert one Assembly seat and one Senate seat from tossups to safely Republican.

The 2024 redistricting (2023 Wisc. Act 94) again dramatically reshaped the 21st Senate district, moving the 61st district from Kenosha County to southwest Milwaukee County. Most of the area previously covered by the 61st district became the bulk of the new 32nd Assembly district. Under the new map configuration, the 61st Assembly district is projected to be one of the most competitive districts in the state legislature.

List of past representatives

List of representatives to the Wisconsin State Assembly from the 61st district

Member	Party	Residence	Counties represented	Term start	Term end	Ref.
District created
James F. Rooney	Dem.	Racine	Racine	January 1, 1973	January 3, 1983
Sheehan Donoghue	Rep.	Merrill	Langlade, Lincoln, Marathon	January 3, 1983	January 7, 1985
Scott C. Fergus	Dem.	Racine	Racine	January 7, 1985	July 1, 1990
--Vacant--				July 1, 1990	January 7, 1991
Robert L. Turner	Dem.	Racine		January 7, 1991	January 7, 2013
Samantha Kerkman	Rep.	Randall	Kenosha	January 7, 2013	June 7, 2022	[6]
--Vacant--				June 7, 2022	January 3, 2023
Amanda Nedweski	Rep.	Pleasant Prairie		January 3, 2023	January 6, 2025	[7]
Bob Donovan	Rep.	Greenfield	Milwaukee	January 6, 2025	Current	[3]

Electoral history

Year	Date	Elected				Defeated				Total	Plurality	Other primary candidates
1972[8]	Nov. 7	James F. Rooney	Democratic	9,261	56.39%	Thomas C. Mortenson	Rep.	7,162	43.61%	16,423	2,099	Stanley N. Barry (Rep.) John A. Flanagan (Dem.) Curtis E. Sahakian (Dem.)
1974[9]	Nov. 5	James F. Rooney (inc)	Democratic	5,881	57.82%	Anita M. Hunt	Rep.	4,291	42.18%	10,172	1,590	Betty S. Rowley (Dem.)
1976[10]	Nov. 2	James F. Rooney (inc)	Democratic	12,309	94.72%	Gary Pederson	Amer.	686	5.28%	12,995	11,623
1978[11]	Nov. 7	James F. Rooney (inc)	Democratic	7,911	68.88%	Gary Pederson	Rep.	3,575	31.12%	11,486	4,336
1980[12]	Nov. 4	James F. Rooney (inc)	Democratic	10,724	65.06%	Earl W. Bell	Rep.	5,758	34.94%	16,482	4,966
1982[13]	Nov. 2	Sheehan Donoghue	Republican	8,377	50.80%	Frank Murphy	Dem.	8,112	49.20%	16,489	265
1984[14]	Nov. 6	Scott C. Fergus	Democratic	10,880	55.21%	Donald Walsh	Rep.	8,827	44.79%	19,707	2,053	William M. Frank (Dem.) Robert L. Turner (Dem.)
1986[15]	Nov. 4	Scott C. Fergus (inc)	Democratic	7,575	58.88%	Norman T. Monson	Rep.	5,291	41.12%	12,866	2,284	Gwendolyn Wortock (Rep.)
1988[16]	Nov. 8	Scott C. Fergus (inc)	Democratic	11,700	67.09%	Gwendolyn Wortock	Rep.	5,738	32.91%	17,438	5,962
1990[17]	Nov. 6	Robert L. Turner	Democratic	7,232	62.09%	Roderick D. Wilhelmi	Rep.	4,415	37.91%	11,647	2,817	Cathleen A. Cotter (Dem.) John Dickert (Dem.)
1992[18]	Nov. 3	Robert L. Turner (inc)	Democratic	11,963	66.66%	Stella A. Young	Rep.	5,984	33.34%	17,947	5,979
1994[19]	Nov. 8	Robert L. Turner (inc)	Democratic	7,464	100.0%	--Unopposed--				7,464	7,464
1996[20]	Nov. 5	Robert L. Turner (inc)	Democratic	10,218	85.97%	Thomas Rivers	Tax.	904	7.61%	11,886	9,314
						Michael L. Wynhoff	Lib.	764	6.43%
1998[21]	Nov. 3	Robert L. Turner (inc)	Democratic	9,515	100.0%	--Unopposed--				9,515	9,515	Ken Lumpkin (Dem.)
2000[22]	Nov. 7	Robert L. Turner (inc)	Democratic	13,703	99.56%					13,763	13,643
2002[23]	Nov. 5	Robert L. Turner (inc)	Democratic	9,525	98.15%					9,705	9,345	John Dickert (Dem.)[24]
2004[25]	Nov. 2	Robert L. Turner (inc)	Democratic	17,173	89.49%	George Meyers	Lib.	1,980	10.32%	19,189	15,193
2006[26]	Nov. 7	Robert L. Turner (inc)	Democratic	11,431	99.06%	--Unopposed--				11,539	11,323
2008[27]	Nov. 4	Robert L. Turner (inc)	Democratic	16,267	87.71%	George Meyers	Lib.	2,242	12.09%	18,547	14,025
2010[28]	Nov. 2	Robert L. Turner (inc)	Democratic	10,026	81.96%	George Meyers	Lib.	2,167	17.71%	12,233	7,859	James DeMatthew (Dem.)[29]
2012[30]	Nov. 6	Samantha Kerkman	Republican	16,589	55.67%	John Steinbrink	Dem.	13,186	44.25%	29,798	3,403
2014[31]	Nov. 4	Samantha Kerkman (inc)	Republican	17,452	97.41%	--Unopposed--				17,916	16,988
2016[32]	Nov. 8	Samantha Kerkman (inc)	Republican	19,622	66.59%	Amee Janus	Dem.	9,792	33.23%	29,466	9,830
2018[33]	Nov. 6	Samantha Kerkman (inc)	Republican	16,606	61.87%	Gina Walkington	Dem.	10,207	38.03%	26,841	6,399
2020[34]	Nov. 3	Samantha Kerkman (inc)	Republican	28,254	96.26%	Steve Kundert (write-in)	Dem.	8	0.03%	29,352	27,164
2022[35]	Nov. 8	Amanda Nedweski	Republican	17,542	64.00%	Max Winkels	Dem.	9,851	35.94%	27,408	7,691	Mike Honold (Rep.)

References

1. "Assembly District 61". Wisconsin Legislature. Retrieved January 7, 2021.
2. "Wisconsin Legislative Districts - Assembly District 61 Boundaries". Wisconsin Legislature. Retrieved January 7, 2021.
3. "Representative Bob G. Donovan". Wisconsin Legislature. 2025. Retrieved January 19, 2025.
4. An Act ... relating to: legislative redistricting (Act 94). Wisconsin Legislature. 2023. Retrieved February 23, 2024.
5. Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau (1973). "Legislature" (PDF). In Theobald, H. Rupert; Robbins, Patricia V. (eds.). The state of Wisconsin 1973 Blue Book (Report). Madison, Wisconsin: State of Wisconsin. pp. 227–230. Retrieved January 22, 2021.
6. "Representative Samantha Kerkman". Wisconsin Legislature. Retrieved January 7, 2021.
7. "Representative Amanda M. Nedweski". Wisconsin Legislature. 2023. Retrieved January 3, 2023.
8. Theobald, H. Rupert; Robbins, Patricia V., eds. (1973). "Elections in Wisconsin". The State of Wisconsin 1973 Blue Book (Report). Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau. pp. 809, 828. Retrieved May 12, 2024.
9. Theobald, H. Rupert; Robbins, Patricia V., eds. (1975). "Elections in Wisconsin". The State of Wisconsin 1975 Blue Book (Report). Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau. pp. 809, 830. Retrieved May 12, 2024.
10. Theobald, H. Rupert; Robbins, Patricia V., eds. (1977). "Elections in Wisconsin". The State of Wisconsin 1977 Blue Book (Report). Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau. pp. 893, 915. Retrieved May 12, 2024.
11. Theobald, H. Rupert; Robbins, Patricia V., eds. (1979). "Elections in Wisconsin". The State of Wisconsin 1979–1980 Blue Book (Report). Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau. pp. 907, 925. Retrieved May 12, 2024.
12. Theobald, H. Rupert; Robbins, Patricia V., eds. (1981). "Elections in Wisconsin". The State of Wisconsin 1981–1982 Blue Book (Report). Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau. pp. 895, 916. Retrieved May 3, 2024.
13. Theobald, H. Rupert; Robbins, Patricia V., eds. (1983). "Elections in Wisconsin". State of Wisconsin 1983–1984 Blue Book (Report). Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau. pp. 890, 911. Retrieved May 12, 2024.
14. Theobald, H. Rupert; Robbins, Patricia V., eds. (1985). "Elections in Wisconsin". State of Wisconsin 1985–1986 Blue Book (Report). Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau. pp. 908, 926. Retrieved May 12, 2024.
15. Theobald, H. Rupert; Barish, Lawrence S., eds. (1987). "Elections". State of Wisconsin 1987–1988 Blue Book (Report). Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau. pp. 889, 908. Retrieved May 12, 2024.
16. Barish, Lawrence S.; Theobald, H. Rupert, eds. (1989). "Elections in Wisconsin". State of Wisconsin 1989–1990 Blue Book (Report). Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau. pp. 911, 926. Retrieved May 12, 2024.
17. Barish, Lawrence S.; Theobald, H. Rupert, eds. (1991). "Elections in Wisconsin". State of Wisconsin 1991–1992 Blue Book (Report). Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau. pp. 900, 916. Retrieved May 12, 2024.
18. Barish, Lawrence S.; Theobald, H. Rupert, eds. (1993). "Elections in Wisconsin". State of Wisconsin 1993–1994 Blue Book (Report). Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau. pp. 905, 922. Retrieved May 11, 2024.
19. Barish, Lawrence S., ed. (1995). "Elections in Wisconsin". State of Wisconsin 1995–1996 Blue Book (Report). Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau. pp. 904, 922. Retrieved May 11, 2024.
20. Barish, Lawrence S., ed. (1997). "Elections in Wisconsin". State of Wisconsin 1997–1998 Blue Book (Report). Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau. pp. 900, 904. Retrieved May 12, 2024.
21. Barish, Lawrence S.; Meloy, Patricia E., eds. (1999). "Elections". State of Wisconsin 1999–2000 Blue Book (Report). Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau. pp. 880, 883. Retrieved May 12, 2024.
22. Results of Fall General Election - 11/07/2000 (Report). Wisconsin State Elections Board. May 10, 2001. p. 30. Retrieved May 12, 2024 – via Wisconsin Historical Society.
23. Results of Fall General Election - 11/05/2002 (Report). Wisconsin State Elections Board. December 2, 2002. p. 31. Retrieved May 12, 2024 – via Wisconsin Historical Society.
24. Results of Fall Primary Election - 09/10/2002 (Report). Wisconsin State Elections Board. September 24, 2002. p. 52. Retrieved May 11, 2024 – via Wisconsin Historical Society.
25. Results of Fall General Election - 11/02/2004 (Report). Wisconsin State Elections Board. December 1, 2004. p. 32. Retrieved May 12, 2024 – via Wisconsin Historical Society.
26. Results of Fall General Election - 11/07/2006 (Report). Wisconsin State Elections Board. December 5, 2006. p. 31. Retrieved May 11, 2024 – via Wisconsin Historical Society.
27. Results of Fall General Election - 11/04/2008 (Report). Wisconsin State Elections Board. December 1, 2008. p. 29. Retrieved May 11, 2024 – via Wisconsin Historical Society.
28. Results of Fall General Election - 11/02/2010 (Report). Wisconsin Government Accountability Board. December 1, 2010. p. 24. Retrieved May 12, 2024 – via Wisconsin Historical Society.
29. Results of Fall Partisan Primary - 9/14/2010 (Report). Wisconsin Government Accountability Board. October 4, 2010. p. 49. Retrieved May 11, 2024 – via Wisconsin Historical Society.
30. Canvass Results for 2012 Presidential and General Election - 11/6/2012 (Report). Wisconsin Government Accountability Board. December 26, 2012. p. 23. Retrieved May 12, 2024 – via Wisconsin Historical Society.
31. Canvass Results for 2014 General Election - 11/4/2014 (PDF) (Report). Wisconsin Government Accountability Board. November 26, 2014. p. 22. Retrieved May 12, 2024 – via Wisconsin Elections Commission.
32. Canvass Results for 2016 General Election - 11/8/2016 (PDF) (Report). Wisconsin Elections Commission. December 22, 2016. pp. 22–23. Retrieved May 12, 2024.
33. Canvass Results for 2018 General Election - 11/6/2018 (PDF) (Report). Wisconsin Elections Commission. February 22, 2019. p. 24. Retrieved May 8, 2024.
34. Canvass Results for 2018 General Election - 11/6/2018 (PDF) (Report). Wisconsin Elections Commission. February 22, 2019. p. 22. Retrieved May 12, 2024.
35. Canvass Results for 2022 General Election - 11/8/2022 (PDF) (Report). Wisconsin Elections Commission. November 30, 2022. pp. 22–23. Retrieved May 12, 2024.