Wisconsin's 8th Assembly district

Wisconsin's 8th
State Assembly 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
Assemblymember
  Sylvia Ortiz-Velez
D–Milwaukee
since January 4, 2021 (4 years)
Demographics19.84% White
11.02% Black
65.9% Hispanic
3.74% Asian
4.31% Native American
0.17% Hawaiian/Pacific Islander
Population (2020)
 • Voting age		59,362
40,439
WebsiteOfficial website
NotesCentral Milwaukee County

The 8th Assembly district of Wisconsin is one of 99 districts in the Wisconsin State Assembly.[1] Located in southeast Wisconsin, the district is entirely contained within Milwaukee County. It comprises part of the city of Milwaukee's near-south side, including the Walker's Point Historic District, the Historic Mitchell Street neighborhood, and most of Lincoln Village. The district also contains St. Adalbert's Church, the Basilica of St. Josaphat, and St. Stanislaus Catholic Church, the historic epicenter of Milwaukee's Polish American community.[2] The district is represented by Democrat Sylvia Ortiz-Velez, since January 2021.[3]

The 8th Assembly district is located within Wisconsin's 3rd Senate district, along with the 7th and 9th Assembly districts.[4]

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 8th district was drawn in a new configuration crossing four of the former Milwaukee County Assembly districts, with about half of the new district's territory coming from the former Milwaukee 11th district. Although the configuration of the district has changed over the decades, it has always been located on the south side of the city of Milwaukee—with the exception of the 1983 session, under the federal maps which temporarily scrambled the Wisconsin Assembly districts. The district has been anchored with Walker's Point as its northeast boundary since the 1992 redistricting.

Notable former representatives of this district include John Norquist, the 43rd mayor of Milwaukee, Walter Kunicki, the 71st speaker of the Wisconsin Assembly, and Pedro Colón, the first Latino member of the Wisconsin Legislature and the first Latino judge of the Wisconsin Court of Appeals.

List of past representatives

List of representatives to the Wisconsin State Assembly from the 8th district
Member Party Residence Counties represented Term start Term end Ref.
District created
Earl Keegan Jr. Democratic Milwaukee Milwaukee County January 1, 1973 January 6, 1975 [6]
John Norquist January 6, 1975 January 3, 1983 [7]
Lois Plous January 3, 1983 January 7, 1985 [8]
Thomas Crawford January 7, 1985 January 5, 1987 [9]
Peter Bock January 5, 1987 January 4, 1993 [10]
Walter Kunicki January 4, 1993 January 1, 1999 [11]
Pedro Colón January 1, 1999 September 20, 2010 [12]
--Vacant-- September 20, 2010 January 3, 2011 [13]
JoCasta Zamarripa Democratic Milwaukee January 3, 2011 January 4, 2021
Sylvia Ortiz-Velez Democratic January 4, 2021 Current [3]

References

  1. ^ "Assembly District 8". Wisconsin Legislature. Retrieved August 8, 2020.
  2. ^ "Wisconsin Legislative Districts - Assembly District 8 Boundaries". Wisconsin Legislature. Retrieved February 7, 2021.
  3. ^ a b "Representative Sylvia Ortiz-Velez". Wisconsin Legislature. Retrieved January 8, 2021.
  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. ^ "The State: The state of Wisconsin 1973 Blue Book: Biographies and pictures". digicoll.library.wisc.edu. Retrieved August 8, 2020.
  7. ^ "The State: The state of Wisconsin 1981-1982 Blue Book: Biographies and pictures". digicoll.library.wisc.edu. Retrieved August 8, 2020.
  8. ^ "The State: The state of Wisconsin 1983-1984 Blue Book: Biographies and pictures". digicoll.library.wisc.edu. Retrieved August 8, 2020.
  9. ^ "The State: The state of Wisconsin 1985-1986 Blue Book: Biographies and pictures". digicoll.library.wisc.edu. Retrieved August 8, 2020.
  10. ^ "The State: State of Wisconsin 1991-1992 Blue Book: Biographies and photos". digicoll.library.wisc.edu. Retrieved August 8, 2020.
  11. ^ "The State: State of Wisconsin 1997-1998 Blue Book: Biographies and photos". digicoll.library.wisc.edu. Retrieved August 8, 2020.
  12. ^ "The State: State of Wisconsin 2009-2010 Blue Book: Biographies". digicoll.library.wisc.edu. Retrieved August 8, 2020.
  13. ^ "Doyle appoints Pedro Colón to Circuit Court Judge". Milwaukee Courier Weekly Newspaper. September 18, 2010. Retrieved August 8, 2020.