Wisconsin's 8th Senate district

Wisconsin's 8th
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 22, 23, and 24
Senator
  Dan Knodl
R–Germantown
since May 3, 2023 (1 years)
Demographics85.75% White
5.29% Black
2.73% Hispanic
4.56% Asian
1.06% Native American
0.1% Hawaiian/Pacific Islander
Population (2020)
 • Voting age		178,122
138,478
WebsiteOfficial website
NotesMilwaukee metro area (north)

The 8th Senate district of Wisconsin is one of 33 districts of the Wisconsin Senate.[1] Located in southeast Wisconsin, the district includes most of Ozaukee County along with northeastern Milwaukee County, southeast Washington County, and northeast Waukesha County. It contains the cities of Cedarburg, Port Washington, and Mequon, as well as the villages of Bayside, Butler, Fox Point, Grafton, Lannon, Menomonee Falls, River Hills, Thiensville, Whitefish Bay, and most of the villages of Brown Deer and Germantown.[2] As currently drawn, the district is the wealthiest state senate district in the state.[3]

Current elected officials

Dan Knodl is the senator representing the 8th district. He was first elected in a 2023 special election, following the resignation of Alberta Darling. He previously served fourteen years in the Wisconsin State Assembly.[4]

Each Wisconsin State Senate district is composed of three State Assembly districts. The 8th Senate district comprises the 22nd, 23rd, and 24th Assembly districts. The current representatives of those districts are:[5]

The 8th Senate district, in its current borders, crosses three different congressional districts. The Milwaukee County portions of the district fall within Wisconsin's 4th congressional district, represented by U.S. representative Gwen Moore; the Washington County and Waukesha County portions of the district fall within Wisconsin's 5th congressional district, represented by U.S. representative Scott L. Fitzgerald; and the Ozaukee County portions of the district fall within Wisconsin's 6th congressional district, represented by U.S. representative Glenn Grothman.

Past senators

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

The Eighth District as originally created consisted of Green County. It was represented by:

Senator Party Notes Session Years District Definition
District created 1848
Green County
Elisha T. Gardner Dem. 1st
2nd 1849
William Rittenhouse Dem. 3rd 1850
4th 1851
Thomas Bowen Dem. Redistricted to the 24th district. 5th 1852
John Sharpstein Dem. 6th 1853
1852–1855

1856–1860

1861–1865

1866–1870
Kenosha County
Levi Grant Dem. 7th 1854
Francis Paddock Dem. 8th 1855
C. Latham Sholes Rep. 9th 1856
10th 1857
Samuel R. McClellan Rep. 11th 1858
12th 1859
George Bennett Rep. 13th 1860
14th 1861
Herman Thorp Rep. 15th 1862
16th 1863
Anthony Van Wyck Natl. Union 17th 1864
18th 1865
Charles Sholes Natl. Union 19th 1866
20th 1867
Anthony Van Wyck Rep. 21st 1868
22nd 1869
Milton Pettit Rep. Elected Lieutenant Governor in 1871. 23rd 1870
24th 1871
Samuel Pratt Rep. 25th 1872
1871–1875

1876–1881

1882–1887

1888–1891
Kenosha and Walworth counties
26th 1873
Thompson Weeks Rep. 27th 1874
28th 1875
Asahel Farr Rep. 29th 1876
30th 1877
Benoni Reynolds Rep. 31st 1878
32nd 1879
Joseph V. Quarles Rep. 33rd 1880
34th 1881
Charles Palmetier Rep. 35th 1882
36th 1883–1884
Walter Maxwell Rep. 37th 1885–1886
38th 1887–1888
James C. Reynolds Rep. 39th 1889–1890
40th 1891–1892
Michał Kruszka Dem. 41st 1893–1894
42nd 1895–1896
Julius Edward Roehr Rep. 43rd 1897–1898
44th 1899–1900
45th 1901–1902
46th 1903–1904
47th 1905–1906
48th 1907–1908
John C. Kleczka Rep. 49th 1909–1910
50th 1911–1912
Alexander E. Martin Rep. 51st 1913–1914
52nd 1915–1916
Frank Raguse Soc. Expelled in 1917. 53rd 1917–1918
Louis Fons Rep. Won 1918 special election.
54th 1919–1920
George Czerwinski Rep. 55th 1921–1922
56th 1923–1924
Harry Daggett Rep. 57th 1925–1926
58th 1927–1928
59th 1929–1930
60th 1931–1932
William Shenners Jr. Dem. 61st 1933–1934
62nd 1935–1936
Allen Busby Prog. 63rd 1937–1938
64th 1939–1940
John W. Byrnes Rep. 65th 1941–1942
66th 1943–1944
67th 1945–1946
68th 1947–1948
69th 1949–1950
70th 1951–1952
71st 1953–1954
72nd 1955–1956
73rd 1957–1958
74th 1959–1960
75th 1961–1962
76th 1963–1964
77th 1965–1966
78th 1967–1968
79th 1969–1970
80th 1971–1972
James Flynn Dem. Won 1972 election.
Re-elected 1976, 1980.
Elected to Lieutenant Governor in 1982. 		81st 1973–1974
82nd 1975–1976
83rd 1977–1978
84th 1979–1980
85th 1981–1982
Joseph Czarnezki Dem. Won 1983 special election.
Re-elected 1984, 1988.
Did not seek re-election in 1992. 		86th 1983–1984
87th 1985–1986
88th 1987–1988
89th 1989–1990
90th 1991–1992
Alberta Darling Rep. Won 1992 election.
Re-elected 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008.
Survived 2011 recall.
Re-elected 2012, 2016, 2020.
Resigned Dec. 2022 		91st 1993–1994
Northern Milwaukee County,
southwest Ozaukee County,
southeast Washington County,
& northeast Waukesha County
92nd 1995–1996
93rd 1997–1998
94th 1999–2000
95th 2001–2002
96th 2003–2004
Northern Milwaukee County,
southern Ozaukee County,
southeast Washington County,
& northeast Waukesha County
97th 2005–2006
98th 2007–2008
99th 2009–2010
100th 2011–2012
101st 2013–2014
Northeast Milwaukee County,
southeast Ozaukee County,
southern Washington County,
& northeast Waukesha County
    • Assembly Districts 22, 23, 24
102nd 2015–2016
103rd 2017–2018
104th 2019–2020
105th 2021–2022
--Vacant-- 106th 2023–2024
Northeast Milwaukee County,
Southern Ozaukee County,
Southern Washington County,
Northeast Waukesha County
Dan Knodl Rep. Won 2023 special election.

See also

References

  1. ^ "Senate District 8". Wisconsin Legislature. Retrieved March 5, 2021.
  2. ^ "Wisconsin Legislative Districts - Senate District 8 Boundaries". Wisconsin Legislature. Retrieved March 5, 2021.
  3. ^ "State Senate District 8, WI". Retrieved December 16, 2024.
  4. ^ "Senator Daniel Knodl". Wisconsin Legislature. Retrieved May 4, 2023.
  5. ^ District Map