Donna J. Seidel (born August 6, 1950) is an American former

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

police officer A police officer (also called a policeman and, less commonly, a policewoman) is a warranted law employee of a police force. In most countries, "police officer" is a generic term not specifying a particular rank. In some, the use of the ...

and

investigator Investigator may refer to: Occupations Government and law * Detective, a person who investigates crimes, can be a rank and job in a police department, state or federal employee, or a civilian called a private detective * Inspector, a police rank ...

from

Neenah, Wisconsin Neenah () is a city in Winnebago County, Wisconsin, in the north central United States. It is situated on the banks of Lake Winnebago, Little Lake Butte des Morts, and the Fox River, approximately forty miles (60 km) southwest of Green ...

who served as a

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

member of the

Wisconsin State Assembly The Wisconsin State Assembly is the lower house of the Wisconsin Legislature. Together with the smaller Wisconsin Senate, the two constitute the legislative branch of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Representatives are elected for two-year terms, ...

, representing the 85th Assembly District ( Wausau and other parts of

Marathon County Marathon County is a county located in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census, the population was 138,013. Marathon County's seat is Wausau. It was founded in 1850, created from a portion of Portage County. At that time the coun ...

and two tiny portions of

Shawano County Shawano County (pronounced SHAW-no) (originally Shawanaw County) is a County (United States), county located in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population was 40,881. Its county seat is Shawano, ...

) from her election in 2004 until 2013.

Background

Seidel was born in Neenah on August 6, 1950. She graduated from

Neenah High School Neenah High School is a public high school located in Neenah, Wisconsin. It is the only traditional high school of the Neenah Joint School District. As of fall 2008, approximately 2250 students were enrolled in grades 9 through 12, making it one ...

, and received a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

degree from the

University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, the ...

in 1972. She worked as a police officer, and as an investigator for a

district attorney In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or state attorney is the chief prosecutor and/or chief law enforcement officer representing a U.S. state in a l ...

’s office.

Public office

She was the elected Marathon County

Clerk A clerk is a white-collar worker who conducts general office tasks, or a worker who performs similar sales-related tasks in a retail environment. The responsibilities of clerical workers commonly include record keeping, filing, staffing service ...

of Circuit Court from 1989-2004. She ran for the Assembly in 2004, was unopposed in the Democratic

primary Primary or primaries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels * Primary (band), from Australia * Primary (musician), hip hop musician and record producer from South Korea * Primary Music, Israeli record label Works * ...

, and won the

general election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

with 15,666 votes (57.29%) to 11,667 (42.67%) for

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

Sarah Kamke. She was assigned to the

standing committee A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly. A committee is not itself considered to be a form of assembly. Usually, the assembly sends matters into a committee as a way to explore them more ...

s on children and families; on corrections and the courts; on tourism; and on workforce development. She was re-elected in 2006 with 64.55% of the vote and in 2007 became secretary of the Minority Caucus of the Assembly. Re-elected in 2008 with 64.08%, she was elected Assistant Majority Leader of the Assembly Democrats. She was re-elected in 2010 with 52.53% of the vote to 43.15% for Republican Charles Eno and 4.23 percent for

Libertarian Libertarianism (from french: libertaire, "libertarian"; from la, libertas, "freedom") is a political philosophy that upholds liberty as a core value. Libertarians seek to maximize autonomy and political freedom, and minimize the state's e ...

Jim Maas; and remained Assistant Leader of the Assembly Democrats until she retired in 2012. Seidel was a candidate in the 2012 Senate

recall election A recall election (also called a recall referendum, recall petition or representative recall) is a procedure by which, in certain polities, voters can remove an elected official from office through a referendum before that official's term of offi ...

for the 29th District

Wisconsin State Senate The Wisconsin Senate is the upper house of the Wisconsin State Legislature. Together with the larger Wisconsin State Assembly they constitute the legislative branch of the state of Wisconsin. The powers of the Wisconsin Senate are modeled after t ...

seat formerly held by Republican Pam Galloway (who had already resigned). On June 5, 2012

Jerry Petrowski Jerry Petrowski (born June 16, 1950) is an American politician and a former ginseng, dairy and beef farmer. He is a Republican member of the Wisconsin State Senate, representing the 29th Senate District since 2012, and a former State Representa ...

defeated Seidel in the special election.Election results
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Personal life

Seidel is married. She has one daughter and two step-children.

References

External links

* * ''Follow the Money'' - Donna J. Seidel
200820062004
campaign contributions
Campaign 2008
campaign contributions at ''Wisconsin Democracy Campaign'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Seidel, Donna J. 1950 births American women police officers Living people Democratic Party members of the Wisconsin State Assembly Politicians from Neenah, Wisconsin University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point alumni Women state legislators in Wisconsin 21st-century American politicians 21st-century American women politicians