JoCasta Zamarripa (born March 8, 1976) is an American politician and former 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, ...

. A

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

, she represented the 8th assembly district for 10 years. She is now a member of the

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee ...

Common Council. Prior to winning elective office, Zamarripa worked as an outreach coordinator for Planned Parenthood.

Biography

Born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Zamarripa graduated from the

University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee The University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee (UW–Milwaukee, UWM, or Milwaukee) is a public urban research university in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It is the largest university in the Milwaukee metropolitan area and a member of the University of Wiscons ...

in 2005. She was elected to the 8th

district in 2010. Previously, she had worked as an outreach coordinator at Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin. In the heavily Democratic 8th district, Zamarripa has never faced a significant challenge outside the Democratic primary election. In 2010, 2012 and 2014, she faced repeated unsuccessful challenges in that primary from Laura Manriquez. Otherwise, her only ballot opposition was a 2010 effort by

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

Ramona Rivas (although Manriquez mounted a

write-in A write-in candidate is a candidate whose name does not appear on the ballot but seeks election by asking voters to cast a vote for the candidate by physically writing in the person's name on the ballot. Depending on electoral law it may be po ...

campaign). In each election, Zamarripa won 83% or more of the general election vote. In a July 2012 interview with the '' Milwaukee Journal Sentinel'', she announced that she is bisexual. She was one of four openly LGBT members of the Wisconsin Legislature, alongside Senator

Tim Carpenter Timothy W. Carpenter (born February 24, 1960) is an American politician and Democratic member of the Wisconsin State Senate, representing the 3rd Senate district since 2003. He previously served 18 years in the Wisconsin State Assembly (1985&n ...

(D–Milwaukee) and Representatives

Mark Spreitzer Mark Spreitzer (born December 16, 1986) is an American Democratic politician from Beloit, Wisconsin. He is a member of the Wisconsin Senate, representing Wisconsin's 15th State Senate district since January 2023. Spreitzer represented the 45th ...

(D– Beloit) and Todd Novak (R– Dodgeville). In 2014, she was included as part of the annual "40 under 40" list in '' The Advocate''. In 2017, Zamarripa attended Harvard University's

John F. Kennedy School of Government The Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), officially the John F. Kennedy School of Government, is the school of public policy and government of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The school offers master's degrees in public policy, public ...

program for Senior Executives in State and Local Government as a

David Bohnett David C. Bohnett (born April 2, 1956) is an American philanthropist and technology entrepreneur. He is the founder and chairman of the David Bohnett Foundation, a non-profit, grant-making organization devoted to improving society through social ...

LGBTQ Victory Institute Leadership Fellow."Victory Institute Announces 2017 Bohnett Leaders Fellowship Recipients" victoryinstitute.org accessed 12-20-2021
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References

External links

* *
Campaign website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zamarripa, Jocasta University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee alumni Women state legislators in Wisconsin 1976 births Hispanic and Latino American state legislators in Wisconsin Hispanic and Latino American women in politics Living people Bisexual women politicians LGBT state legislators in Wisconsin LGBT people from Wisconsin 2012 United States presidential electors Politicians from Milwaukee 21st-century American politicians 21st-century American women politicians American politicians of Mexican descent Democratic Party members of the Wisconsin State Assembly