Johnnie Elaine Morris-Tatum (born July 9, 1951), also known as Johnnie Morris, is a Democratic politician from

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 is ...

who served as a 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, ...

Background

Morris-Tatum was born in

, and attended

West Division High School Established in 1895, Milwaukee High School of the Arts (MHSA), formerly West Division Sr. High School, is a high school in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. It is a part of the Milwaukee Public Schools system. It specializes in preparation for ...

Milwaukee Area Technical College Milwaukee Area Technical College (or MATC) is a public two-year vocational-technical college based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. MATC offers day, evening, and weekend classes at campuses in downtown Milwaukee, Oak Creek, West Allis, and Mequon. En ...

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

, and Milwaukee Theological Institute. She worked as a mortgage company manager and supervisor, as the director of the Milwaukee Coalition Against Drug and Alcohol Abuse and as the executive director of the Midtown Neighborhood Association, before being elected to the

Wisconsin 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, e ...

11th district 11 (eleven) is the natural number following 10 and preceding 12. It is the first repdigit. In English, it is the smallest positive integer whose name has three syllables. Name "Eleven" derives from the Old English ', which is first attested i ...

in 1992.

Career in the Assembly

Morris-Tatum was re-elected for four terms, but in 2004 chose to run for the 4th

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 ...

District seat (being vacated by

Gwen Moore Gwendolynne Sophia Moore (born April 18, 1951) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for since 2005. In 2016, Moore was elected to serve as caucus whip of the Congressional Black Caucus for the 115th United States Congres ...

), running unsuccessfully against State Representative

Lena Taylor Lena C. Taylor (born July 25, 1966) is an American politician and attorney serving as a member of the Wisconsin Senate from the 4th district. She previously served in the Wisconsin Assembly, representing the 18th district from 2003 to 2005. Tay ...

(the winner) and Milwaukee County Supervisor James G. White in the Democratic

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. Her successor was

Jason Fields Jason M. Fields (born January 29, 1974) is an American politician, and a former stockbroker, financial advisor, and banker from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He was a Democratic member of the Wisconsin State Assembly for six terms (2005–2013 & 201 ...

Ethics charges

In 2001, local journalist Bruce Murphy accused Morris-Tatum of overcharging for mileage to and from

Madison Madison may refer to: People * Madison (name), a given name and a surname * James Madison (1751–1836), fourth president of the United States Place names * Madison, Wisconsin, the state capital of Wisconsin and the largest city known by this ...

, the State Capital; but no charges were filed. In 2002, Morris-Tatum agreed to pay a $1000 fine for over $12,000 in questionable

long distance telephone call In telecommunications, a long-distance call (U.S.) or trunk call (also known as a toll call in the U.K. ) is a telephone call made to a location outside a defined local calling area. Long-distance calls are typically charged a higher billing rate ...

s between October 1999 and July 2001, for which she had been reimbursed by the Assembly, including about $6,000 in calls to

Senegal Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭 (Senegaali); Arabic: السنغال ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wolof: ''Réewum Senegaal''; Pulaar : 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 � ...

. She was still re-elected without opposition in 2002.

Personal life

Morris-Tatum is married and has 2 children. She received a

Doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''l ...

Humanities Humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture. In the Renaissance, the term contrasted with divinity and referred to what is now called classics, the main area of secular study in universities at the t ...

from Trinity Hall College and Seminary (in Chicago) in 1996 during her time as a legislator. Since leaving the legislature, she has become Milwaukee Director of the Safe Families for Children program.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Morris-Tatum, Johnnie 1951 births Living people Milwaukee Area Technical College alumni Members of the Wisconsin State Assembly Politicians from Milwaukee University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee alumni Women state legislators in Wisconsin 21st-century American legislators 21st-century American women politicians 21st-century Wisconsin politicians