Kimberly Plache (born January 4, 1961) is an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

Democratic politician and former member of the

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 ...

Early life and education

Born in

Racine, Wisconsin Racine ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Racine County, Wisconsin, United States. It is located on the shore of Lake Michigan at the mouth of the Root River. Racine is situated 22 miles (35 km) south of Milwaukee and approximately 60 ...

, Plache graduated from

William Horlick High School William Horlick High School (also known as Horlick or Racine Horlick High School) is a comprehensive public four-year high school in Racine, Wisconsin with an enrollment of approximately 2,000 students. The school opened to students in 1928, after ...

in 1979. In 1984, she received her

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

in psychology from

University of Wisconsin–Parkside The University of Wisconsin–Parkside (UWP) is a public university in Somers, Wisconsin. It is part of the University of Wisconsin System and has 4,644 students, 161 full-time faculty, and 89 lecturers and part-time faculty. The university of ...

Career

Shortly after her college graduation, Plache was hired as a

legislative aide A legislative assistant (LA) or legislative analyst is a person who works for a legislator as a legislative staffer, a government agency as a legislative affairs professional, or in the government relations and regulatory affairs industry by monitor ...

by her representative in 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, ...

, Jeffrey A. Neubauer. When Neubauer chose not to run for re-election in 1988, Plache ran and was elected to succeed him in the Assembly. She was re-elected in 1990, 1992, and 1994. In October 1995,

Racine County Racine County (, sometimes also ) is a county in southeastern Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census, its population was 197,727, making it Wisconsin's fifth-most populous county. Its county seat is Racine. The county was founded in 1836, then a par ...

's representative in the Wisconsin Senate,

George Petak George Petak (born November 6, 1949) is an American Republican politician and political consultant who was the first Wisconsin state legislator to be removed from office in a recall election. Early life and education Born in Warren, Ohio, Pet ...

, ran into controversy when he changed his vote on a funding bill for the

Miller Park American Family Field is a retractable roof stadium used primarily for baseball. It is located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, just southwest of the intersection of Interstate 94 and Brewers Boulevard. It is the home of Major League Baseball's Milwauk ...

stadium. Miller Park was being planned to replace the forty-year-old

Milwaukee County Stadium Milwaukee County Stadium was a multi-purpose stadium in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Opened in 1953, it was primarily a baseball park for Major League Baseball's Milwaukee Braves and later the Milwaukee Brewers. It was also used for Green Bay Packers ...

and was being pushed by Republican

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Tommy Thompson Tommy George Thompson (born November 19, 1941) is an American Republican politician who most recently served as interim president of the University of Wisconsin System from 2020 to 2022. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served ...

and

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division. The Brewers are named for t ...

owner and future-

Commissioner of Baseball The Commissioner of Baseball is the chief executive officer of Major League Baseball (MLB) and the associated Minor League Baseball (MiLB) – a constellation of leagues and clubs known as "organized baseball". Under the direction of the Commiss ...

Bud Selig Allan Huber "Bud" Selig (; born July 30, 1934) is an American baseball executive who currently serves as the Commissioner Emeritus of Baseball. Previously, he served as the ninth Commissioner of Baseball from 1998 to 2015. He initially served as ...

. Petak had promised his constituents that he would vote against the bill, but changed his mind based on the belief that the Brewers would leave Wisconsin if a new stadium wasn't built. Petak's deciding vote supported a 0.1 percent sales tax increase for the five counties in the proposed stadium's vicinity, including Racine. Petak faced immediate outrage in his home

district A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...

, and local Democrats were energized to collect signatures for a recall petition. The petition was certified on March 26, 1996, and a recall election was ordered for June. Plache decided to run in the recall and faced no competition in the Democratic primary. In June, she defeated Petak, making him the first Wisconsin state legislator to be removed from office in a recall election. Plache was re-elected to a full term in the senate in 1998, defeating Racine Unified School Board Member David Hazen. Plache sought re-election again in 2002, but was narrowly defeated by Republican

Cathy Stepp Catherine L. "Cathy" Stepp (' O'Donnell; born August 17, 1963) is an American government administrator and former Republican politician. She is the city administrator of Branson, Missouri, and previously served as regional administrator (midwest ...

. In 2009, the Mayor of Racine was forced to resign after being indicted. Plache ran in the special election to replace him, but did not pass the primary. In the same year, however, she was elected to the Racine Unified School Board. She served on the school board until 2016.ProgressMajority.org=Kimberly Plache
/ref> She is currently a senior community relations officer for the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority.

Personal life

Plache married Paul Hable in October 1999. They live in

Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin :''There is also the Town of Mount Pleasant in Green County.'' Mount Pleasant is a village in Racine County, Wisconsin, United States. It is located approximately south of Milwaukee and north of Chicago. As of the 2020 census, the village's p ...

, and they have one daughter.

Electoral history

Wisconsin Assembly (1988-1994)

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Wisconsin Senate (1996-2002)

Racine Mayor (2009)

, colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", Primary Election , colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", General Election

Racine School Board (2009–2016)

, colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", General Election , colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", General Election , colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", General Election , colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", General Election

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Plache, Kimberly Politicians from Racine, Wisconsin University of Wisconsin–Parkside alumni School board members in Wisconsin Members of the Wisconsin State Assembly Wisconsin state senators Women state legislators in Wisconsin 1961 births Living people William Horlick High School alumni 21st-century American women