LaKeshia N. Myers (born May 21, 1984) is an American educator and politician. She is 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, ...

, representing the northwest corner of the city of

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 ...

. She was elected to her first term in the Assembly in November 2018 after defeating seven-term incumbent representative

Fred Kessler Frederick P. Kessler (born January 11, 1940) is a retired American lawyer, arbitrator, judge, and Democratic Party politician. He served as a member of the Wisconsin State Assembly for 24 years between 1961 and 2019, and served 11 years as a st ...

in the

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 ...

primary election.

Early life and education

Myers was born in

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

, and graduated from

Rufus King High School Rufus King International High School, or Rufus King, is a public magnet high school located on the north side of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, part of the Milwaukee Public Schools district. The school is ranked the 1,658th best public high school in the ...

in 2002. She received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Alcorn State University in 2006 (from 2005 to 2006 she was National Membership Director of

College Democrats of America The College Democrats of America (CDA) is the official college outreach arm of the Democratic National Committee. It claims over 100,000 college and university student members in College Democrats chapters across the United States. History T ...

), a Master of Education from Strayer University in 2009, and a doctor of education from

Argosy University Argosy University was a system of for-profit colleges owned by Dream Center Education Holdings (DCEH), LLC and Education Management Corporation. On February 27, 2019, the US Department of Education stated that they were cutting off federal fu ...

in 2016. In addition to working as Director of Education for the

Wisconsin Department of Corrections The Wisconsin Department of Corrections (WIDOC) is an administrative department in the executive branch of the state of Wisconsin responsible for corrections in Wisconsin, including state prisons and community supervision. The secretary is a cab ...

and a trainer of teachers at

Milwaukee Public Schools Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS) is the largest school district in Wisconsin. As of the 2015–16 school year, MPS served 75,568 students in 154 schools and had 9,636 full-time equivalent (FTE) staff positions. The Milwaukee Public Schools system i ...

, she has been a small business owner, a

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 ...

for the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

, and a legislative aide for Wisconsin State Senator

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 ...

. She is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority.

Assembly race

In 2012, after a drastic redistricting by the Republican-controlled legislature removed his home from the 12th and changed the racial complexion completely, Kessler (who had served in the Assembly on and off since 1961) faced a challenge in the Democratic primary from African-American newcomer Mario Hall, who was reported to be a

school choice School choice is a term for education options that allow students and families to select alternatives to public schools. The most common in the United States, by both the number of programs and by the number of participating students are scho ...

supporter with backing from pro-

voucher A voucher is a bond of the redeemable transaction type which is worth a certain monetary value and which may be spent only for specific reasons or on specific goods. Examples include housing, travel, and food vouchers. The term voucher is also ...

organizations. Kessler (who had to move into the redrawn district) won with 71% of the vote, and faced no challenger in the November general election. Kessler was re-elected without opposition in 2014 and 2016. In 2018, Myers (who has been active in various African-American and other civic organizations) announced her candidacy, saying that she ran because "neglect and starvation" had hurt Wisconsin's educational system, advocating that fewer people be re-imprisoned for minor probation and parole violations, and denouncing what she calls the district's economic decline. Kessler has been a frequent critic of

Milwaukee County Executive The Milwaukee County Executive serves as the chief executive officer of Milwaukee County, Wisconsin. Vested with veto power and appointing authority over department heads, the county executive oversees the administrative functions of county gover ...

Chris Abele Christopher Seton Abele (born January 28, 1967) is an American businessman and Democratic Party politician. He served as the 6th Milwaukee County Executive from 2011 to 2020. Abele is the son of American businessman John Abele, the co-founder ...

on issues from

privatization Privatization (also privatisation in British English) can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation when ...

of Milwaukee public schools to the public subsidies which financed the

Fiserv Forum Fiserv Forum (stylized as fiserv.forum) () is a multi-purpose arena located in downtown Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It is the home of the Milwaukee Bucks of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the Marquette Golden Eagles men's basketball tea ...

; and the Leadership MKE political action fund (financed almost completely by Abele) reported spending over $57,000 in support of Myers' candidacy. In the primary she defeated the 78-year-old Kessler with 3,709 votes to his 2,545. Afterwards, she told the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...

, "I think the district made their voices clear with, it's time for us to cash in on that seat by having someone, a person of color, represent us in this district." (She is the only African-American woman in the Assembly from the Milwaukee area, and one of only two statewide.) She drew 17,428 votes in the general election, with only 274 write-in votes against her.''WEC Canvass Reporting System: County by County Report: 2018 General Election'' "Representative to the Assembly District 1"
p. 12.

Electoral history

, colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", Primary Election, August 14, 2018 , colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;", General Election, November 6, 2018

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Myers, LaKeshia 1984 births Living people Schoolteachers from Wisconsin American women educators Women state legislators in Wisconsin African-American state legislators in Wisconsin 21st-century American politicians African-American women in politics Politicians from Milwaukee Alcorn State University alumni Argosy University alumni Strayer University alumni Democratic Party members of the Wisconsin State Assembly Alpha Kappa Alpha members 21st-century American women politicians Rufus King International High School alumni 21st-century African-American women 21st-century African-American politicians 20th-century African-American people 20th-century African-American women