The 79th Assembly District of Wisconsin is one of 99 districts in the Wisconsin State Assembly. Located in south-central Wisconsin, the district comprises parts of central Dane County, including the city of Middleton and the village

Waunakee Waunakee () is a village in Dane County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 14,879 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Madison Metropolitan Statistical Area. Waunakee bills itself as "The Only Waunakee in the World". History When ...

. The district is represented by

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 ...

Alex Joers, since January 2023. Wisconsin trade center

The 79th Assembly District is located within

Wisconsin's 27th Senate district The 27th Senate District of Wisconsin is one of 33 districts in the Wisconsin Senate. Located in south-central Wisconsin, the district comprises most of the northwest quadrant of Dane County. It includes much of the west side of the city of ...

, along with the 80th and 81st Assembly districts.

History

The 79th Assembly district has had a volatile history in

redistricting Redistribution (re-districting in the United States and in the Philippines) is the process by which electoral districts are added, removed, or otherwise changed. Redistribution is a form of boundary delimitation that changes electoral dist ...

, and has had four major changes to its composition in the seven redistricting cycles since its creation. The district was initially drawn encompassing most of Marquette County, the southern halves of Adams and Juneau counties, and parts of northern Columbia County and northern Sauk County. The first representative of the district was Tommy Thompson, who previously represented the Adams–Juneau–Marquette district. The 1982 court-ordered redistricting moved the 79th district to the city of Appleton, Wisconsin, in Outagamie County, roughly taking the place of the 42nd Assembly district. The Legislature's 1983 redistricting act moved the district to south-central Wisconsin, comprising the southwest corner of Dane County, most of the northern quarter of Green County, and a small part of northwestern Rock County. The 1992 redistricting made only minor changes to the 1983 map, but added half of the city of Middleton, which would become an anchor for the district over the next 30 years. The 2002 map added more of Middleton and shrunk the geographic footprint of the district to a strip of western Dane County. The 2011 redistricting act shed the towns of western Dane County and shifted the district to north-central Dane County, adding the village of Waunakee. As the population of Middleton and Waunakee surged 25% and 23%, respectively, from the 2010 to 2020 census, the district shed remaining rural towns and became more concentrated around those two municipalities. For notable past representatives, Tommy Thompson went on to become the 42nd

Governor of Wisconsin The governor of Wisconsin is the head of government of Wisconsin and the commander-in-chief of the state's army and air forces. The governor has a duty to enforce state laws, and the power to either approve or veto bills passed by the Wiscons ...

and 19th United States Secretary of Health and Human Services.

David Prosser, Jr. David T. Prosser Jr. (born December 24, 1942) is an American jurist and politician who served as Speaker of the Wisconsin State Assembly from 1995 to 1996, and as a justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court from 1998 to 2016. Following his gradua ...

, went on to serve on the Wisconsin Supreme Court for 18 years. Joe Wineke later served as Chairman of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin.

List of past representatives

References

{{Wisconsin state legislature districts Wisconsin State Assembly districts Dane County, Wisconsin