Janel Brandtjen (born March 27, 1966) is an American businesswoman and far-right politician from

Waukesha County, Wisconsin Waukesha County () is a county in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 406,978, making it the third-most populous county in Wisconsin. Its county seat and largest city is Waukesha. Waukesha C ...

. 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 22nd Assembly district since January 2015.

Biography

Born in

Milwaukee, Wisconsin 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, Wisconsin, Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at th ...

, Brandjten received a

Bachelor of Business Administration Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) is a bachelor's degree in business administration awarded by colleges and universities after completion of undergraduate study in the fundamentals of business administration and usually including advanced ...

in Finance and Marketing from

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 Wiscon ...

. Brandtjen is married and has two children. Together with her husband, Brandtjen owns Group One Marketing, an advertising agency in Menomonee Falls. The company received two PPP loans of $31,111 and $30,902, both of which were forgiven. She was elected to the

Waukesha County Waukesha County () is a county in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 406,978, making it the third-most populous county in Wisconsin. Its county seat and largest city is Waukesha. Waukesha Co ...

Board of Supervisors in 2008 and served until 2016.

Legislative career

On November 4, 2014, Brandtjen was elected to the

Wisconsin's 22nd Assembly district Wisconsin's 22nd Assembly district is one of 99 districts in the Wisconsin State Assembly. Located in southeastern Wisconsin, the district comprises areas of northeast Waukesha County and southwest Washington County. It includes the villages of ...

, covering northeast Waukesha County and southwest Washington County. In the Wisconsin State Assembly, she has pushed for legislation to prohibit the use of fetal tissue in research. After Joe Biden won Wisconsin in the

2020 presidential election This national electoral calendar for 2020 lists the national/federal elections held in 2020 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included. January *5 January: **C ...

and President

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...

refused to concede, Brandtjen claimed that there had been fraud and that Trump won Wisconsin. She said, "There is no doubt that... Donald Trump won this election in Wisconsin and several methods of fraud were used to change the outcome." Brandtjen remained a steadfast supporter of Trump's fraud claims and made several attempts to use her position as chair of the Assembly committee on campaigns and elections to further election-skeptic initiatives, like the year-long investigation by former Wisconsin Supreme Court justice Michael Gableman, which ultimately turned up no evidence of fraud. She also supported a bill to "de-certify" the results of the 2020 election—Republican Assembly speaker

Robin Vos Robin J. Vos (born July 5, 1968) is an American businessman and Republican politician and the 79th speaker of the Wisconsin State Assembly, serving in that role since 2013. He has been a member of the Assembly since 2005, representing most of ...

reacted by saying that this was not legally possible. Brandtjen then took the unprecedented step of supporting a

primary challenge In U.S. politics, a primary challenge is when an incumbent holding elective office is challenged by a member of their own political party in a primary election. Such events, known informally as "being primaried," are noteworthy and not frequent ...

against Vos, which nearly cost him his seat in 2022. Brandtjen's activities around the 2020 election and her clashes Vos and other leaders in the Republican caucus eventually led to sanctions from the caucus. The week after the 2022 election, the Republican Assembly caucus voted to bar her from attending any further closed meetings of the caucus, saying that they had lost trust in her. Vos also subsequently stripped Brandtjen of her chairmanship of the Assembly campaigns and elections committee. On December 6, 2022, Brandtjen announced that she was running in the

special election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

for the 8th state senate district after incumbent

Alberta Darling Alberta Darling (born April 28, 1944) is an American politician and former member of the Wisconsin State Senate. She represented Wisconsin's 8th State Senate district from 1993 through 2022 as a Republican. Her constituency included many of the ...

resigned. Brandtjen faced

Dan Knodl Dan Knodl (December 14, 1958) is an American politician, currently serving as a member of the Wisconsin State Assembly. Early life and education Born in Milwaukee, Knodl was raised in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin and graduated from Menomonee Fa ...

and Van Mobley in the Republican primary race. Knodl won and will face Democrat Jodi Habush Sinynkin on the 4th of April.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brandtjen, Janel 1966 births Living people People from Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee alumni Businesspeople from Milwaukee Women state legislators in Wisconsin County supervisors in Wisconsin Republican Party members of the Wisconsin State Assembly 21st-century American politicians 21st-century American women politicians