Brett Dudley Hulsey (born April 28, 1959) is a

consultant A consultant (from la, consultare "to deliberate") is a professional (also known as ''expert'', ''specialist'', see variations of meaning below) who provides advice and other purposeful activities in an area of specialization. Consulting servic ...

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 ...

politician and legislator 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 ...

Background

Hulsey earned a

B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

political economy Political economy is the study of how Macroeconomics, economic systems (e.g. Marketplace, markets and Economy, national economies) and Politics, political systems (e.g. law, Institution, institutions, government) are linked. Widely studied ph ...

from

Middlebury College Middlebury College is a private liberal arts college in Middlebury, Vermont. Founded in 1800 by Congregationalists, Middlebury was the first operating college or university in Vermont. The college currently enrolls 2,858 undergraduates from all ...

in 1982, and an

M.S. A Master of Science ( la, Magisterii Scientiae; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree in the field of science awarded by universities in many countries or a person holding such a degree. In contrast to ...

natural science Natural science is one of the branches of science concerned with the description, understanding and prediction of natural phenomena, based on empirical evidence from observation and experimentation. Mechanisms such as peer review and repeatab ...

from the

University of Oklahoma The University of Oklahoma (OU) is a Public university, public research university in Norman, Oklahoma. Founded in 1890, it had existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two Territories became the state of Oklahom ...

in 1988. He is the owner of an energy and environmental

consulting firm A consulting firm or simply consultancy is a professional service firm that provides expertise and specialised labour for a fee, through the use of consultants. Consulting firms may have one employee or thousands; they may consult in a broad range ...

. He has served as a

Dane County Dane County is a county in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census, the population was 561,504, making it the second-most populous county in Wisconsin. The county seat is Madison, which is also the state capital. Dane County is the ...

supervisor A supervisor, or lead, (also known as foreman, boss, overseer, facilitator, monitor, area coordinator, line-manager or sometimes gaffer) is the job title of a lower-level management position that is primarily based on authority over workers or ...

since 1998.

Personal life

As of 2013 he had been married to Mary Kay for 19 years; they have one son (Tyler) and one daughter (Lea). On February 7, 2013 his wife filed for divorce. He was issued a citation by Madison Police Department on July 12, 2012, for disorderly conduct at a Spring Harbor Beach on

Lake Mendota Lake Mendota is a freshwater eutrophic lake that is the northernmost and largest of the four lakes in Madison, Wisconsin. The lake borders Madison on the north, east, and south, Middleton on the west, Shorewood Hills on the southwest, Maple Blu ...

in the City of

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 ...

, on July 4, 2012. Hulsey pleaded no contest to the charge in court on August 15, 2012.

Legislative career

Hulsey was elected to 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, ...

's 77th district in 2010 to succeed fellow Democrat

Spencer Black Spencer Black (born May 25, 1950) is an American educator and retired politician. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he represented Madison, Wisconsin, Madison in the Wisconsin State Assembly for 26 years, and was ...

, receiving a plurality of 12,138 votes to 7,761 for

Green Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 Nanometre, nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by ...

Ben Manski, 4,666 for

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

David Redick, and 372 for David Olson of the Constitution Party. This was one of only two races in the state where, in an election contested by both major parties, the first and second places were not taken by a Republican and a Democrat. The other was the 25th Assembly district, where the former Democratic incumbent successfully ran as an independent against candidates from both major parties. After a redistricting by the Republican-controlled legislature, the 77th Assembly District boundaries were moved to the east. Since fellow Democrat

Mark Pocan Mark William Pocan ( ; born August 14, 1964) is an American politician and businessman serving as the U.S. representative from Wisconsin's 2nd congressional district since 2013. The district is based in the state capital, Madison. A member of th ...

was running for

Tammy Baldwin Tammy Suzanne Green Baldwin (born February 11, 1962) is an American lawyer and politician who has served as the junior United States senator from Wisconsin since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, she served three terms in the Wisconsin Stat ...

's Congressional seat, Hulsey ran in the modified 78th Assembly district. As in the 2010 race, the only serious challenge to the Democratic candidate in the 78th was a Green candidate, Jonathan Dedering (officially running as an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

); the Republicans did not even field a candidate. Hulsey won with 22,853 votes to 7323 for Dedering. The revamped 77th District was in turn taken without opposition by Terese Berceau (another Democrat), who had previously represented the 76th district.

Run for governor

On April 21, 2014, Hulsey announced that instead of seeking re-election, he was running for

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 ...

in the Democratic primary. He faced

Mary Burke Mary Patricia Burke (born April 30, 1959) is an American businesswoman. She was the Democratic candidate for Governor of Wisconsin in the 2014 election. She served as a member of the Madison, Wisconsin school board from April 30, 2012 until Jul ...

in the primary, but drew criticism when he protested the 2014 Wisconsin Republican Party Convention, calling Governor Scott Walker's agenda racist.Bice, Daniel
"Rep. Brett Hulsey can't sidestep reports of GOP caucus overtures"
''

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel The ''Milwaukee Journal Sentinel'' is a daily morning broadsheet printed in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where it is the primary newspaper. It is also the largest newspaper in the state of Wisconsin, where it is widely distributed. It is currently o ...

'' May 4, 2014

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hulsey, Brett 1959 births County supervisors in Wisconsin Democratic Party members of the Wisconsin State Assembly Middlebury College alumni Living people University of Oklahoma alumni 21st-century American politicians Candidates in the 2014 United States elections 20th-century American politicians