The 26th Assembly district of Wisconsin is one of 99 districts in the Wisconsin State Assembly.[1] Located in eastern Wisconsin, the district comprises part of eastern Sheboygan County, including the city of Sheboygan. It also contains the University of Wisconsin–Green Bay, Sheboygan Campus and Kohler-Andrae State Park.[2] The district is represented by Republican Terry Katsma, since January 2015.[3] After the 2024 redistricting, Katsma no longer resides in the new district.
| Wisconsin's 26th State Assembly district | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | |||||
2024 map defined in 2023 Wisc. Act 94 2022 map defined in Johnson v. Wisconsin Elections Commission 2011 map was defined in 2011 Wisc. Act 43 | |||||
| Assemblymember |
| ||||
| Demographics | 77.36% White 2.94% Black 8.85% Hispanic 8.82% Asian 1.83% Native American 0.16% Hawaiian/Pacific Islander | ||||
| Population (2020) • Voting age | 59,217 45,459 | ||||
| Website | Official website | ||||
| Notes | Eastern Wisconsin | ||||
The 26th Assembly district is located within Wisconsin's 9th Senate district, along with the 25th and 27th Assembly districts.[4]
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Downtown Sheboygan, Wisconsin -
American Marram Grass dunes with Lake Michigan in background within Kohler-Andrae State Park -
History
editThe district was created in the 1972 redistricting act (1971 Wisc. Act 304) which first established the numbered district system, replacing the previous system which allocated districts to specific counties.[5] The 26th district was drawn roughly in line with the boundaries of the previous Milwaukee County 4th district (downtown Milwaukee).
Following the 1982 court-ordered redistricting, which scrambled all State Assembly districts, the 1983 redistricting moved the 26th district to Sheboygan County, based in the city of Sheboygan. The boundaries remained mostly consistent since 1984. The controversial 2011 redistricting plan (2011 Wisc. Act 43) split the city of Sheboygan between the 26th and 27th districts, keeping just the southern half in the 26th district and adding number of rural towns, in order to create two safe Republican districts from what had previously been the competitive 26th and safe Republican 27th. The 2024 redistricting restored all of Sheboygan to the 26th district.
List of past representatives
edit| Member | Party | Residence | Counties represented | Term start | Term end | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| District created | ||||||
| Harout O. Sanasarian | Dem. | Milwaukee | Milwaukee | January 1, 1973 | January 3, 1977 | |
| Stephen R. Leopold | Dem. | January 3, 1977 | January 3, 1983 | |||
| Wayne W. Wood | Dem. | Janesville | Rock | January 3, 1983 | January 7, 1985 | |
| Calvin Potter | Dem. | Kohler | Sheboygan | January 7, 1985 | January 7, 1991 | |
| James Baumgart | Dem. | Sheboygan | January 7, 1991 | January 4, 1999 | ||
| Joe Leibham | Rep. | January 4, 1999 | January 6, 2003 | |||
| Terry Van Akkeren | Dem. | January 6, 2003 | January 3, 2011 | |||
| Mike Endsley | Rep. | January 3, 2011 | January 5, 2015 | [6] | ||
| Terry Katsma | Rep. | Oostburg | January 5, 2015 | Current | [3] | |
References
edit- ^ "Assembly District 26". Wisconsin Legislature. Retrieved January 31, 2021.
- ^ "Wisconsin Legislative Districts - Assembly District 26 Boundaries". Wisconsin Legislature. Retrieved January 31, 2021.
- ^ a b "Representative Terry Katsma". Wisconsin Legislature. Retrieved January 31, 2021.
- ^ An Act ... relating to: legislative redistricting (Act 94). Wisconsin Legislature. 2023. Retrieved March 5, 2024.
- ^ Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau (1973). "Legislature" (PDF). In Theobald, H. Rupert; Robbins, Patricia V. (eds.). The state of Wisconsin 1973 Blue Book (Report). Madison, Wisconsin: State of Wisconsin. pp. 227–230. Retrieved January 31, 2021.
- ^ "Representative Mike Endsley". Wisconsin Legislature. Retrieved February 21, 2021.