# Wisconsin's 61st Assembly district

The 61st Assembly district of Wisconsin is one of 99 districts in the Wisconsin State Assembly. Located in southeastern Wisconsin, the district comprises part of southwest Milwaukee County, including the villages of Greendale and Hales Corners, most of the city of Greenfield, and parts of southwest Milwaukee and northeast Franklin. The district is represented by Republican Bob Donovan, since January 2025; Donovan previously represented the 84th district from 2023 to 2025.
The 61st Assembly district is located within Wisconsin's 21st Senate district, along with the 62nd and 63rd Assembly Districts.
* Boerner Botanical Gardens in Hales Corners
* Greendale village hall

## History

The 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. The 61st district was drawn roughly in line with the boundaries of the previous Racine County 2nd district (the northern part of the city of Racine). The 61st district boundaries were relatively consistent in redistricting from 1972 to 2011, with the exception of the 1982 redistricting, which scrambled all State Assembly districts and moved the 61st district to north-central Wisconsin for the 1983–1984 legislative session. That changed with the controversial 2011 redistricting plan (2011 Wisc. Act 43) which moved the district to Kenosha County—the territory which had been covered by the 61st district was then split between the 62nd and 66th Assembly districts. This was part of a larger gerrymandering plan for the Racine and Kenosha County districts to convert one Assembly seat and one Senate seat from tossups to safely Republican.
The 2024 redistricting (2023 Wisc. Act 94) again dramatically reshaped the 21st Senate district, moving the 61st district from Kenosha County to southwest Milwaukee County. Most of the area previously covered by the 61st district became the bulk of the new 32nd Assembly district. Under the new map configuration, the 61st Assembly district is projected to be one of the most competitive districts in the state legislature.

## List of past representatives

List of representatives to the Wisconsin State Assembly from the 61st district :
| Member | Party | Residence | Counties represented | Term start | Term end |
| District created |||||||
| James F. Rooney | Dem. | Racine | Racine | January 1, 1973 | January 3, 1983 |
| Sheehan Donoghue | Rep. | Merrill | Langlade, Lincoln, Marathon | January 3, 1983 | January 7, 1985 |
| Scott C. Fergus | Dem. | Racine | Racine | January 7, 1985 | July 1, 1990 |
| --Vacant-- | --Vacant-- | --Vacant-- | Racine | July 1, 1990 | January 7, 1991 |
| Robert L. Turner | Dem. | Racine | Racine | January 7, 1991 | January 7, 2013 |
| Samantha Kerkman | Rep. | Randall | Kenosha | January 7, 2013 | June 7, 2022 |
| --Vacant-- | --Vacant-- | --Vacant-- | Kenosha | June 7, 2022 | January 3, 2023 |
| Amanda Nedweski | Rep. | Pleasant Prairie | Kenosha | January 3, 2023 | January 6, 2025 |
| Bob Donovan | Rep. | Greenfield | Milwaukee | January 6, 2025 | Current |

## Electoral history

| Year | Date | Elected | Elected | Elected | Elected | Defeated | Defeated | Defeated | Defeated | Total | Plurality | Other primary candidates |
| 1972 | Nov. 7 | James F. Rooney | Democratic | 9,261 | 56.39% | Thomas C. Mortenson | Rep. | 7,162 | 43.61% | 16,423 | 2,099 | Stanley N. Barry (Rep.)John A. Flanagan (Dem.)Curtis E. Sahakian (Dem.) |
| 1974 | Nov. 5 | James F. Rooney (inc) | Democratic | 5,881 | 57.82% | Anita M. Hunt | Rep. | 4,291 | 42.18% | 10,172 | 1,590 | Betty S. Rowley (Dem.) |
| 1976 | Nov. 2 | James F. Rooney (inc) | Democratic | 12,309 | 94.72% | Gary Pederson | Amer. | 686 | 5.28% | 12,995 | 11,623 | |
| 1978 | Nov. 7 | James F. Rooney (inc) | Democratic | 7,911 | 68.88% | Gary Pederson | Rep. | 3,575 | 31.12% | 11,486 | 4,336 | |
| 1980 | Nov. 4 | James F. Rooney (inc) | Democratic | 10,724 | 65.06% | Earl W. Bell | Rep. | 5,758 | 34.94% | 16,482 | 4,966 | |
| 1982 | Nov. 2 | Sheehan Donoghue | Republican | 8,377 | 50.80% | Frank Murphy | Dem. | 8,112 | 49.20% | 16,489 | 265 | |
| 1984 | Nov. 6 | Scott C. Fergus | Democratic | 10,880 | 55.21% | Donald Walsh | Rep. | 8,827 | 44.79% | 19,707 | 2,053 | William M. Frank (Dem.)Robert L. Turner (Dem.) |
| 1986 | Nov. 4 | Scott C. Fergus (inc) | Democratic | 7,575 | 58.88% | Norman T. Monson | Rep. | 5,291 | 41.12% | 12,866 | 2,284 | Gwendolyn Wortock (Rep.) |
| 1988 | Nov. 8 | Scott C. Fergus (inc) | Democratic | 11,700 | 67.09% | Gwendolyn Wortock | Rep. | 5,738 | 32.91% | 17,438 | 5,962 | |
| 1990 | Nov. 6 | Robert L. Turner | Democratic | 7,232 | 62.09% | Roderick D. Wilhelmi | Rep. | 4,415 | 37.91% | 11,647 | 2,817 | Cathleen A. Cotter (Dem.)John Dickert (Dem.) |
| 1992 | Nov. 3 | Robert L. Turner (inc) | Democratic | 11,963 | 66.66% | Stella A. Young | Rep. | 5,984 | 33.34% | 17,947 | 5,979 | |
| 1994 | Nov. 8 | Robert L. Turner (inc) | Democratic | 7,464 | 100.0% | --Unopposed-- | --Unopposed-- | --Unopposed-- | --Unopposed-- | 7,464 | 7,464 | |
| 1996 | Nov. 5 | Robert L. Turner (inc) | Democratic | 10,218 | 85.97% | Thomas Rivers | Tax. | 904 | 7.61% | 11,886 | 9,314 | |
| 1996 | Nov. 5 | Robert L. Turner (inc) | Democratic | 10,218 | 85.97% | Michael L. Wynhoff | Lib. | 764 | 6.43% | 11,886 | 9,314 | |
| 1998 | Nov. 3 | Robert L. Turner (inc) | Democratic | 9,515 | 100.0% | --Unopposed-- | --Unopposed-- | --Unopposed-- | --Unopposed-- | 9,515 | 9,515 | Ken Lumpkin (Dem.) |
| 2000 | Nov. 7 | Robert L. Turner (inc) | Democratic | 13,703 | 99.56% | --Unopposed-- | --Unopposed-- | --Unopposed-- | --Unopposed-- | 13,763 | 13,643 | |
| 2002 | Nov. 5 | Robert L. Turner (inc) | Democratic | 9,525 | 98.15% | --Unopposed-- | --Unopposed-- | --Unopposed-- | --Unopposed-- | 9,705 | 9,345 | John Dickert (Dem.) |
| 2004 | Nov. 2 | Robert L. Turner (inc) | Democratic | 17,173 | 89.49% | George Meyers | Lib. | 1,980 | 10.32% | 19,189 | 15,193 | |
| 2006 | Nov. 7 | Robert L. Turner (inc) | Democratic | 11,431 | 99.06% | --Unopposed-- | --Unopposed-- | --Unopposed-- | --Unopposed-- | 11,539 | 11,323 | |
| 2008 | Nov. 4 | Robert L. Turner (inc) | Democratic | 16,267 | 87.71% | George Meyers | Lib. | 2,242 | 12.09% | 18,547 | 14,025 | |
| 2010 | Nov. 2 | Robert L. Turner (inc) | Democratic | 10,026 | 81.96% | George Meyers | Lib. | 2,167 | 17.71% | 12,233 | 7,859 | James DeMatthew (Dem.) |
| 2012 | Nov. 6 | Samantha Kerkman | Republican | 16,589 | 55.67% | John Steinbrink | Dem. | 13,186 | 44.25% | 29,798 | 3,403 | |
| 2014 | Nov. 4 | Samantha Kerkman (inc) | Republican | 17,452 | 97.41% | --Unopposed-- | --Unopposed-- | --Unopposed-- | --Unopposed-- | 17,916 | 16,988 | |
| 2016 | Nov. 8 | Samantha Kerkman (inc) | Republican | 19,622 | 66.59% | Amee Janus | Dem. | 9,792 | 33.23% | 29,466 | 9,830 | |
| 2018 | Nov. 6 | Samantha Kerkman (inc) | Republican | 16,606 | 61.87% | Gina Walkington | Dem. | 10,207 | 38.03% | 26,841 | 6,399 | |
| 2020 | Nov. 3 | Samantha Kerkman (inc) | Republican | 28,254 | 96.26% | Steve Kundert (write-in) | Dem. | 8 | 0.03% | 29,352 | 27,164 | |
| 2022 | Nov. 8 | Amanda Nedweski | Republican | 17,542 | 64.00% | Max Winkels | Dem. | 9,851 | 35.94% | 27,408 | 7,691 | Mike Honold (Rep.) |