| Image Caption: | 2024 map defined in 2022 map defined in Johnson v. Wisconsin Elections Commission 2011 map was defined in composed of Assembly districts 46, 47, and 48 |
| Chamber: | Senate |
| State: | Wisconsin |
| District: | 16 |
| Representative: | Melissa Agard |
| Residence: | Madison |
| Party: | Democratic |
| Incumbentsince: | January 4, 2021 (years) |
| Population: | 177,313 |
| Population Year: | 2020 |
| Voting Age: | 137,206 |
| Percent White: | 83.03 |
| Percent Black: | 5.02 |
| Percent Hispanic: | 6.31 |
| Percent Asian: | 3.85 |
| Percent Native American: | 1.51 |
| Percent Pacific Islander: | 0.11 |
| Website: | Official website |
| Notes: | South-central Wisconsin |
The 16th Senate District of Wisconsin is one of 33 districts in the Wisconsin Senate.[1] Located in south-central Wisconsin, the district comprises much of eastern Dane County, western Jefferson County, and part of southwest Dodge County. It includes the cities of Fitchburg, Fort Atkinson, Lake Mills, Stoughton, Sun Prairie, and Waterloo, and the villages of Cottage Grove, Deerfield, and Marshall, and parts of the city of Madison and the village of McFarland. It also contains Lake Kegonsa State Park and most of Lake Koshkonong.[2]
Melissa Agard is the senator representing the 16th district. She was first elected in the 2020 general election. Before serving as senator, she served in the Wisconsin State Assembly from 2013 to 2021, representing Madison's north side.[3]
Each Wisconsin State Senate district is composed of three Wisconsin State Assembly districts. The 16th Senate district comprises the 46th, 47th, and 48th Assembly districts. The current representatives of those districts are:[4]
The district crosses two congressional districts. The portion of the district in Dodge and Jefferson counties fall within Wisconsin's 5th congressional district, which is represented by U.S. Representative Scott L. Fitzgerald. The remainder of the district, in Dane County, falls within Wisconsin's 2nd congressional district, represented by U.S. Representative Mark Pocan.[5]
Notable past senators include:[6]
| Senator | Party | Notes | Session | Years | District Definition | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| District created | 1848 | Kenosha County | |||||
| Dem. | 1st | ||||||
| 2nd | 1849 | ||||||
| align=left | Elijah Steele | Dem. | Resigned. | 3rd | 1850 | ||
| align=left | Orson S. Head | Whig | Won 1851 special election. | 4th | 1851 | ||
| align=left | John Sharpstein | Dem. | Redistricted to 8th district | 5th | 1852 | ||
| align=left | Joel C. Squires | Dem. | Resigned. | 6th | 1853 | Grant County | |
| align=left | James W. Seaton | Dem. | Won 1853 special election | ||||
| Nelson Dewey | Dem. | 7th | 1854 | ||||
| 8th | 1855 | ||||||
| J. Allen Barber | Rep. | 9th | 1856 | ||||
| 10th | 1857 | ||||||
| Noah Virgin | Rep. | 11th | 1858 | ||||
| 12th | 1859 | ||||||
| 13th | 1860 | ||||||
| 14th | 1861 | ||||||
| Milas K. Young | Rep. | 15th | 1862 | ||||
| 16th | 1863 | ||||||
| Natl. Union | 17th | 1864 | |||||
| 18th | 1865 | ||||||
| John H. Rountree | Natl. Union | 19th | 1866 | ||||
| 20th | 1867 | ||||||
| Rep. | 21st | 1868 | |||||
| 22nd | 1869 | ||||||
| 23rd | 1870 | ||||||
| 24th | 1871 | ||||||
| Rep. | 25th | 1872 | |||||
| 26th | 1873 | ||||||
| 27th | 1874 | ||||||
| 28th | 1875 | ||||||
| Rep. | 29th | 1876 | |||||
| 30th | 1877 | ||||||
| 31st | 1878 | ||||||
| 32nd | 1879 | ||||||
| Rep. | 33rd | 1880 | |||||
| 34th | 1881 | ||||||
| 35th | 1882 | ||||||
| 36th | 1883–1884 | ||||||
| Edward I. Kidd | Rep. | 37th | 1885–1886 | ||||
| 38th | 1887–1888 | ||||||
| 39th | 1889–1890 | Crawford & Grant counties | |||||
| 40th | 1891–1892 | ||||||
| Charles H. Baxter | Rep. | 41st | 1893–1894 | Crawford and Richland counties, and | |||
| 42nd | 1895–1896 | ||||||
| 43rd | 1897–1898 | Grant and Iowa counties | |||||
| 44th | 1899–1900 | ||||||
| Edward E. Burns | Rep. | 45th | 1901–1902 | ||||
| 46th | 1903–1904 | Crawford and Grant counties | |||||
| 47th | 1905–1906 | ||||||
| 48th | 1907–1908 | ||||||
| John J. Blaine | Rep. | 49th | 1909–1910 | ||||
| 50th | 1911–1912 | ||||||
| Robert Glenn | Rep. | Elected 1912. Died 1915. | 51st | 1913–1914 | Crawford, Grant, and Richland counties | ||
| 52nd | 1915–1916 | ||||||
| --Vacant-- | |||||||
| Henry Edgar Roethe | Rep. | 53rd | 1917–1918 | ||||
| 54th | 1919–1920 | ||||||
| 55th | 1921–1922 | ||||||
| 56th | 1923–1924 | Crawford, Grant, and Vernon counties | |||||
| Edward J. Roethe | Rep. | 57th | 1925–1926 | ||||
| 58th | 1927–1928 | ||||||
| 59th | 1929–1930 | ||||||
| 60th | 1931–1932 | ||||||
| William D. Carroll | Dem. | 61st | 1933–1934 | ||||
| 62nd | 1935–1936 | ||||||
| Edward J. Roethe | Rep. | 63rd | 1937–1938 | ||||
| 64th | 1939–1940 | ||||||
| Helmar Lewis | Rep. | 65th | 1941–1942 | ||||
| 66th | 1943–1944 | ||||||
| Foster B. Porter | Rep. | 67th | 1945–1946 | ||||
| 68th | 1947–1948 | ||||||
| 69th | 1949–1950 | ||||||
| 70th | 1951–1952 | ||||||
| 71st | 1953–1954 | ||||||
| 72nd | 1955–1956 | ||||||
| align=left | Gaylord Nelson | Dem. | Redistricted from 26th district. | 73rd | 1957–1958 | Most of Dane County | |
| Carl W. Thompson | Dem. | 74th | 1959–1960 | ||||
| 75th | 1961–1962 | ||||||
| 76th | 1963–1964 | ||||||
| 77th | 1965–1966 | ||||||
| 78th | 1967–1968 | ||||||
| 79th | 1969–1970 | ||||||
| 80th | 1971–1972 | ||||||
| 81st | 1973–1974 | and | |||||
| 82nd | 1975–1976 | ||||||
| 83rd | 1977–1978 | ||||||
| 84th | 1979–1980 | ||||||
| 85th | 1981–1982 | ||||||
| 86th | 1983–1984 | ||||||
| Charles Chvala | Dem. | 87th | 1985–1986 | ||||
| 88th | 1987–1988 | ||||||
| 89th | 1989–1990 | ||||||
| 90th | 1991–1992 | ||||||
| 91st | 1993–1994 | ||||||
| 92nd | 1995–1996 | ||||||
| 93rd | 1997–1998 | ||||||
| 94th | 1999–2000 | ||||||
| 95th | 2001–2002 | ||||||
| 96th | 2003–2004 | ||||||
| Mark F. Miller | Dem. | 97th | 2005–2006 | ||||
| 98th | 2007–2008 | ||||||
| 99th | 2009–2010 | ||||||
| 100th | 2011–2012 | ||||||
| 101st | 2013–2014 | ||||||
| 102nd | 2015–2016 | ||||||
| 103rd | 2017–2018 | ||||||
| 104th | 2019–2020 | ||||||
| Melissa Agard | Dem. | 105th | 2021–2022 | ||||
| 106th | 2023–2024 | Central Dane County | |||||