| Image Caption: | 2024 map defined in 2022 map defined in Johnson v. Wisconsin Elections Commission 2011 map was defined in composed of Assembly districts 82, 83, and 84 |
| Chamber: | Senate |
| State: | Wisconsin |
| District: | 28 |
| Representative: | Julian Bradley |
| Residence: | Franklin |
| Residence Link: | Franklin, Milwaukee County, Wisconsin |
| Party: | Republican |
| Incumbentsince: | January 4, 2021 (years) |
| Population: | 177,766 |
| Population Year: | 2020 |
| Voting Age: | 139,889 |
| Percent White: | 87.41 |
| Percent Black: | 1.8 |
| Percent Hispanic: | 6.06 |
| Percent Asian: | 2.74 |
| Percent Native American: | 1.39 |
| Percent Pacific Islander: | 0.1 |
| Website: | Official website |
| Notes: | Milwaukee metro-area (southwest) |
The 28th Senate District of Wisconsin is one of 33 districts in the Wisconsin Senate.[1] Located in southeast Wisconsin, the district comprises southeast Waukesha County and northwest Racine County. It includes the cities of Muskego, New Berlin, and most of the city of Waukesha, along with the villages of Big Bend, Mukwonago, and Waterford.[2]
Julian Bradley is the senator representing the 28th district. He was first elected in the 2020 general election.[3]
Each Wisconsin State Senate district is composed of three Wisconsin State Assembly districts. The 28th Senate district comprises the 82nd, 83rd, and 84th Assembly districts. The current representatives of those districts are:
The district is located mostly within Wisconsin's 5th congressional district, which is represented by U.S. Representative Scott Fitzgerald. The portion of the district in Racine County is located in Wisconsin's 1st congressional district, represented by Bryan Steil.[4]
The boundaries of districts have changed over history. Previous politicians of a specific numbered district often represented a different geographic area, due to redistricting.
The 28th District was created in 1856, when the Senate was expanded from 25 to 30 members. At that time, it consisted of Burnett, Chippewa, Clark, Dallas (later renamed Barron), Douglas, Dunn County, La Pointe (later renamed Bayfield), Pepin, Pierce, Polk, and St. Croix Counties.
The first Senator from the 28th was William Wilson of Menomonie, who served in the 1857 session (the tenth session of the Wisconsin Legislature). As of the redistricting of 1861, the 28th now consisted of Ashland, Burnett, Dallas (later renamed Barron), Douglas, La Pointe (later renamed Bayfield), Pierce, Polk, and St. Croix counties (it was not changed in the redistricting of 1866).
The district was entirely changed for the 1871 election, being changed into one consisting of Crawford and Richland counties. In 1876, the district was changed again: it dropped Crawford County, and would instead consist of Iowa and Richland counties for many years.
An 1892 special session of the legislature declared that, The counties of Iowa and Lafayette and the towns of Cassvilla, Clifton, Ellenborough, Harrison, Hazel Green, Jamestown, Liberty, Lima, Paris, Platteville, Potosi, Smelser, Waterloo and Glen Haven in the county of Grant were now the 28th District.
The Legislature redistricted once again, and the 28th would consist of Crawford County, Wisconsin, Richland and Vernon counties for two terms. In the 1901 session of the legislature, another redistricting removed Crawford County from the district. The 1911 redistricting completely changed the district boundaries, moving it to Chippewa and Eau Claire counties - these boundaries would remain consistent for the next fifty years.
In May 1964, the Wisconsin Supreme Court ordered a complete redistricting and re-numbering of all Wisconsin Senate districts. As a result, the 28th, which had historically been a northern and western Wisconsin district, was now a district consisting of portions of Milwaukee County (villages of Greendale and Hales Corners; and the cities of Franklin and Greenfield); Racine County (towns of Burlington, Caledonia, Dover, Norway, Raymond, Rochester, Waterford and Yorkville; the villages of Rochester, Union Grove and Waterford; and the city of Burlington); and Waukesha County (towns of Eagle, Mukwonago, Muskego, Ottawa, Summit and Vernon; the villages of Big Bend, Dousman, Eagle, Mukwongo and Oconomowoc Lake; and the city of New Berlin). Since 1964, the district has remained in the same general vicinity, at the meeting point between southwest Milwaukee County, southeast Waukesha County, northwest Racine County, and northeast Walworth County, with slight variations in boundaries between those four counties.
Previous senators include:[5]
| Senator | Party | Notes | Session | Years | District Definition | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| District created by 1856 Wisc. Act 109. | 1856 | Burnett, Chippewa, Clark, Douglas, Dunn, La Pointe, Pepin, Pierce, Polk, and St. Croix counties | ||||
| align=left | William Wilson | Rep. | 10th | 1857 | ||
| Daniel Mears | Dem. | 11th | 1858 | |||
| 12th | 1859 | |||||
| Charles B. Cox | Rep. | 13th | 1860 | |||
| 14th | 1861 | |||||
| Herman L. Humphrey | Rep. | 15th | 1862 | Ashland, Burnett, Dallas, Douglas, La Pointe, Pierce, Polk, and St. Croix counties | ||
| 16th | 1863 | |||||
| Austin H. Young | 17th | 1864 | ||||
| 18th | 1865 | |||||
| Marcus Fulton | 19th | 1866 | ||||
| 20th | 1867 | Ashland, Bayfield, Burnett, Dallas, Douglas, Pierce, Polk, and St. Croix counties | ||||
| William J. Copp | Rep. | 21st | 1868 | |||
| 22nd | 1869 | |||||
| Edward H. Ives | Dem. | 23rd | 1870 | |||
| 24th | 1871 | |||||
| Henry L. Eaton | Rep. | 25th | 1872 | Crawford and Richland counties | ||
| 26th | 1873 | |||||
| George Krouskop | Dem. | 27th | 1874 | |||
| 28th | 1875 | |||||
| Daniel Downs | Rep. | 29th | 1876 | |||
| 30th | 1877 | Iowa and Richland counties | ||||
| Archibald Campbell | Rep. | 31st | 1878 | |||
| 32nd | 1879 | |||||
| Joseph McGrew | Rep. | 33rd | 1880 | |||
| 34th | 1881 | |||||
| William C. Meffert | Rep. | 35th | 1882 | |||
| 36th | 1883–1884 | |||||
| Norman L. James | Rep. | 37th | 1885–1886 | |||
| 38th | 1887–1888 | |||||
| Robert Joiner | Rep. | 39th | 1889–1890 | |||
| 40th | 1891–1892 | |||||
| Calvert Spensley | Rep. | 41st | 1893–1894 | Iowa and Richland counties and Southern Grant County | ||
| 42nd | 1895–1896 | |||||
| Oliver Munson | Rep. | 43rd | 1897–1898 | Crawford, Richland, and Vernon counties | ||
| 44th | 1899–1900 | |||||
| 45th | 1901–1902 | |||||
| 46th | 1903–1904 | Richland and Vernon counties | ||||
| 47th | 1905–1906 | |||||
| 48th | 1907–1908 | |||||
| David G. James | Rep. | 49th | 1909–1910 | |||
| 50th | 1911–1912 | |||||
| Edward Ackley | Rep. | 51st | 1913–1914 | Chippewa and Eau Claire counties | ||
| 52nd | 1915–1916 | |||||
| Roy P. Wilcox | Rep. | 53rd | 1917–1918 | |||
| 54th | 1919–1920 | |||||
| Herman Lange | Rep. | 55th | 1921–1922 | |||
| 56th | 1923–1924 | |||||
| 57th | 1925–1926 | |||||
| 58th | 1927–1928 | |||||
| Peter J. Smith | Rep. | 59th | 1929–1930 | |||
| 60th | 1931–1932 | |||||
| G. Erle Ingram | Rep. | 61st | 1933–1934 | |||
| Prog. | 62nd | 1935–1936 | ||||
| 63rd | 1937–1938 | |||||
| 64th | 1939–1940 | |||||
| George H. Hipke | Rep. | 65th | 1941–1942 | |||
| 66th | 1943–1944 | |||||
| 67th | 1945–1946 | |||||
| 68th | 1947–1948 | |||||
| Arthur L. Padrutt | Rep. | 69th | 1949–1950 | |||
| 70th | 1951–1952 | |||||
| 71st | 1953–1954 | |||||
| 72nd | 1955–1956 | |||||
| Davis A. Donnelly | Dem. | 73rd | 1957–1958 | |||
| 74th | 1959–1960 | |||||
| 75th | 1961–1962 | |||||
| 76th | 1963–1964 | |||||
| Taylor Benson | Dem. | 77th | 1965–1966 | Most of Racine County Southwest Milwaukee County Southeast Waukesha County | ||
| 78th | 1967–1968 | |||||
| James Devitt | Rep. | 79th | 1969–1970 | |||
| 80th | 1971–1972 | |||||
| 81st | 1973–1974 | Most of Waukesha County Part of Jefferson County Part of Milwaukee County | ||||
| 82nd | 1975–1976 | |||||
| Lynn Adelman | Dem. | Resigned Dec. 1997 after appointed | 83rd | 1977–1978 | ||
| 84th | 1979–1980 | |||||
| 85th | 1981–1982 | |||||
| 86th | 1983–1984 | Southwest Milwaukee County Northwest Racine County Southeast Waukesha County Part of Walworth County | ||||
| 87th | 1985–1986 | Southwest Milwaukee County Northwest Racine County Southeast Waukesha County Part of Walworth County | ||||
| 88th | 1987–1988 | |||||
| 89th | 1989–1990 | |||||
| 90th | 1991–1992 | |||||
| 91st | 1993–1994 | Southwest Milwaukee County Northwest Racine County Southeast Waukesha County Part of Walworth County | ||||
| 92nd | 1995–1996 | |||||
| 93rd | 1997–1998 | |||||
| —Vacant-- | ||||||
| Mary Lazich | Rep. | |||||
| 94th | 1999–2000 | |||||
| 95th | 2001–2002 | |||||
| 96th | 2003–2004 | Southwest Milwaukee County Southeast Waukesha County Part of Racine County Part of Walworth County | ||||
| 97th | 2005–2006 | |||||
| 98th | 2007–2008 | |||||
| 99th | 2009–2010 | |||||
| 100th | 2011–2012 | |||||
| 101st | 2013–2014 | Southwest Milwaukee County Southeast Waukesha County Part of Racine County Part of Walworth County | ||||
| 102nd | 2015–2016 | |||||
| Dave Craig | Rep. | 103rd | 2017–2018 | |||
| 104th | 2019–2020 | |||||
| 105th | 2021–2022 | |||||
| 106th | nowrap | 2023 - 2024 | Southwest Milwaukee County, southern Waukesha County, northwest Racine County, northeast Walworth County | |||