| Image Caption: | 2024 map defined in 2022 map defined in Johnson v. Wisconsin Elections Commission 2011 map was defined in composed of Assembly districts 22, 23, and 24 |
| State: | Wisconsin |
| District: | 8 |
| Chamber: | Senate |
| Representative: | Dan Knodl |
| Party: | Republican |
| Residence: | Germantown |
| Incumbentsince: | May 3, 2023 (years) |
| Population: | 178,122 |
| Population Year: | 2020 |
| Voting Age: | 138,478 |
| Percent White: | 85.75 |
| Percent Black: | 5.29 |
| Percent Hispanic: | 2.73 |
| Percent Asian: | 4.56 |
| Percent Native American: | 1.06 |
| Percent Pacific Islander: | 0.1 |
| Website: | Official website |
| Notes: | Milwaukee metro area (north) |
The 8th Senate District of Wisconsin is one of 33 districts of the Wisconsin Senate.[1] Located in southeast Wisconsin, the district comprises northeastern Milwaukee County, southern Ozaukee County, and parts of southeast Washington County, and northeast Waukesha County. It contains the cities of Cedarburg, Port Washington, and Mequon, as well as the villages of Bayside, Butler, Fox Point, Grafton, Lannon, Menomonee Falls, River Hills, Thiensville, Whitefish Bay, and most of the villages of Brown Deer and Germantown.[2]
Dan Knodl is the senator representing the 8th district. He was first elected in a 2023 special election, following the resignation of Alberta Darling. He previously served fourteen years in the Wisconsin State Assembly.[3]
Each Wisconsin State Senate district is composed of three State Assembly districts. The 8th Senate district comprises the 22nd, 23rd, and 24th Assembly districts. The current representatives of those districts are:[4]
The 8th Senate district, in its current borders, crosses three different congressional districts. The Milwaukee County portions of the district fall within Wisconsin's 4th congressional district, represented by U.S. representative Gwen Moore; the Washington County and Waukesha County portions of the district fall within Wisconsin's 5th congressional district, represented by U.S. representative Scott L. Fitzgerald; and the Ozaukee County portions of the district fall within Wisconsin's 6th congressional district, represented by U.S. representative Glenn Grothman.
Note: the boundaries of districts have changed repeatedly over history. Previous politicians of a specific numbered district have represented a completely different geographic area, due to redistricting.
The Eighth District as originally created consisted of Green County. It was represented by:
| Senator | Party | Notes | Session | Years | District Definition | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| District created | 1848 | Green County | |||||
| Elisha T. Gardner | Dem. | 1st | |||||
| 2nd | 1849 | ||||||
| William Rittenhouse | Dem. | 3rd | 1850 | ||||
| 4th | 1851 | ||||||
| align=left | Thomas Bowen | Dem. | Redistricted to the 24th district. | 5th | 1852 | ||
| align=left | John Sharpstein | Dem. | 6th | 1853 | Kenosha County | ||
| align=left | Levi Grant | Dem. | 7th | 1854 | |||
| align=left | Francis Paddock | Dem. | 8th | 1855 | |||
| C. Latham Sholes | Rep. | 9th | 1856 | ||||
| 10th | 1857 | ||||||
| Samuel R. McClellan | Rep. | 11th | 1858 | ||||
| 12th | 1859 | ||||||
| George Bennett | Rep. | 13th | 1860 | ||||
| 14th | 1861 | ||||||
| Herman Thorp | Rep. | 15th | 1862 | ||||
| 16th | 1863 | ||||||
| Anthony Van Wyck | 17th | 1864 | |||||
| 18th | 1865 | ||||||
| Charles Sholes | 19th | 1866 | |||||
| 20th | 1867 | ||||||
| Anthony Van Wyck | Rep. | 21st | 1868 | ||||
| 22nd | 1869 | ||||||
| Milton Pettit | Rep. | Elected Lieutenant Governor in 1871. | 23rd | 1870 | |||
| 24th | 1871 | ||||||
| Samuel Pratt | Rep. | 25th | 1872 | Kenosha and Walworth counties | |||
| 26th | 1873 | ||||||
| Thompson Weeks | Rep. | 27th | 1874 | ||||
| 28th | 1875 | ||||||
| Asahel Farr | Rep. | 29th | 1876 | ||||
| 30th | 1877 | ||||||
| Benoni Reynolds | Rep. | 31st | 1878 | ||||
| 32nd | 1879 | ||||||
| Joseph V. Quarles | Rep. | 33rd | 1880 | ||||
| 34th | 1881 | ||||||
| Charles Palmetier | Rep. | 35th | 1882 | ||||
| 36th | 1883–1884 | ||||||
| Walter Maxwell | Rep. | 37th | 1885–1886 | ||||
| 38th | 1887–1888 | ||||||
| James C. Reynolds | Rep. | 39th | 1889–1890 | ||||
| 40th | 1891–1892 | ||||||
| Michał Kruszka | Dem. | 41st | 1893–1894 | ||||
| 42nd | 1895–1896 | ||||||
| Julius Edward Roehr | Rep. | 43rd | 1897–1898 | ||||
| 44th | 1899–1900 | ||||||
| 45th | 1901–1902 | ||||||
| 46th | 1903–1904 | ||||||
| 47th | 1905–1906 | ||||||
| 48th | 1907–1908 | ||||||
| John C. Kleczka | Rep. | 49th | 1909–1910 | ||||
| 50th | 1911–1912 | ||||||
| Alexander E. Martin | Rep. | 51st | 1913–1914 | ||||
| 52nd | 1915–1916 | ||||||
| align=left | Frank Raguse | Soc. | Expelled in 1917. | 53rd | 1917–1918 | ||
| Louis Fons | Rep. | Won 1918 special election. | |||||
| 54th | 1919–1920 | ||||||
| George Czerwinski | Rep. | 55th | 1921–1922 | ||||
| 56th | 1923–1924 | ||||||
| Harry Daggett | Rep. | 57th | 1925–1926 | ||||
| 58th | 1927–1928 | ||||||
| 59th | 1929–1930 | ||||||
| 60th | 1931–1932 | ||||||
| William Shenners Jr. | Dem. | 61st | 1933–1934 | ||||
| 62nd | 1935–1936 | ||||||
| Allen Busby | Prog. | 63rd | 1937–1938 | ||||
| 64th | 1939–1940 | ||||||
| John W. Byrnes | Rep. | 65th | 1941–1942 | ||||
| 66th | 1943–1944 | ||||||
| 67th | 1945–1946 | ||||||
| 68th | 1947–1948 | ||||||
| 69th | 1949–1950 | ||||||
| 70th | 1951–1952 | ||||||
| 71st | 1953–1954 | ||||||
| 72nd | 1955–1956 | ||||||
| 73rd | 1957–1958 | ||||||
| 74th | 1959–1960 | ||||||
| 75th | 1961–1962 | ||||||
| 76th | 1963–1964 | ||||||
| 77th | 1965–1966 | ||||||
| 78th | 1967–1968 | ||||||
| 79th | 1969–1970 | ||||||
| 80th | 1971–1972 | ||||||
| James Flynn | Dem. | Won 1972 election. Re-elected 1976, 1980. Elected to Lieutenant Governor in 1982. | 81st | 1973–1974 | |||
| 82nd | 1975–1976 | ||||||
| 83rd | 1977–1978 | ||||||
| 84th | 1979–1980 | ||||||
| 85th | 1981–1982 | ||||||
| Joseph Czarnezki | Dem. | Won 1983 special election. Re-elected 1984, 1988. Did not seek re-election in 1992. | 86th | 1983–1984 | |||
| 87th | 1985–1986 | ||||||
| 88th | 1987–1988 | ||||||
| 89th | 1989–1990 | ||||||
| 90th | 1991–1992 | ||||||
| Alberta Darling | Rep. | Won 1992 election. Re-elected 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008. Survived 2011 recall. Re-elected 2012, 2016, 2020. Resigned Dec. 2022 | 91st | 1993–1994 | |||
| 92nd | 1995–1996 | ||||||
| 93rd | 1997–1998 | ||||||
| 94th | 1999–2000 | ||||||
| 95th | 2001–2002 | ||||||
| 96th | 2003–2004 | ||||||
| 97th | 2005–2006 | ||||||
| 98th | 2007–2008 | ||||||
| 99th | 2009–2010 | ||||||
| 100th | 2011–2012 | ||||||
| 101st | 2013–2014 | ||||||
| 102nd | 2015–2016 | ||||||
| 103rd | 2017–2018 | ||||||
| 104th | 2019–2020 | ||||||
| 105th | 2021–2022 | ||||||
| --Vacant-- | 106th | 2023–2024 | Northeast Milwaukee County, Southern Ozaukee County, Southern Washington County, Northeast Waukesha County | ||||
| Dan Knodl | Rep. | Won 2023 special election. | |||||