Wisconsin's 23rd Senate district

The 23rd Senate district of Wisconsin is one of 33 districts in the Wisconsin Senate.^[1] Located in northwest Wisconsin, the district comprises all of Barron, Clark, Price, Rusk, and Taylor counties, with most of Chippewa County, northern Dunn County, and parts of northwest Marathon County. The district is mostly rural, but contains the cities of Bloomer, Ladysmith, Medford, Neillsville, and Rice Lake.^[2]

Wisconsin's 23rd State Senate district
From 2024 to 2031 From 2022 to 2023 From 2012 to 2021 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 composed of Assembly districts 67, 68, and 69
Senator	Jesse James R–Thorp since January 3, 2023 (2 years, 224 days)
Demographics	93.05% White 1.23% Black 2.59% Hispanic 0.69% Asian 1.63% Native American 0.12% Hawaiian/Pacific Islander
Population (2020)  • Voting age	179,916 138,442
Website	Official website
Notes	Northwest Wisconsin

Current elected officials

Jesse James is the senator representing the 23rd district since January 2023. He previously served in the State Assembly, representing the 68th Assembly district from 2019 to 2023.^[3][4] After the 2024 redistricting, James no longer resides in the new district.

Each Wisconsin State Senate district is composed of three Wisconsin State Assembly districts. The 23rd Senate district comprises the 67th, 68th, and 69th Assembly districts. The current representatives of those districts are:

• Assembly District 67: David Armstrong (R–Rice Lake)
• Assembly District 68: Rob Summerfield (R–Bloomer)
• Assembly District 69: Karen Hurd (R–Withee)

The 23rd Senate district crosses two congressional districts. The portion of the district in Dunn County and the northwest part of Chippewa County fall within Wisconsin's 3rd congressional district, which is represented by U.S. Representative Derrick Van Orden. The remainder of the district falls within Wisconsin's 7th congressional district, which is represented by U.S. Representative Tom Tiffany.^[5]

• 
  Cumberland, Wisconsin
• 
  Tainter Lake
• 
  Timms Hill
• 
  Lake Wissota State Park
• 
  Phillips, Wisconsin
• 
  Prentice, Wisconsin
• 
  Brunet Island State Park
• 
  Neillsville Downtown Historic District
• 
  Downtown Colby
• 
  Abbotsford Municipal Center

Past senators

The district has previously been represented by:^[6]

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.

Senator	Party	Notes	Session	Years	District Definition
District created by 1852 Wisc. Act 499.				1852	Adams, Marquette, Sauk, Waushara counties
David Vittum	Dem.		6th	1853
			7th	1854
Edwin B. Kelsey	Dem.		8th	1855
			9th	1856
Samuel C. Bean	Rep.		10th	1857	Southern Jefferson County
			11th	1858
Enias D. Masters	Rep.		12th	1859
			13th	1860
Edwin Montgomery	Rep.		14th	1861
			15th	1862	WI Senate District 23, 1862-1871 Jefferson County
J. D. Clapp	Dem.		16th	1863
			17th	1864
S. W. Budlong	Dem.		18th	1865
			19th	1866
Gerrit T. Thorn	Dem.		20th	1867
			21st	1868
William W. Woodman	Dem.		22nd	1869
			23rd	1870
			24th	1871
			25th	1872	Jefferson County and Part of Dodge County Wards 5, 6, City of Watertown
Walter S. Greene	Dem.		26th	1873
			27th	1874
William W. Reed	Lib. Rep.		28th	1875
			29th	1876
			30th	1877
			31st	1878
Charles H. Phillips	Rep.	Died Jan. 1879.	32nd	1879
Joseph B. Bennett	Rep.	Won 1879 special election.
			33rd	1880
Frederick Kusel	Dem.		34th	1881
			35th	1882	Jefferson County 1880 population: 32,155
William W. Reed	Dem.		36th	1883–1884
			37th	1885–1886
Walter S. Greene	Dem.	Died Nov. 1891.	38th	1887–1888
			39th	1889–1890	Jefferson County and Western Waukesha County Town of Delafield Town of Eagle Town of Genesee Town of Lisbon Town of Merton Town of Mukwonago Town of Oconomowoc Town of Ottawa Town of Pewaukee Town of Summit City of Oconomowoc 1890 population: 50,694
			40th	1891–1892
--Vacant--
Albert Solliday	Dem.	Won May 1892 special election.
			41st	1893–1894
			42nd	1895–1896
			43rd	1897–1898	Walworth County and Eastern Jefferson County 1895 population: 47,449
John H. Harris	Rep.		44th	1899–1900
			45th	1901–1902
Zadoc P. Beach	Rep.		46th	1903–1904	Jefferson and Walworth counties 1900 population: 64,048
			47th	1905–1906
John A. Hazelwood	Dem.		48th	1907–1908
			49th	1909–1910
Charles A. Snover	Dem.		50th	1911–1912
			51st	1913–1914	Portage and Waupaca counties 1910 population: 63,727
Andrew R. Potts	Rep.		52nd	1915–1916
			53rd	1917–1918
Herman J. Severson	Rep.		54th	1919–1920
			55th	1921–1922
			56th	1923–1924
			57th	1925–1926
			58th	1927–1928
			59th	1929–1930
			60th	1931–1932
			61st	1933–1934
	Prog.		62nd	1935–1936
			63rd	1937–1938
Fred R. Fisher	Rep.		64th	1939–1940
			65th	1941–1942
Harley M. Jacklin	Dem.		66th	1943–1944
			67th	1945–1946
Oscar W. Neale	Rep.		68th	1947–1948
			69th	1949–1950
			70th	1951–1952
			71st	1953–1954
Paul J. Rogan	Rep.	Won 1954 special election. Resigned 1956.	72nd	1955–1956	Barron, Burnett, Polk, Rusk, Sawyer, Washburn counties
Holger Rasmusen	Rep.	Won 1956 special election.	73rd	1957–1958
Howard W. Cameron	Dem.		74th	1959–1960
			75th	1961–1962
Holger Rasmusen	Rep.		76th	1963–1964
			77th	1965–1966	Barron, Chippewa, Dunn, Washburn counties
			78th	1967–1968
			79th	1969–1970
Bruce Peloquin	Dem.		80th	1971–1972
			81st	1973–1974	Most of Chippewa County Most of Dunn County Northwest Eau Claire County Part of Pepin County
			82nd	1975–1976
			83rd	1977–1978
Marvin J. Roshell	Dem.	Resigned Dec. 1992.	84th	1979–1980
			85th	1981–1982
			86th	1983–1984
			87th	1985–1986
			88th	1987–1988
			89th	1989–1990
			90th	1991–1992
--Vacant--			91st	1993–1994	Chippewa, Clark counties Most of Dunn County Parts of Eau Claire County Southwest Marathon County Part of Wood County
David Zien	Rep.	Win 1993 special election.
			92nd	1995–1996
			93rd	1997–1998
			94th	1999–2000
			95th	2001–2002
			96th	2003–2004	Chippewa County Most of Clark County Northern Dunn County Northern Eau Claire County Southwest Marathon County Southeast Barron County Part of Taylor County Part of Wood County
			97th	2005–2006
Pat Kreitlow	Dem.	Won 2006 election. Lost 2010 election.	98th	2007–2008
			99th	2009–2010
Terry Moulton	Rep.		100th	2011–2012
			101st	2013–2014	Chippewa County Most of Clark County Northeast Dunn County Eastern Eau Claire County Southwest Marathon County Northwest Wood County Part of Jackson County Part of Trempealeau County
			102nd	2015–2016
			103rd	2017–2018
Kathy Bernier	Rep.		104th	2019–2020
			105th	2021–2022
Jesse James	Rep.	Elected 2022.	106th	2023–2024	Chippewa & Clark counties, northeast Dunn County, half of Eau Claire County, southwest Marathon County, parts of Jackson County, parts of Wood County
			107th	2025–2026