Wisconsin's 8th Senate district

Wisconsin's 8th
State Senate district
Wisconsin's 8th; State Senate district
	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 22, 23, and 24
Senator
	Dan Knodl; R–Germantown
	since May 3, 2023 (1 years)
Demographics	85.75% White; 5.29% Black; 2.73% Hispanic; 4.56% Asian; 1.06% Native American; 0.1% Hawaiian/Pacific Islander
Population (2020); • Voting age	178,122; 138,478
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]

Current elected officials

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]

Assembly District 22: Janel Brandtjen (R–Menomonee Falls)
Assembly District 23: Deb Andraca (D–Whitefish Bay)
Assembly District 24: Paul Melotik (R–Grafton)

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.

Downtown Port Washington
Hilgen and Wittenberg Woolen Mill in Cedarburg
Cedarburg Mill
Main Street Historic District (Thiensville, Wisconsin)
Herman Uihlein House in Whitefish Bay
Mill Pond Park in Menomonee Falls

Past senators

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	1848
Elisha T. Gardner	Dem.		2nd	1849
William Rittenhouse	Dem.		3rd	1850
William Rittenhouse	Dem.		4th	1851
Thomas Bowen	Dem.	Redistricted to the 24th district.	5th	1852
John Sharpstein	Dem.		6th	1853	1852–1855 1856–1860 1861–1865 1866–1870 Kenosha County
Levi Grant	Dem.		7th	1854
Francis Paddock	Dem.		8th	1855
C. Latham Sholes	Rep.		9th	1856
C. Latham Sholes	Rep.		10th	1857
Samuel R. McClellan	Rep.		11th	1858
Samuel R. McClellan	Rep.		12th	1859
George Bennett	Rep.		13th	1860
George Bennett	Rep.		14th	1861
Herman Thorp	Rep.		15th	1862
Herman Thorp	Rep.		16th	1863
Anthony Van Wyck	Natl. Union		17th	1864
Anthony Van Wyck	Natl. Union		18th	1865
Charles Sholes	Natl. Union		19th	1866
Charles Sholes	Natl. Union		20th	1867
Anthony Van Wyck	Rep.		21st	1868
Anthony Van Wyck	Rep.		22nd	1869
Milton Pettit	Rep.	Elected Lieutenant Governor in 1871.	23rd	1870
Milton Pettit	Rep.	Elected Lieutenant Governor in 1871.	24th	1871
Samuel Pratt	Rep.		25th	1872	1871–1875 1876–1881 1882–1887 1888–1891 Kenosha and Walworth counties
Samuel Pratt	Rep.		26th	1873
Thompson Weeks	Rep.		27th	1874
Thompson Weeks	Rep.		28th	1875
Asahel Farr	Rep.		29th	1876
Asahel Farr	Rep.		30th	1877
Benoni Reynolds	Rep.		31st	1878
Benoni Reynolds	Rep.		32nd	1879
Joseph V. Quarles	Rep.		33rd	1880
Joseph V. Quarles	Rep.		34th	1881
Charles Palmetier	Rep.		35th	1882
Charles Palmetier	Rep.		36th	1883–1884
Walter Maxwell	Rep.		37th	1885–1886
Walter Maxwell	Rep.		38th	1887–1888
James C. Reynolds	Rep.		39th	1889–1890
James C. Reynolds	Rep.		40th	1891–1892
Michał Kruszka	Dem.		41st	1893–1894	Southern Milwaukee County Town of Franklin Town of Greenfield Town of Lake Town of Oak Creek Wards 11, 14, 17, city of Milwaukee
Michał Kruszka	Dem.		42nd	1895–1896
Julius Edward Roehr	Rep.		43rd	1897–1898	Central Milwaukee County Wards 5, 8, 11, 12, city of Milwaukee
			44th	1899–1900
			45th	1901–1902
			46th	1903–1904	Central Milwaukee County Wards 5, 8, 11, 12, 23, city of Milwaukee
			47th	1905–1906
			48th	1907–1908
John C. Kleczka	Rep.		49th	1909–1910
John C. Kleczka	Rep.		50th	1911–1912
Alexander E. Martin	Rep.		51st	1913–1914	Central Milwaukee County Wards 5, 8, 11, 12, 23, city of Milwaukee
Alexander E. Martin	Rep.		52nd	1915–1916
Frank Raguse	Soc.	Expelled in 1917.	53rd	1917–1918
Louis Fons	Rep.	Won 1918 special election.	53rd	1917–1918
Louis Fons	Rep.	Won 1918 special election.	54th	1919–1920
George Czerwinski	Rep.		55th	1921–1922
George Czerwinski	Rep.		56th	1923–1924	Western Milwaukee County Town of Franklin Town of Granville Town of Greenfield Town of Wauwatosa Village of West Milwaukee City of North Milwaukee City of Wauwatosa City of West Allis Wards 16, 23, city of Milwaukee
Harry Daggett	Rep.		57th	1925–1926
			58th	1927–1928
			59th	1929–1930
			60th	1931–1932
William Shenners Jr.	Dem.		61st	1933–1934	Western Milwaukee County Town of Franklin Town of Granville Town of Greenfield Town of Wauwatosa Village of Greendale Village of West Milwaukee City of Wauwatosa City of West Allis Wards 16, 23, city of Milwaukee
William Shenners Jr.	Dem.		62nd	1935–1936
Allen Busby	Prog.		63rd	1937–1938
Allen Busby	Prog.		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	Western Milwaukee County Town of Wauwatosa Village of West Milwaukee City of Wauwatosa City of West Allis
			73rd	1957–1958
			74th	1959–1960
			75th	1961–1962
			76th	1963–1964
			77th	1965–1966	Western Milwaukee County Village of West Milwaukee City of Wauwatosa City of West Allis
			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	Western Milwaukee County Village of West Milwaukee City of Wauwatosa Part of the village of Hales Corners Part of the city of Greenfield Part of the city of West Allis
			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	Western Milwaukee County City of Greenfield City of West Milwaukee Wards 7, 9, village of Greendale Wards 1-15, 18-34, city of West Allis Wards 157, 159-162, 200-204, 207-220, city of Milwaukee
			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	Northern Milwaukee County, southwest Ozaukee County, southeast Washington County, & northeast Waukesha County Milwaukee County Village of Bayside Village of Brown Deer Village of Fox Point Village of River Hills Village of Whitefish Bay Wards 3-6, 8-12, village of Glendale Wards 42, 44, 47, 48, 155, 156, 158, 272-275, 277-279, 282, city of Milwaukee Wards 1-11, village of Shorewood Ozaukee County Village of Bayside Wards 11, 13, 14, 15, city of Mequon Washington County Town of Germantown Village of Germantown Wards 6, 7, town of Polk Wards 1-4, 6-15, town of Richfield Waukesha County Wards 1, 2, village of Butler Wards 1-23, village of Menomenee Falls
			92nd	1995–1996
			93rd	1997–1998
			94th	1999–2000
			95th	2001–2002
			96th	2003–2004	Northern Milwaukee County, southern Ozaukee County, southeast Washington County, & northeast Waukesha County Milwaukee County Village of Bayside Village of Brown Deer Village of Fox Point Village of River Hills Village of Shorewood Village of Whitefish Bay Wards 2-5, 7-10, city of Glendale Wards 38, 40, 147, 150, 258-263, 265, city of Milwaukee Ozaukee County Village of Bayside Village of Thiensville Wards 1, 3-21, city of Mequon Washington County Town of Germantown Village of Germantown Wards 6-8, 11-13, town of Richfield Ward 262, city of Milwaukee Waukesha County Village of Butler Wards 1-17, 19-23, 28, 29, village of Menomenee Falls
			97th	2005–2006
			98th	2007–2008
			99th	2009–2010
			100th	2011–2012
			101st	2013–2014	Northeast Milwaukee County, southeast Ozaukee County, southern Washington County, & northeast Waukesha County Assembly Districts 22, 23, 24
			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.	106th	2023–2024