The 4th Senate district of Wisconsin is one of 33 districts in the Wisconsin Senate. Located in southeast Wisconsin, the district is entirely contained within northern Milwaukee County. It comprises part of the north side of the city of Milwaukee, as well as the city of Glendale, the village of Shorewood, and parts of northern Wauwatosa and western Brown Deer. The 4th Senate district is one of two majority-black Senate districts in Wisconsin.
Current elected officials Dora Drake is the senator representing the 4th district. She was first elected in a 2024 special election and was subsequently elected to a full four-year term in the 2024 general election. She previously served four years in the Wisconsin State Assembly, representing the 11th district.
Each Wisconsin State Senate district is composed of three State Assembly districts. The 4th Senate district comprises the 10th, 11th, and 12th Assembly districts. The current representatives of those districts are:District Map Assembly District 10: Darrin Madison (D–Milwaukee) Assembly District 11: Sequanna Taylor (D–Milwaukee) Assembly District 12: Russell Goodwin (D–Milwaukee)
The district is located within Wisconsin's 4th congressional district, which is represented by U.S. Representative Gwen Moore.Congressional District Map
Past senators At the time of the creation of the state of Wisconsin, the 4th Senate District was defined in the Constitution as consisting of Fond du Lac and Winnebago counties."Constitution of the state of Wisconsin: Article XIV, Sec. 12" in Manual for the use of the assembly, of the state of Wisconsin, for the year 1853 Madison: Brown and Carpenter, Printers, 1853; p. 37 In the first two sessions of the state legislature, the 4th District was represented by: Warren Chase, 1848–1849 (Democrat) of Ceresco. He joined the new Free Soil Party, and ran in 1849 (unsuccessfully) as the Free Soil candidate for Governor. He was succeeded by John A. Eastman, 1850–1851 (Democrat) of Fond du Lac Bertine Pinckney, 1852 (Whig) of Rosendale
The Senate was redistricted from 19 to 25 districts before the 1853 session; the old 4th Senate District was now the 20th and 21st Districts, and the new 4th District consisted of the Towns of Erin, Richfield, Germantown, Jackson, Polk, Hartford, Addison, West Bend, Newark, Trenton, Farmington, Kewaskum and Wayne, in Washington County, formerly part of the original 11th District. The new 4th was represented by: Baruch Schleisinger Weil, 1853 (Democrat) of West Bend Baltus Mantz, 1854 (Democrat) of Meeker (died in office of cholera) James Rolfe, 1855 (independent) Baruch Schleisinger Weil, 1856 now living in Schleisingerville
For the 1857 session, the Senate was expanded to 30 seats; the new 4th district included all of Washington County now, and once more elected: Baruch Schleisinger Weil, 1857 Densmore Maxon, 1858–1861 (Democrat) of Cedar Creek
As of 1862, the Senate expanded to 33 seats, a size it would retain well into the 21st century; the 4th District remained unchanged. It elected: Frederick Thorpe, 1862–1867 (Democrat) of West Bend Adam Schantz, 1868–1871 (Democrat) of Addison
In 1871, the Senate was drastically redistricted. Washington County became part of a revised 33rd District. A new 4th District was created, consisting of Monroe and Vernon Counties (formerly parts of the 31st and 30th Districts respectively). This new district elected: William Nelson, 1872–1873 (Republican) of Viroqua Adelbert Bleekman, 1874–1875 (Republican) of Tomah
In 1876, the District lost Monroe County, and gained Crawford County instead. The new district elected: J. Henry Tate, 1876–1877 (Republican) of Viroqua George W. Swain, 1878–1879 (Republican) of Chaseburg Ormsby Thomas, 1880–1881 (Republican) of Prairie du Chien Van S. Bennett, 1882–1883 (Republican) of Rockton Joseph W. Hoyt, 1885–1888 (Republican) of Chaseburg
In 1887, the Senate districts were again totally revamped; the new 4th District consisted of the 1st, 6th, 9th, 13th and 18th Wards of Milwaukee (the old 4th was split between new 16th and 31st Districts). It elected John J. Kempf, 1889–1892 (Republican)
In 1891 and 1892, the Senate was redistricted; after lawsuits, the 4th District lost the 6th and 9th Wards, gaining the 3rd and 7th Wards instead. It elected: James W. Murphy, 1893–1894 (Democrat) of Milwaukee James C. Officer, 1895–1896 (Republican) of Milwaukee
By 1896, the Milwaukee portion of the 4th District had been reduced to the 6th, 13th, 18th and 21st Wards, but it gained Whitefish Bay, and the Towns of Granville and Milwaukee. J. Herbert Green, 1897–1903 (Republican) of Milwaukee
After the 1901 redistricting, the 4th consisted of Milwaukee's 1st, 13th, 18th and 21st Wards and added the Villages of East Milwaukee and North Milwaukee. J. Herbert Green was re-elected in 1902 from the new district Henry Bodenstab, 1909–1912 (Republican) of Milwaukee William L. Richards, 1913–1916 (Republican)of Milwaukee Herman C. Schultz, 1917–1920 (Republican) of Milwaukee Oscar Morris, 1921–1938 (Republican) of Milwaukee
After the 1921 redistricting, the 4th lost Milwaukee's 1st Ward, but gained its 25th, and lost Granville and North Milwaukee (the former East Milwaukee was now Shorewood). This district re-elected Morris for over a decade to come. By the 1931 redistricting, the City of Milwaukee portion of the 4th was reduced to the 13th, 18th and 21st Wards, but the district included the Town of Milwaukee and the village of Shorewood, plus the addition of the villages of Fox Point and River Hills. It continued to elect Oscar Morris until his 1939 death in office. Milton T. Murray, 1939–1944 (Republican) of Milwaukee John C. McBride, 1945–1948 (Republican) of Milwaukee George A. Mayer, 1949–1952 (Republican) of Milwaukee Harry F. Franke Jr., 1953–1956 (Republican) of Milwaukee
The 1950s was a period of redistricting plans, referendums and lawsuits. By 1954, the 4th District still had three Milwaukee Wards (the 1st, 18th and 20th), Fox Point, River Hills, Shorewood, and Whitefish Bay, and added Bayside, Brown Deer, and Glendale (which between them had absorbed all of the old Town of Milwaukee). This new 4th District elected: Kirby Hendee, 1957–1960 (Republican) of Milwaukee Jerris Leonard, 1961–1969 (Republican) of Milwaukee
After more lawsuits and failure by the legislature to act, in 1964 the Wisconsin Supreme Court reapportioned the legislative districts for the 1964 elections. The 3rd and 18th Wards of the City of Milwaukee, the part of Bayside in Milwaukee County, Brown Deer, Fox Point, River Hills, Shorewood and Whitefish Bay became the new 4th. Jerris Leonard was re-elected from the new district. Nile Soik, 1969–1973 (Republican) of Whitefish Bay
In 1971, the legislature was reapportioned without incident. The new 4th encompassed the seven North Shore suburbs, but also Thiensville, Mequon, and eight townships in Southeastern Washington County, from Erin in the southwest to Farmington in the northeast. This new district elected: Bob Kasten, 1973–1974 (Republican) of Brown Deer, who left when he was elected to Congress. A special election was held, electing: Jim Sensenbrenner, 1975-1979 (Republican) of Shorewood, who in turn resigned when he was elected to Kasten's old seat in Congress. He was succeeded in another special election by: Rod Johnston, 1979–1984 (Republican) of Whitefish Bay
In 1984, an election was held under a plan passed by the legislature in 1983, under which the 4th consisted of the North Shore suburbs east of Brown Deer and Glendale, plus part of Milwaukee's inner city and the East Side of Milwaukee east of the Milwaukee River south to where the river flows into Milwaukee's harbor. Barbara Ulichny, 1985–1993 (Democrat) of Milwaukee
A 1992 court-ordered redistricting moved most of the district west of the Milwaukee River, except for Glendale and part of Shorewood, and added a large slice of the inner city, extending at its westmost to the county line with Waukesha County. This new 4th elected: Gwen Moore, 1993–2004 (Democrat) of Milwaukee
A new court-ordered map was created in 2002, by which the District was moved even further west into the inner city and out to 124th Street. In 2004, it elected Lena Taylor, the present incumbent. The 2011 redistricting expanded the portion of the district in the inner city, while still retaining Shorewood and part of Glendale. Taylor was re-elected from that district in 2012.
Note: the boundaries of districts have changed 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 1848 Fond du Lac & Winnebago counties Warren Chase Dem. 1st 2nd 1849 John A. Eastman Dem. 3rd 1850 4th 1851 Bertine Pinckney Whig Redistricted to 20th district. 5th 1852 Baruch S. Weil Dem. 6th 1853 Washington County Baltus Mantz Dem. Died in office. 7th 1854 --Vacant-- James Rolfe Ind. 8th 1855 Baruch S. Weil Dem. 9th 1856 10th 1857 Densmore Maxon Dem. 11th 1858 12th 1859 13th 1860 14th 1861 Frederick Thorpe Dem. 15th 1862 16th 1863 17th 1864 18th 1865 19th 1866 20th 1867 Adam Schantz Dem. 21st 1868 22nd 1869 23rd 1870 24th 1871 William Nelson Rep. 25th 1872 Monroe & Vernon counties 26th 1873 Adelbert Bleekman Rep. 27th 1874 28th 1875 J. Henry Tate Rep. 29th 1876 30th 1877 Crawford & Vernon counties George W. Swain Rep. 31st 1878 32nd 1879 Ormsby B. Thomas Rep. 33rd 1880 34th 1881 Van S. Bennett Rep. 35th 1882 36th 1883–1884 Joseph W. Hoyt Rep. 37th 1885–1886 38th 1887–1888 John J. Kempf Rep. 39th 1889–1890 40th 1891–1892 James W. Murphy Dem. Resigned 41st 1893–1894 James C. Officer Rep. Won 1894 special election. 42nd 1895–1896 J. Herbert Green Rep. 43rd 1897–1898 44th 1899–1900 45th 1901–1902 46th 1903–1904 Theodore C. Froemming Rep. 47th 1905–1906 48th 1907–1908 Henry Bodenstab Rep. 49th 1909–1910 50th 1911–1912 William L. Richards Rep. 51st 1913–1914 52nd 1915–1916 Herman C. Schultz Rep. 53rd 1917–1918 54th 1919–1920 Oscar Morris Rep. Died in office 55th 1921–1922 56th 1923–1924 57th 1925–1926 58th 1927–1928 59th 1929–1930 60th 1931–1932 61st 1933–1934 62nd 1935–1936 63rd 1937–1938 --Vacant-- 64th 1939–1940 Milton T. Murray Rep. Won 1939 special election. 65th 1941–1942 66th 1943–1944 John C. McBride Rep. 67th 1945–1946 68th 1947–1948 George A. Mayer Rep. 69th 1949–1950 70th 1951–1952 Harry F. Franke Jr. Rep. 71st 1953–1954 72nd 1955–1956 Kirby Hendee Rep. 73rd 1957–1958 74th 1959–1960 Jerris Leonard Rep. 75th 1961–1962 76th 1963–1964 77th 1965–1966 78th 1967–1968 Nile Soik Rep. 79th 1969–1970 80th 1971–1972 Robert W. Kasten Rep. Resigned after election to U.S. House. 81st 1973–1974 --Vacant-- 82nd 1975–1976 Jim Sensenbrenner Rep. Won 1975 special election.Resigned after election to U.S. House. 83rd 1977–1978 --Vacant-- 84th 1979–1980 Rod Johnston Rep. Won 1979 special election. 85th 1981–1982 86th 1983–1984 Barbara Ulichny Dem. 87th 1985–1986 88th 1987–1988 89th 1989–1990 90th 1991–1992 Gwen Moore Dem. 91st 1993–1994 92nd 1995–1996 93rd 1997–1998 94th 1999–2000 95th 2001–2002 96th 2003–2004 Lena Taylor Dem. Elected 2004.Re-elected 2008, 2012, 2016, 2020.Resigned Jan. 2024. 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 106th 2023–2024 Northern Milwaukee County --Vacant-- Dora Drake Dem. Won 2024 special election.Re-elected 2024. 107th 2025–2026
See also
Political subdivisions of Wisconsin
References
External links 4th Senate District, Senator Taylor in the Wisconsin Blue Book (2005–2006)