The 61st Assembly district of Wisconsin is one of 99 districts in the Wisconsin State Assembly. Located in southeastern Wisconsin, the district comprises part of southwest Milwaukee County, including the villages of Greendale and Hales Corners, most of the city of Greenfield, and parts of southwest Milwaukee and northeast Franklin. The district is represented by Republican Bob Donovan, since January 2025; Donovan previously represented the 84th district from 2023 to 2025.
The 61st Assembly district is located within Wisconsin's 21st Senate district, along with the 62nd and 63rd Assembly Districts.
History The district was created in the 1972 redistricting act (1971 Wisc. Act 304) which first established the numbered district system, replacing the previous system which allocated districts to specific counties. The 61st district was drawn roughly in line with the boundaries of the previous Racine County 2nd district (the northern part of the city of Racine). The 61st district boundaries were relatively consistent in redistricting from 1972 to 2011, with the exception of the 1982 redistricting, which scrambled all State Assembly districts and moved the 61st district to north-central Wisconsin for the 1983–1984 legislative session. That changed with the controversial 2011 redistricting plan (2011 Wisc. Act 43) which moved the district to Kenosha County—the territory which had been covered by the 61st district was then split between the 62nd and 66th Assembly districts. This was part of a larger gerrymandering plan for the Racine and Kenosha County districts to convert one Assembly seat and one Senate seat from tossups to safely Republican.
The 2024 redistricting again dramatically reshaped the 21st Senate district, moving the 61st district from Kenosha County to southwest Milwaukee County. Most of the area previously covered by the 61st district became the bulk of the new 32nd Assembly district. Under the new map configuration, the 61st Assembly district is projected to be one of the most competitive districts in the state legislature.
List of past representatives +List of representatives to the Wisconsin State Assembly from the 61st districtMemberPartyResidenceCounties representedTerm startTerm endRef.District created Dem. Racine Racine January 1, 1973 January 3, 1983 Rep. Merrill Langlade, Lincoln, Marathon January 3, 1983 January 7, 1985 Dem. Racine Racine January 7, 1985 July 1, 1990 --Vacant-- July 1, 1990 January 7, 1991 Dem. Racine January 7, 1991 January 7, 2013 Rep. Randall Kenosha January 7, 2013 June 7, 2022 --Vacant-- June 7, 2022 January 3, 2023 Rep. Pleasant Prairie January 3, 2023 January 6, 2025 Rep. Greenfield Milwaukee January 6, 2025 Current
Electoral history Year Date Elected Defeated Total Plurality Other primary candidates 1972 Democratic 9,261 56.39% Rep. 7,162 43.61% 16,423 2,099 1974 Democratic 5,881 57.82% Rep. 4,291 42.18% 10,172 1,590 1976 Democratic 12,309 94.72% Amer. 686 5.28% 12,995 11,623 1978 Democratic 7,911 68.88% Rep. 3,575 31.12% 11,486 4,336 1980 Democratic 10,724 65.06% Rep. 5,758 34.94% 16,482 4,966 1982 Sheehan Donoghue Republican 8,377 50.80% Dem. 8,112 49.20% 16,489 265 1984 Democratic 10,880 55.21% Rep. 8,827 44.79% 19,707 2,053 1986 Democratic 7,575 58.88% Rep. 5,291 41.12% 12,866 2,284 1988 Democratic 11,700 67.09% Rep. 5,738 32.91% 17,438 5,962 1990 Democratic 7,232 62.09% Rep. 4,415 37.91% 11,647 2,817 1992 Democratic 11,963 66.66% Rep. 5,984 33.34% 17,947 5,979 1994 Democratic 7,464 100.0% --Unopposed-- 7,464 7,464 1996 Democratic 10,218 85.97% Tax. 904 7.61% 11,886 9,314 Lib. 764 6.43% 1998 Democratic 9,515 100.0% --Unopposed-- 9,515 9,515 2000 Democratic 13,703 99.56% 13,763 13,643 2002 Democratic 9,525 98.15% 9,705 9,345 John Dickert (Dem.) 2004 Democratic 17,173 89.49% Lib. 1,980 10.32% 19,189 15,193 2006 Democratic 11,431 99.06% --Unopposed-- 11,539 11,323 2008 Democratic 16,267 87.71% Lib. 2,242 12.09% 18,547 14,025 2010 Democratic 10,026 81.96% Lib. 2,167 17.71% 12,233 7,859 2012 Republican 16,589 55.67% Dem. 13,186 44.25% 29,798 3,403 2014 Republican 17,452 97.41% --Unopposed-- 17,916 16,988 2016 Republican 19,622 66.59% Dem. 9,792 33.23% 29,466 9,830 2018 Republican 16,606 61.87% Dem. 10,207 38.03% 26,841 6,399 2020 Republican 28,254 96.26% Dem. 8 0.03% 29,352 27,164 2022 Republican 17,542 64.00% Dem. 9,851 35.94% 27,408 7,691
References