Elections

Wisconsin Senate Minority Leader Agard plans 2024 run for Dane County Executive

Wisconsin Senate Minority Leader Melissa Agard, D-Madison, announced that she will leave the legislature in order to run to replace retiring Dane County Executive Joe Parisi in 2024.

Associated Press

November 30, 2023 • South Central Region

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Melissa Agard stands and speaks in a room with marble masonry in the background.

Wisconsin Senate Minority Leader Melissa Agard, D-Madison, speaks during a floor session on Sept. 14, 2023, at the Wisconsin State Capitol in Madison. Agard announced Nov. 30, 2023, that she's going to leave the body to run for Dane County Executive in 2024. (Credit: PBS Wisconsin)


AP News

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The Wisconsin state Senate’s top Democrat announced Nov. 30 that she’s going to leave the body to run for local office in 2024.

Senate Minority Leader Melissa Agard of Madison said she will run to replace retiring Dane County Executive Joe Parisi. State law specifically bars her from holding both a Senate office and a county executive office simultaneously for more than two months.

Senate Democrats will vote on a new leader via video conference on the afternoon of Dec. 1, said Justin Sargent, an aide to Senate Minority Caucus Chair Chris Larson.

Sen. Kelda Roys of Madison plans to run for the leadership spot, her aide, Jalen Knutson, said. Other possible candidates include Sens. Dianne Hesselbein of Madison and Jeff Smith of Brunswick.

State Rep. Melissa Ratcliff, a Cottage Grove Democrat, announced on the morning of Nov. 30 that she plans to run for Agard’s open seat in the fall 2024 election.

The jockeying comes as the state Supreme Court’s liberal majority appears poised to invalidate Republican-drawn legislative district boundaries, perhaps by the end of the year.

The boundaries have helped the GOP maintain control of both the Senate and Assembly since 2012. Republicans currently hold a 22-11 majority in the Senate and a 64-35 majority in the Assembly. New maps could help Democrats gain seats in both chambers.

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