FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Christine Lidbury, 608-266-2219 [email protected] RECORD SETTING ELECTION FOR WOMEN IN THE WISCONSIN LEGISLATURE New Factsheet on Women in the 2021 Wisconsin State Legislature December 4, 2020 (Madison, WI) A new factsheet from the Wisconsin Women’s Council finds that when the Wisconsin State Legislature convenes in January 2021, women will hold 41 of the 132 legislative seats—31%— setting a new Wisconsin record.* Downloadable at http://womenscouncil.wi.gov. Forty-one women will serve in the 2021-22 Session, surpassing the previous record of 38 women, set in 1989, and again in 2003, and breaks through a 30-year stretch where the percentage of seats held by women hovered around 25%. Even so, women’s representation in 2021 —10 Senate seats and 31 Assembly seats—remains below earlier records of 11 women in the Senate (1999, 2001, 2015) and 33 in the Assembly (1989). State Senate. Women will hold 10 of 33 seats (30%) and welcome four new women Members: Senators Joan Ballweg, Mary Czaja-Felzkowski and Melissa Agard Sargent, elected to the Senate from the Wisconsin State Assembly, and Kelda Roys, who served in the State Assembly from 2009-2013. State Assembly. Women will hold 31 of 99 seats 0% 25% 30% (31%) and will welcome ten new women Members: Representatives Deb Andraca, Rachael Cabral-Guevara, Sue Conley, Dora Drake, Francesca Hong, Sylvia Ortiz-Velez, Sara Rodriguez, Donna Rozar, Kristina Shelton, and Lee Snodgrass. Continued Press Release Wisconsin Women’s Council December 4, 2020 Page 2 Wisconsin also celebrates a new ‘first” in the State Legislature. Representative Francesca Hong (Madison) is Wisconsin’s first Asian American state legislator—96 years after the first women were elected to the Legislature in 1925. Results of the November 2020 General Election were certified and published by the Wisconsin Elections Commission, December 1, 2020, http://elections.wi.gov. About the Women’s Council The Wisconsin Women's Council, established in 1983, is Wisconsin's statutory commission on the status of women and girls. The Council promotes initiatives that empower women, serves as a clearinghouse for information on programs and resources, provides research and advocacy, and promotes unique partnerships to address barriers and inequalities affecting Wisconsin women. The Council operates under the guidance of a 15-Member Board appointed by the Governor and Legislative leaders. For more information about the Wisconsin Women's Council, visit our web site at http://womenscouncil.wi.gov. # # # .