Melissa Ratcliff

Melissa Ratcliff was born Melissa Larsen in Green Bay, Wisconsin and was raised in Wausau, Wisconsin. She graduated from Wausau East High School in 1995.{{cite news|url= https://www.newspapers.com/clip/114232924/marriage-of-larsen-kartes/ |title= Kartes-Larsen |newspaper= Wausau Daily Herald |date= March 19, 1995 |page= 47 |accessdate= December 6, 2022 |via= Newspapers.com }} She earned her paralegal certification from Madison Area Technical College and was a paralegal for 24 years at Eisenberg Law Offices in Madison, Wisconsin.{{Cite news|url= https://madison.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/candidate-q-a-assembly-district-46-democratic-primary/article_d9f3d121-2f6e-50e4-a4b2-d06b2a7aef07.html |title= Candidate Q&A: Assembly District 46 Democratic Primary |date= June 30, 2022 |newspaper= Wisconsin State Journal |accessdate= December 6, 2022 }}

In the Spring of 2018, Ratcliff won her first public office when she was elected to the Cottage Grove village board.{{cite web|url= https://www.ratcliffforassembly.com/about |title= About Melissa |website= Melissa Ratcliff for Assembly |accessdate= December 6, 2022 }} Later that year, in the summer of 2018, incumbent Dane County board member Danielle Williams resigned her seat in order to accept a job as a lobbyist for the county government. The Dane County board chair, Sharon Corrigan, chose Ratcliff from a number of applicants to fill out the remainder of Williams' term, and Ratcliff's selection was ratified by a vote of the county board on September 6, 2018.{{Cite news|url= https://captimes.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/dane-county-board-confirms-melissa-ratcliff-as-district-36-supervisor/article_3b06ac5d-f08a-561e-b5d8-7516828aa362.html |title= Dane County Board confirms Melissa Ratcliff as District 36 supervisor |newspaper= The Capital Times |date= September 7, 2018 |first= Abigail |last= Becker |accessdate= December 6, 2022 }} She was subsequently elected in spring of 2019 to finish the term, elected to a full term on the board in the 2020 Spring election and was re-elected in 2022.

Just after the Spring 2022 election, incumbent state representative Gary Hebl announced he would retire after nine terms in the Assembly. Within hours of his announcement, Ratcliff entered the race for the Democratic nomination in Hebl's 46th Assembly district.{{cite news|url= https://www.stoughtonnews.com/news/government/hebl-won-t-seek-re-election-ratcliff-to-run-for-46th-district-seat/article_52f6ce90-bb58-11ec-8e1c-f7b9de520373.html |title= Hebl won't seek re-election; Ratcliff to run for 46th district seat |newspaper= The Stoughton Courier Hub |date= April 13, 2022 |first= Scott |last= De Laruelle |accessdate= December 7, 2022 }} Ultimately, four other candidates would also join the Democratic primary contest in the heavily Democratic district. Ratcliff centered her experience with local and county government, and ultimately prevailed in the primary with 36% of the vote.{{cite report|url= https://elections.wi.gov/media/16386/download |title= Canvass Results for 2022 Partisan Primary - 8/9/2022 |publisher= Wisconsin Elections Commission |date= August 26, 2022 |access-date= December 4, 2022 | pages= 41–42 }} Her opponent in the general election was Andrew McKinney, who she had earlier defeated in the April 2022 county board election. She ultimately won 70% of the vote in the general election.{{cite report|url= https://elections.wi.gov/media/18161/download |title= Canvass Results for 2022 General Election - 11/8/2022 |publisher= Wisconsin Elections Commission |date= November 21, 2022 |access-date= December 4, 2022 | page= 19 }}

In 2023, incumbent state senator Melissa Agard announced she would run for Dane County Executive rather than seeking another term representing the 16th Senate district. The 16th Senate district was one of the safest Democratic districts in the state, comprising about half of the city of Madison. The 2024 redistricting act shifted the district to a slightly more competitive configuration, shifting out of the city of Madison and into the eastern and southern suburbs, but the district remained heavily Democratic. The heavily Democratic Senate district attracted all three incumbent state representatives in the district, including Ratcliff, to forgo their Assembly re-elections to instead enter the Democratic Senate primary. All three were progressive Democrats, running on a similar policy platform of expanding Medicaid and defending abortion rights, so the race would ultimately come down to personalities and coalitions.{{Cite news|url= https://wisconsinwatch.org/2024/03/wisconsin-democrat-assembly-senate-election-legislature-gerrymandering-forward/ |title= Assembly Democrats line up for open state Senate seat |first= Jack |last= Kelly |date= March 18, 2024 |work= Wisconsin Watch |accessdate= January 9, 2025 }} Ratcliff prevailed, taking 52% of the vote. She was unopposed in the general election and was sworn in as state senator on January 6, 2025.

Melissa Larsen married Daniel Kartes in August 1995, but ultimately divorced three years later.{{cite report|url= https://wcca.wicourts.gov/caseDetail.html?caseNo=1998FA000833&countyNo=13 |title = Dane County Case Number 1998FA000833 Melissa Kartes vs Daniel Kartes |publisher= Wisconsin Circuit Court Access |accessdate= December 6, 2022 }} Subsequently, she married Philip Ratcliff and took his last name. Melissa and Philip Ratcliff have two children together and reside in Cottage Grove, Wisconsin. They were divorced in June, 2023.

{{Election box begin | title= Dane County Board of Supervisors, 36th District Election, 2020 }}

| colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;"| General Election, April 7, 2020{{cite report|url= https://elections.countyofdane.com/Precincts-Result/120/0052 |title= 2020 Spring & Presidential Preference Election - County Supervisor District 36 - Official Canvass |publisher= Dane County Clerk |accessdate= December 7, 2022 }}

{{Election box winning candidate with party link|

|party = Nonpartisan politician

|candidate = Melissa Ratcliff (incumbent)

|votes = 3,427

|percentage = 98.65%

|change =

}}

{{Election box candidate with party link|

|party =

|candidate = Scattering

|votes = 47

|percentage = 1.35%

|change =

}}

{{Election box total

|votes = 3,474

|percentage = 100.0%

|change =

}}

{{Election box end}}

{{Election box begin | title= Dane County Board of Supervisors, 36th District Election, 2022 }}

| colspan="6" style="text-align:center;background-color: #e9e9e9;"| General Election, April 5, 2022{{cite report|url= https://elections.countyofdane.com/Precincts-Result/120/0052 |title= 2022 Spring Election - County Supervisor District 36 - Official Canvass |publisher= Dane County Clerk |accessdate= December 7, 2022 }}

{{Election box winning candidate with party link|

|party = Nonpartisan politician

|candidate = Melissa Ratcliff (incumbent)

|votes = 1,132

|percentage = 64.69%

|change =

}}

{{Election box candidate with party link|

|party = Nonpartisan politician

|candidate = Andrew McKinney

|votes = 605

|percentage = 34.57%

|change =

}}

{{Election box candidate with party link|

|party =

|candidate = Scattering

|votes = 13

|percentage = 0.74%

|change =

}}

{{Election box total

|votes = 1,750

|percentage = 100.0%

|change = -49.63%

}}

{{Election box end}}

{{reflist}}

• [https://www.ratcliffforassembly.com/ Campaign website]
• [https://legis.wisconsin.gov/senate/16/ratcliff Official (Senate) website]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20231011073621/https://board.countyofdane.com/supervisors/detail/36 Official (county) website (Archived Oct. 11, 2023)]
• {{Ballotpedia|Melissa_Ratcliff}}
• [https://wisconsinvote.org/candidate/melissa-ratcliff/ Melissa Ratcliff] at Wisconsin Vote
• {{Conglinks|votesmart= 185930 }}

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{{s-ttl|title = {{nowrap|Member of the Wisconsin State Assembly}} {{nowrap|from the 46th district }} |years= January 3, 2023{{spaced ndash}}January 6, 2025}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Ratcliff, Melissa}}

Category:1976 births

Category:Living people

Category:People from Wausau, Wisconsin

Category:People from Cottage Grove, Wisconsin

Category:Politicians from Dane County, Wisconsin

Category:Madison Area Technical College alumni

Category:County supervisors in Wisconsin

Category:Democratic Party members of the Wisconsin State Assembly

Category:Democratic Party Wisconsin state senators

Category:Women state legislators in Wisconsin

Category:21st-century American women politicians

Category:21st-century members of the Wisconsin Legislature