Dianne Hesselbein
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| Minority Leader of the Wisconsin Senate | |
| Assumed office December 1, 2023 | |
| Preceded by | Melissa Agard |
| Member of the Wisconsin Senate from the 27th district | |
| Assumed office January 3, 2023 | |
| Preceded by | Jon Erpenbach |
| Member of the Wisconsin State Assembly from the 79th district | |
| In office January 7, 2013 – January 2, 2023 | |
| Preceded by | Sondy Pope-Roberts |
| Succeeded by | Alex Joers |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1971-03-10) March 10, 1971 (age 53) Madison, Wisconsin, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse(s) |
Scott Edmundson
(m. 1995; div. 2000)Robert Hesselbein |
| Children | 3 |
| Education | University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh (BS) Edgewood College (MA) |
| Website | State Senate website Campaign website |
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Dianne H. Hesselbein (née Conway; born March 10, 1971) is an American Democratic politician from Middleton, Wisconsin. She is the minority leader of the Wisconsin Senate since December 2023; she has been a member of the Senate since January 2023, representing Wisconsin's 27th Senate district. She previously served ten years in the Wisconsin State Assembly, representing the 79th Assembly district from 2013 through 2022.
Dianne Hesselbein was born Dianne Conway in Madison, Wisconsin, in March 1971. She graduated from La Follette High School in 1989 and went on to attend the University of Wisconsin–Oshkosh, where she earned her bachelor's degree in 1993. She then obtained her master's in religious studies from Edgewood College in 1996.[1][2]
She subsequently moved to Middleton, Wisconsin, just west of Madison, where she was elected to the Dane County board of supervisors. In November 2012, she was elected to the Wisconsin State Assembly without opposition, running on the Democratic Party ticket.[3][4] She was subsequently re-elected in 2014, 2016, 2018, and 2020,[1] and rose within the caucus to become assistant minority leader from 2017 through 2022.[5]
In December 2021, long-time incumbent state senator Jon Erpenbach announced he would not run for a seventh term in 2022.[6] A week later, Hesselbein announced she would run for the open Senate seat.[7] She faced no opposition in the Democratic primary, and went on to defeat Republican candidate Robert Relph with 68% of the vote in the November general election.[8]
She was sworn in as state senator in January 2023. In December 2023, she was elected minority leader of the Wisconsin Senate following the resignation of Melissa Agard.[9]
Dianne Hesselbein's first husband was Scott Edmundson, during that marriage she was known as Dianne Edmundson. They were married in 1995[10] and had two children together before divorcing in 2000.[11]
She took the name Dianne Hesselbein when she married airline pilot Robert Hesselbein, with whom she had one more child. She now resides in Middleton with her husband, who is now retired.[2]
| Year | Election | Date | Elected | Defeated | Total | Plurality | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Primary[12] | Aug. 14 | Dianne Hesselbein | Democratic | 3,590 | 65.52% | Ellen Lindgren | Dem. | 1,885 | 34.40% | 5,479 | 1,705 |
| General[13] | Nov. 6 | Dianne Hesselbein | Democratic | 24,683 | 98.75% | 24,995 | 24,371 | |||||
| 2014 | General[14] | Nov. 4 | Dianne Hesselbein (inc) | Democratic | 18,843 | 62.24% | Brent Renteria | Rep. | 11,406 | 37.67% | 30,275 | 7,437 |
| 2016 | General[15] | Nov. 8 | Dianne Hesselbein (inc) | Democratic | 23,211 | 63.84% | Jordan Zadra | Rep. | 13,105 | 36.04% | 36,360 | 10,106 |
| 2018 | General[16] | Nov. 6 | Dianne Hesselbein (inc) | Democratic | 28,079 | 97.58% | 28,776 | 27,382 | ||||
| 2020 | General[17] | Nov. 3 | Dianne Hesselbein (inc) | Democratic | 29,719 | 67.14% | Victoria Fueger | Rep. | 14,507 | 32.77% | 44,267 | 15,212 |
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| General Election, November 8, 2022[8] | |||||
| Democratic | Dianne Hesselbein | 65,618 | 67.97% | +1.81% | |
| Republican | Robert Relph | 30,863 | 31.97% | ||
| Scattering | 53 | 0.05% | |||
| Plurality | 34,755 | 36.00% | +3.63% | ||
| Total votes | 96,534 | 100.0% | -1.14% | ||
| Democratic hold | |||||
| Wisconsin State Assembly | ||
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| Preceded by | Member of the Wisconsin State Assembly from the 79th district 2013–2023 |
Succeeded by |
| Wisconsin Senate | ||
| Preceded by | Member of the Wisconsin Senate from the 27th district 2023–present |
Incumbent |
| Preceded by | Minority Leader of the Wisconsin Senate 2023–present | |
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Statewide political officials of Wisconsin
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Members of the Wisconsin Senate
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106th Wisconsin Legislature (2023–2024)
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