Joseph T. Parisi (born October 24, 1960) is an American Democratic politician from

Madison, Wisconsin Madison is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. It is the List of municipalities in Wisconsin by population, second-most populous city in the state, with a population of 269,840 at the 2020 Uni ...

. He was the 5th

Dane County Dane County is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 561,504, making it the second-most populous county in Wisconsin after Milwaukee County, Wiscon ...

executive Executive ( exe., exec., execu.) may refer to: Role or title * Executive, a senior management role in an organization ** Chief executive officer (CEO), one of the highest-ranking corporate officers (executives) or administrators ** Executive dir ...

, having served from April 18, 2011, until his resignation on May 3, 2024. Earlier in his career, he represented Dane County in the

Wisconsin State Assembly The Wisconsin State Assembly is the lower house of the Wisconsin Legislature. Together with the smaller Wisconsin Senate, the two constitute the legislative branch of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The Assembly is controlled by the Republican ...

from 2005 to 2011, and served as county clerk from 1997 to 2005.

Background

Parisi was born in

on October 24, 1960. He attended Middleton High School and

Madison Area Technical College Madison Area Technical College, or simply Madison College or MATC, is a public technical college in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. It serves students in south-central Wisconsin and is part of the Wisconsin Technical College System. The co ...

before earning a

B.A. A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree ...

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from the

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. He was also a drummer for the blues-rock band Honor Among Thieves. He was elected as Dane County

county clerk A clerk is a white-collar worker who conducts record keeping as well as general office tasks, or a worker who performs similar sales-related tasks in a retail environment. The responsibilities of clerical workers commonly include record keepin ...

in the 1996 election, and served in that office until running for the Assembly in 2004.

Legislative service

In 2004 Parisi was elected to represent Wisconsin's 48th Assembly district.The district encompasses McFarland, Monona, the

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of Blooming Grove and Dunn and the far eastern portion of the City of Madison. Land used in the district ranges from high-intensity urban and heavy industrial to natural areas as well as several miles of Lake Monona shoreline. Parisi won his

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by over 2:1, and in the

general election A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from By-election, by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. Gener ...

defeated Dan Long ( Republican) by 25,066 to 8,451. He was assigned to the

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and

long-term care Long-term care (LTC) is a variety of services which help meet both the medical and non-medical needs of people with a chronic illness or disability who cannot care for themselves for long periods. Long-term care is focused on individualized and ...

, on

agriculture Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...

, on

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review, on

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and the

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, and on

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and urban affairs. In 2006, he again faced Long in the general election, and defeated him by a fractionally larger margin. In 2008, he was unopposed in both the primary and general elections. In 2010, he defeated Spencer Zimmerman (Republican) and Grant Gilbertson (

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running as a "Progress-Freedom" candidate), with 20,650 for Parisi, 6929 for Zimmerman, and 893 for Gilbertson. His work in the State Assembly focused on criminal justice, ending domestic abuse and sexual assault and workforce development. In 2014 he testified in favor of a living wage before a Senate committee that had fast-tracked legislation against it. On April 14, 2011, after having been elected Dane County Executive, Parisi resigned from the Wisconsin State Assembly. He was succeeded by Chris Taylor, who was unopposed in the general election after winning a six-way Democratic

primary election Primary elections or primaries are elections held to determine which candidates will run in an upcoming general election. In a partisan primary, a political party selects a candidate. Depending on the state and/or party, there may be an "open pr ...

Dane County Executive

On April 5, 2011, Parisi was elected Dane County Executive with 70.1% of the vote, defeating Eileen Bruskewitz, who garnered 29.8%. He began his two-year term on April 18. Parisi succeeded

Kathleen Falk Kathleen Falk (born June 26, 1951) is an American attorney, politician, and policymaker from Wisconsin who served as Dane County Executive from 1997 until 2011. In 2013, she was appointed Regional Director of the U.S. Department of Health and H ...

who retired in the middle of her fourth four-year term. Parisi was elected to a full four-year term in April 2013, and re-elected in 2017, without facing opposition in either election. He was re-elected to a third full term on April 6, 2021, defeating Mary Ann Nicholson, an accountant who suspended her campaign after her husband's death but remained on the ballot. Parisi received 78.9% of the vote to Nicholson's 20.9%. In October 2023, Parisi announced he would retire after 13 years as county executive, and plans to leave office in May 2024, a year before the expiration of his current term.

References

External links

* http://www.thedailypage.com/isthmus/article.php?article=42741 * http://capitalcityhues.com/112813JoeParisi.html Green Fleet Magazine Dane County's BioCNG Fueling Station Turns Trash Into Gas: https://www.greenfleetmagazine.com/news/51693/dane-countys-biocng-fueling-station-turns-trash-into-gas * https://progressive.org/wis-republicans-want-to-crush-living-wage * * ''Follow the Money'' – Joseph T Parisi
200820062004
campaign contributions
Campaign 2008
campaign contributions at ''Wisconsin Democracy Campaign''
Campaign website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Parisi, Joe 1960 births Living people Politicians from Madison, Wisconsin Madison Area Technical College alumni University of Wisconsin–Madison College of Letters and Science alumni County clerks in Wisconsin Dane County executives Democratic Party members of the Wisconsin State Assembly 21st-century members of the Wisconsin Legislature