Sondy M. Pope (born April 27, 1950) is a retired American nonprofit executive and Democratic politician from

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

. She served 20 years 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 2003 through 2022. She represented the 79th Assembly district for the first 10 years, then represented the 80th district after the 2011

redistricting Redistricting in the United States is the process of drawing electoral district boundaries. For the United States House of Representatives, and state legislatures, redistricting occurs after each ten-year census. The U.S. Constitution in Art ...

Early life and family

Pope was born in Madison; she graduated from River Valley High School in

Spring Green Spring Green or spring green may refer to: Colors * Spring green ** Spring bud, formerly known as spring green Plants * Spring greens, edible young leaves of certain plants * Spring greens (Brassica oleracea), vegetables Places in the United S ...

and attended

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 ...

and Edgewood College. Prior to election to the Assembly, she was a staff member for the Foundation for Madison's Public Schools. She is married with one daughter.
/ref>

Legislative career

Pope first ran for the Assembly to represent the 79th district (western parts of Madison and Middleton, Wisconsin, Middleton, Blue Mounds, Cross Plains, Fitchburg,

Mount Horeb Mount Horeb (; Hebrew: ''Har Ḥōrēḇ''; Greek in the Septuagint: , ''Chōrēb''; Latin in the Vulgate: ') is the mountain at which the Ten Commandments were given to Moses by God, according to the Book of Deuteronomy in the Hebrew Bible. I ...

, Springdale,

Vermont Vermont () is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, New York (state), New York to the west, and the Provinces and territories of Ca ...

, and

Verona Verona ( ; ; or ) is a city on the Adige, River Adige in Veneto, Italy, with 255,131 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region, and is the largest city Comune, municipality in the region and in Northeast Italy, nor ...

) in 2000 against Republican

incumbent The incumbent is the current holder of an office or position. In an election, the incumbent is the person holding or acting in the position that is up for election, regardless of whether they are seeking re-election. There may or may not be ...

Rick Skindrud, but lost by 13,765 to 18,510 for Skindrud and 887 for

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

Bob Menamin. She was re-nominated in 2002, and unseated Skindrud, with a vote of 12,311 to Skindrud's 10,865. She was assigned to the

standing committee A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly or other form of organization. A committee may not itself be considered to be a form of assembly or a decision-making body. Usually, an assembly o ...

s on

aging Ageing (or aging in American English) is the process of becoming Old age, older until death. The term refers mainly to humans, many other animals, and fungi; whereas for example, bacteria, perennial plants and some simple animals are potentiall ...

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 ...

;

education Education is the transmission of knowledge and skills and the development of character traits. Formal education occurs within a structured institutional framework, such as public schools, following a curriculum. Non-formal education als ...

; rural affairs; and

small business Small businesses are types of corporations, partnerships, or sole proprietorships which have a small number of employees and/or less annual revenue than a regular-sized business or corporation. Businesses are defined as "small" in terms of being ...

.Barish, Lawrence S., ed. ''State of Wisconsin 2003-2004 blue book'' Madison: Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau, 2004; pp. 73, 930.
/ref> She was re-elected in 2004, after an unsuccessful challenge in the 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 ...

from Manamin; re-elected in 2006 (without opposition), 2008 and 2010; and as of 2011 is ranking minority member of the Assembly's standing committee on

, and a member of the committees on

housing Housing refers to a property containing one or more Shelter (building), shelter as a living space. Housing spaces are inhabited either by individuals or a collective group of people. Housing is also referred to as a human need and right to ...

, and on

children A child () is a human being between the stages of childbirth, birth and puberty, or between the Development of the human body, developmental period of infancy and puberty. The term may also refer to an unborn human being. In English-speaking ...

and

families Family (from ) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictability, structure, and safety as ...

References

External links

Wisconsin Assembly - Representative Sondy Pope
''official government website''

''official campaign website'' * * ''Follow the Money'' - Sondy Pope-Roberts
20082006200420022000
campaign contributions
Campaign 2008
campaign contributions at ''Wisconsin Democracy Campaign'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Pope, Sondy Democratic Party members of the Wisconsin State Assembly 1950 births Edgewood College alumni Living people Madison Area Technical College alumni Women state legislators in Wisconsin 21st-century American women politicians Politicians from Madison, Wisconsin 21st-century members of the Wisconsin Legislature