Deborah Andraca (' Anderson; born April 10, 1970) is an
American
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, p ...
politician,
public relations
Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. Pu ...
specialist, and educator. A
Democrat
Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to:
Politics
*A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people.
*A member of a Democratic Party:
**Democratic Party (Cyprus) (DCY)
**Democratic Part ...
, she represents the 23rd district of 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 ...
. The 23rd assembly district comprises three northeastern
Milwaukee County
Milwaukee County () is a county located in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. At the 2020 census, the population was 939,489, down from 947,735 in 2010. It is both the most populous and most densely populated county in Wisconsin, containing about 1 ...
suburbs
A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area. They are oftentimes where most of a metropolitan areas jobs are located with some being predominantly residential. They can either be denser or less densely populated ...
—
Whitefish Bay
Whitefish Bay is a large bay on the eastern end of Lake Superior between Michigan, United States, and Ontario, Canada. It is located between Whitefish Point in Michigan and Whiskey Point along the more rugged, largely wilderness Canadian Shield ...
,
Fox Point, and
Bayside—as well as the village of
Grafton and eastern portions of
Mequon
Mequon () is the most populous city in Ozaukee County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 25,142 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Located on Lake Michigan's western shore with significant commercial developments along Int ...
and the town of
Grafton. She was elected to her first term in November 2020.
Early life and education
Deb Andraca was born Deborah Jane Anderson in
Springfield, Massachusetts
Springfield is the most populous city in Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States, and its county seat. Springfield sits on the eastern bank of the Connecticut River near its confluence with three rivers: the western Westfield River, the ea ...
, and moved with her parents to
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...
as a child. She graduated from
Manheim Township High School in 1988 and earned her
bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...
from
Syracuse University
Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York, United States. It was established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church but has been nonsectarian since 1920 ...
in 1992.
After graduating from Syracuse, she moved to Washington, D.C., and worked for the
Solar Energy Industries Association
The Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), established in 1974, is the American national non-profit trade association of the solar-energy industry in the United States. In 2019, the group reported at least 1,000 member companies.
SEIA i ...
—a non-profit trade association which promotes the solar energy industry in the United States. While working full time for the SEIA, she also attended
George Washington University
The George Washington University (GW or GWU) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally-chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Originally named Columbian College, it was chartered in 1821 by ...
and earned her
master's
A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...
in political management.
Early career
She moved with her then-fiancé to Chicago, where she worked as communications director for the
Environmental Law and Policy Center
The Environmental Law and Policy Center (ELPC) is a Midwest-based non-profit environmental advocacy group, with offices in Chicago, Columbus (OH), Columbus (Ohio), Des Moines (IA), Des Moines (Iowa), Duluth (MN), Duluth (Minnesota), Jamestown (ND ...
, worked as
press secretary
A press secretary or press officer is a senior advisor who provides advice on how to deal with the news media and, using news management techniques, helps their employer to maintain a positive public image and avoid negative media coverage.
Dutie ...
for U.S. representative
Lynn N. Rivers
Lynn Nancy Rivers (née Carruthers; born December 19, 1956) is an American politician and lawyer from Michigan. She served four terms in the United States House of Representatives from 1995 to 2003.
Early life and education
Rivers was born in A ...
on her successful
2000
2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year.
Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...
re-election campaign, and was vice president at the Chicago office of
FleishmanHillard, a
public relations
Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. Pu ...
firm. They then moved to
Houston
Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...
, and finally to
Milwaukee
Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...
. After the birth of her daughters, Andraca became a
stay-at-home mom
A stay-at-home mother (alternatively, stay-at-home mom or SAHM) is a mother who is the primary caregiver of the children. The male equivalent is the stay-at-home dad. The gender-neutral term is stay-at-home parent. Stay-at-home mom is distinct ...
to raise them.
Over the next several years, she remained involved in her community, leading her daughters'
Girl Scouts
Girl Guides (or Girl Scouts in the United States and some other countries) are organisations within the Scout Movement originally and largely still for girls and women only. The Girl Guides began in 1910 with the formation of The Girl Guides ...
troops, volunteering at her daughters' schools, and serving as a board member and president of the school's
parent-teacher organization.
After the
Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting
On December 14, 2012, a mass shooting occurred at Newtown Public Schools, Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, United States. The perpetrator, 20-year-old Adam Lanza, shot and killed 26 people. The victims were 20 children bet ...
, Andraca became involved with
Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense and began working to earn a teacher's license from
Alverno College
Alverno College is a Private college, private Catholic Women's colleges in the United States, women's college in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States.
History
Chartered in 1887 as "St. Joseph's Normal School", Alverno became "Alverno Teachers Col ...
.
She has worked as a
substitute teacher
A substitute teacher is a person who teaches a school class when the regular teacher is absent or unavailable; e.g., because of illness, personal leave, maternal leave and so on. "Substitute teacher" (usually abbreviated as sub) is the most c ...
for the Whitefish Bay School District and Bruce-Guadalupe Community School in the years leading up to her 2020 Assembly campaign.
Political career
In December 2019, she announced she would be a candidate for
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 ...
, challenging 14-year incumbent
Jim Ott. In her 2020 election campaign, she described her experience as a teacher conducting a lockdown drill with a group of third graders as motivation. She asserted that years of correspondence and meeting requests with Ott had been ignored as she sought to communicate her concerns to her state representative.
Ott was seeking his 8th term in what had been a traditionally safe Republican district—Ott had won his re-election in 2012 and 2014 with more than 60% of the vote, and faced no opponent in 2016. Following the election of
Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...
, however, suburban districts—like the 23rd—began to shift away from the Republican Party. In 2018, Ott managed only 52% of the general election vote. As a result of the movement in suburbs, Ott was a top target for Democrats in 2020, and Andraca reported strong fundraising success in the first half of 2020. Andraca was also assisted by Emerge Wisconsin, an organization which recruits, trains, and supports Democratic women running for office in Wisconsin.
Andraca was one of several candidates who dealt with death threats during the 2020 election. She sought a
restraining order
A restraining order or protective order is an order used by a court to protect a person in a situation often involving alleged domestic violence, child abuse and neglect, assault, harassment, stalking, or sexual assault.
Restraining and perso ...
against a man who said he wanted her to be shot, but the request was denied due to lack of evidence implying an imminent threat.
She also had to stop using her personal cell phone after her number was released on
mailers distributed by the conservative
political action committee
In the United States, a political action committee (PAC) is a tax-exempt 527 organization that pools campaign contributions from members and donates those funds to campaigns for or against candidates, ballot initiatives, or legislation. The l ...
Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce
Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce (WMC) is an association of manufacturers, service businesses and chambers of commerce located in Madison, Wisconsin. WMC was formed from what was the Wisconsin State Chamber of Commerce, the Wisconsin Manufactu ...
.
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 ...
, Andraca defeated Ott, taking 51.5% of the vote.
She was one of only two candidates in Wisconsin to defeat an incumbent in the 2020 general election.
In 2025, Andraca handed out Valentines on
Valentine's Day
Valentine's Day, also called Saint Valentine's Day or the Feast of Saint Valentine, is celebrated annually on February 14. It originated as a Christian feast day honoring a Christian martyrs, martyr named Saint Valentine, Valentine, and ...
to all members of the legislature as a sign of
bipartisanship
Bipartisanship, sometimes referred to as nonpartisanship, is a political situation, usually in the context of a two-party system (especially those of the United States and some other western countries), in which opposing political parties find c ...
. She cited experience of doing something similar in her former 3rd grade classes.
Personal life and family
Deb Anderson took the name Andraca after she married Marc Andraca in 1998. They have two daughters and reside in
Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin
Whitefish Bay is a village in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 14,954 at the 2020 census. A suburb north of Milwaukee along the shore of Lake Michigan, it is part of the Milwaukee metropolitan area.
History
In th ...
.
Electoral history
Wisconsin Assembly (2020–present)
References
External links
*
*
Campaign websiteBruce-Guadalupe Community School
Emerge Wisconsin
{{DEFAULTSORT:Andraca, Deb
Living people
Women state legislators in Wisconsin
Democratic Party members of the Wisconsin State Assembly
Syracuse University alumni
George Washington University alumni
21st-century American women politicians
1970 births
21st-century members of the Wisconsin Legislature