Jennifer Shilling (''

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

'' Ehlenfeldt; born July 4, 1969) is an

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Democratic politician, lobbyist, and former state legislator. She was a member of the

Wisconsin State Senate The Wisconsin Senate is the upper house of the Wisconsin State Legislature. Together with the Wisconsin State Assembly they constitute the legislative branch of the state of Wisconsin. The powers of the Wisconsin Senate are modeled after those o ...

for nine years and was senate minority leader from 2015 to 2020. She previously served 10 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 ...

, representing the city of

La Crosse La Crosse ( ) is a city in La Crosse County, Wisconsin, United States, and its county seat. Positioned alongside the Mississippi River, La Crosse is the largest city on Wisconsin's western border. La Crosse's population was 52,680 as of the 20 ...

and

La Crosse County La Crosse County ( ) is a county located in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. At the 2020 census, the county's population was 120,784. Its county seat is the city of La Crosse. La Crosse County is included in the La Crosse-Onalaska, WI-MN Metropol ...

Background

Shilling was born Jennifer Ehlenfeldt on July 4, 1969, in

Oshkosh, Wisconsin Oshkosh () is a city in Winnebago County, Wisconsin, United States, and its county seat. It is located on the western shore of Lake Winnebago and had a population of 66,816 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List o ...

, to Richard and Lynn Ehlenfeldt. She graduated from

Buffalo Grove High School Buffalo Grove High School (BGHS) is a public high school located in Buffalo Grove, Illinois, a northwestern suburb of Chicago. It is one of six four-year comprehensive high schools in Township High School District 214, serving portions of the v ...

Buffalo Grove, Illinois Buffalo Grove is a Village (United States)#Illinois, village in Lake County, Illinois, Lake and Cook County, Illinois, Cook Counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. A suburb of Chicago, it lies about northwest of Downtown Chicago and north of ...

. She served as a

Supervisor A supervisor, or lead, (also known as foreman, boss, overseer, facilitator, monitor, area coordinator, line-manager or sometimes gaffer) is the job title of a lower-level management position and role that is primarily based on authority over la ...

from 1990 to 1992, and earned a joint B.A. in

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

and

public administration Public administration, or public policy and administration refers to "the management of public programs", or the "translation of politics into the reality that citizens see every day",Kettl, Donald and James Fessler. 2009. ''The Politics of the ...

at the

University of Wisconsin–La Crosse The University of Wisconsin–La Crosse (UWL or UW–La Crosse) is a public research university in La Crosse, Wisconsin, United States. Established in 1909, it is part of the University of Wisconsin System and offers bachelor's, master's, and ...

, graduating in 1992. Prior to being elected to the State Assembly, she worked as a legislative aide for Democratic United States Representative

Ron Kind Ronald James Kind (born March 16, 1963) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the U.S. representative for from 1997 to 2023. He is a member of the Democratic Party. His former district is in western Wisconsin, anchored by La Cross ...

and later for State Representative Mark Meyer. During her first week of work as an aide for Meyer, on January 8, 1993, Shilling's parents and five employees were murdered at the family's restaurant in

Palatine, Illinois Palatine () is a village in Cook County, Illinois, Cook and Lake County, Illinois, Lake counties, Illinois, United States. It is a northwestern residential Chicago metropolitan area, suburb of Chicago. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 c ...

, during a robbery-murder now known as the Brown's Chicken massacre. Both of Shilling's younger sisters were also scheduled to be at the restaurant that night, but happened not to be present at the time of the killing.

State Assembly

In 2000, Ehlenfeldt was elected to succeed her boss, Mark Meyer, in the 95th Assembly District (Meyer was making a successful bid for the State Senate). She won her

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 ...

with ease and won 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 ...

with 13,789 votes to 11,530 for Republican nominee Deb Suchla. Subsequent to the November election, she married and had her name changed to Jennifer Shilling. She was assigned to the Assembly's standing committees on financial institutions, health, insurance and personal privacy, as well as the Legislative Advisory Committee to the Wisconsin-

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

Boundary Commission. In the meantime, Shilling graduated from the Bowhay Institute on Legislative Leadership Development and the Citizen's Police Academy in La Crosse. In addition, she was also a member of the Wisconsin Technology Council Board of Directors. In 2001, she was selected to participate in the American Council of Young Political Leaders delegation to the

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, and in 2002 was the commencement speaker for graduation ceremonies at UW–La Crosse. Re-elected in 2002, she remained on the financial institutions, health and insurance committees, and was also assigned to the committees on

colleges and universities This is a list of lists of universities and colleges. Subject of study * Aerospace engineering * Agriculture * Art schools * Business * Chiropractic * Engineering * Forestry * Law * Maritime studies * Medicine * Music * Nanotechnology * Osteopathy ...

, and on

highway safety Road traffic safety refers to the methods and measures, such as traffic calming, to prevent road users from being killed or seriously injured. Typical road users include pedestrians, cyclists, Driving, motorists, passengers of vehicles, and p ...

. In 2008, running unopposed, Shilling won 97% of the vote.

State Senate

On April 9, 2011, Shilling formally announced her intention to run in the Senate

recall election A recall election (also called a recall referendum, recall petition or representative recall) is a procedure by which voters can remove an elected official from office through a referendum before that official's term of office has ended. Recalls ...

against Republican

Dan Kapanke Daniel E. Kapanke is an American businessman and politician who was a former Republican Party (United States), Republican member of the Wisconsin Senate, representing the 32nd District from 2005 until losing his seat to Jennifer Shilling in the 2 ...

. That summer, she defeated him in the recall election winning 55% of the vote, and took office August 26, 2011. In March 2012, Bill Feehan, a La Crosse businessman and county board supervisor, announced that he would run against Shilling in the 2012 general election. In the newly redistricted district, Shilling took over 58% of the vote, with 51,091 votes to Feehan's 36,527. In 2014, Shilling was elected Senate Minority Leader by fellow Democrats. Her top priorities include increasing spending on education, both at the K-12 and college level. Shilling was re-elected in the November 2016 election. In 2020, Shilling announced she would step down as Minority Leader and would not seek re-election in 2020. On May 15, 2020, Shilling resigned from the Wisconsin Senate.

After the senate

Shilling announced after her senate resignation in 2020 that she would go to work as a

lobbyist Lobbying is a form of advocacy, which lawfully attempts to directly influence legislators or government officials, such as regulatory agencies or judiciary. Lobbying involves direct, face-to-face contact and is carried out by various entities, in ...

for Dairyland Power Cooperative—a La Crosse-based energy generation and transmission cooperative.

Personal life

She and her husband, Chris, have two children.

References

External links

Wisconsin State Senator Jennifer Shilling
official government website
Financial information (state office)
at

OpenSecrets OpenSecrets is a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., that tracks and publishes data on campaign finance and lobbying, including a revolving door database which documents the individuals who have worked in both the public sector an ...

*
Dairyland Power Cooperative
, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Shilling, Jennifer 1969 births 21st-century American women politicians County supervisors in Wisconsin Living people Democratic Party members of the Wisconsin State Assembly Politicians from La Crosse, Wisconsin Politicians from Oshkosh, Wisconsin University of Wisconsin–La Crosse alumni Democratic Party Wisconsin state senators Women state legislators in Wisconsin 21st-century members of the Wisconsin Legislature