Tim Carpenter

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This article is about a current Wisconsin state senator from Milwaukee. For the American mixed martial artist, see Tim Carpenter (fighter).
Tim Carpenter
Carpenter in 2009
President pro tempore of the Wisconsin Senate
In office
July 16, 2012 – January 7, 2013
Preceded byJoseph K. Leibham
Succeeded byJoseph K. Leibham
Member of the Wisconsin Senate
from the 3rd district
Incumbent
Assumed office
January 3, 2003
Preceded byBrian Burke
Member of the Wisconsin State Assembly
In office
January 4, 1993 – January 3, 2003
Preceded byWalter Kunicki
Succeeded byJosh Zepnick
Constituency9th Assembly district
In office
January 3, 1985 – January 4, 1993
Preceded byJames F. Rooney
Succeeded byRosemary Potter
Constituency20th Assembly district
Personal details
Born
Timothy W. Carpenter

(1960-02-24) February 24, 1960 (age 65)
Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
Residence(s)Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Alma materUniversity of Wisconsin–Milwaukee (BA)
University of Wisconsin–Madison (MA)
WebsiteOfficial website

Timothy W. Carpenter (born February 24, 1960) is an American Democratic politician from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He has been a member of the Wisconsin Senate for more than 20 years, representing the Wisconsin's 3rd Senate district since 2003. His district comprises much of the south side of the city of Milwaukee. He previously served 18 years in the Wisconsin State Assembly (1985–2003).

Early life and education

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Carpenter was born on February 24, 1960, at St. Francis Hospital in Milwaukee.[1] He graduated from Milwaukee's Casimir Pulaski High School and attended Marquette University in 1978, before transferring to University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, where he received his bachelor's degree in political science and history in 1982.[2] He continued graduate work at Milwaukee, but was interrupted when he was elected to the Legislature in 1984. He later resumed his education at the La Follette School of Public Affairs at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, where he earned his master's degree in 1995.[1]

Political career

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After graduating from college, Carpenter worked briefly at a number of jobs, at Rustlers Steak House and as a courier for Federal Express.[1] He had become involved with the Democratic Party of Wisconsin at an early age and became a member of the state party's administrative committee.[3]

Carpenter made his first bid for elected office in 1984, at age 24, while still a student at the La Follette School of Public Affairs. He announced he would run for Wisconsin State Assembly in the 20th district seat being vacated by the retirement of James F. Rooney. The 20th Assembly district was heavily Democratic, based in southern Milwaukee—Carpenter faced five opponents in the Democratic primary. He prevailed in the six-way race with just 27% of the vote, and faced no opponent in the 1984 general election.[4]

He went on to serve four terms representing the 20th district before the 1992 court-ordered redistricting, which shifted him into the 9th Assembly district. He won five more terms in the 9th district, remaining in the Assembly until 2003. He briefly served in caucus leadership when Democrats held the majority in the early part of the 1993 term, and served as speaker pro tempore.

In 2002, incumbent state senator Brian Burke announced his retirement, and Carpenter entered the race to succeed him in the 3rd state Senate district. During the 2007–08 biennium, he served as President Pro Tempore of the Wisconsin State Senate. He faced two opponents in the primary, including former state senator Roman R. Blenski; Blenski, at age 85, died before the primary election, however, and Carpenter prevailed with 53% of the vote.[5] He was unopposed in the general election and took office in January 2003.[6]

2004 U.S. House campaign

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See also: 2004 United States House of Representatives elections in Wisconsin § District 4

In 2004, Milwaukee's 20-year incumbent U.S. representative Jerry Kleczka announced he would retire. At the time, Wisconsin's 4th congressional district contained virtually all of the city of Milwaukee; Carpenter and north-side state senator Gwen Moore entered the race, as did former Democratic Party of Wisconsin chair Matt Flynn. Carpenter finished in a distant third place with only 10% of the vote. Moore won the primary and the election, and became Wisconsin's first African American representative in Congress.[7][8]

Legislative majority (2007–2010)

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See also: 98th Wisconsin Legislature and 99th Wisconsin Legislature
Carpenter in 2009

When Democrats achieved a Senate majority in the 2007–2008 term, Carpenter was elected chair of the Senate Committee on Public Health, Senior Issues, Long Term Care, and Job Creation, and served as vice chair of the Committee on Small Business, Emergency Preparedness, Workforce Development, Technical Colleges and Consumer Protection. In the 2009–2010 term, he was also co-chair of the Committee on Law Revision, and vice chair of the Committee on Health, Health Insurance, Privacy, Property Tax Relief, and Revenue.[9]

2011 Wisconsin protests

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See also: 2011 Wisconsin protests

In the 2010 election, Republicans won full control of Wisconsin state government, part of a national backlash against the Democratic Party over the slow economic recovery from the Great Recession, and the then-controversial Affordable Care Act. Immediately after taking office, Wisconsin governor Scott Walker advanced a bill to strip public employee unions of their collective bargaining power, euphemistically titled the "Budget Repair Bill". The announcement sparked mass protests at the Wisconsin State Capitol.

As Republicans raced to pass the legislation, Democratic state senators decided that their only tool to slow down passage was to deny the Republicans a quorum. To avoid being arrested and forced back to the capitol by state police, Carpenter and 13 other Democratic state senators fled to neighboring Illinois. The situation received national media attention. During the standoff, Governor Walker was tricked by a prank phone call; believing he was talking to billionaire political contributor David Koch, Walker spoke freely about the situation making some embarrassing statements. The blogger who perpetrated the prank, Ian Murphy, later said that he was inspired to do so after reading Tim Carpenter's interview with Amanda Terkel of Huffington Post, in which Carpenter explained that Walker was not even attempting to negotiate with the Democrats, and would not take their phone calls.[10]

The standoff eventually ended when Republicans in the Senate stripped out budgetary items from the bill, enabling them to circumvent budget-related quorum rules.

The Democrats briefly regained the Senate majority in 2012 due to the 2012 Wisconsin Senate recall elections, and during the remainder of that term, Carpenter served as president pro tempore of the Senate.

Milwaukee City Treasurer race (2012)

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In February 2012, Carpenter was one of two State Senators (the other being fellow Democrat Spencer Coggs) to win a place on the ballot for Milwaukee City Treasurer in the Spring 2012 election, defeating former State Treasurer Dawn Marie Sass and Socialist Rick Kissell in the non-partisan primary.[11] Coggs polled 13,559 votes; Carpenter 12,880; Sass 5,089 and Kissell 2,241.[12] In the general election, Coggs won 35,096 votes to Carpenter's 34,293.[13]

Milwaukee Common Council race (2015)

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In 2015, Carpenter ran in a special election for the Milwaukee Common Council on August 18, 2015. A primary took place on July 21, 2015. Carpenter advanced in the primary along with Mark Borkowski, who ended up winning with 50.7% of the vote.[14]

2020 protests

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See also: United States racial unrest (2020–2023)

On June 23, 2020, Carpenter was recording a protest near the Wisconsin State Capitol when he was assaulted by Black Lives Matter protesters. A short time later he collapsed and was taken to the hospital for a suspected concussion.[15]

Personal life

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Carpenter is gay, and is one of three openly LGBTQ members of the Wisconsin Legislature. He is a member of the Sierra Club, Jackson Park Neighborhood Association, Story Hill Neighborhood Association, and the Milwaukee VA Soldiers Home Advisory Council.

Electoral history

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Wisconsin Assembly, 20th district (1984–1990)

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Year Election Date Elected Defeated Total Plurality
1984[4] Primary Sep. 11 Tim Carpenter Democratic 2,021 27.53% Stephen P. Kotecki Dem. 1,625 22.13% 7,342 396
Terry L. Witkowski Dem. 1,312 17.87%
William G. Hart Dem. 1,202 16.37%
Carl A. Kopps Dem. 1,139 15.51%
Jack H. Gleason Dem. 43 0.59%
General Nov. 6 Tim Carpenter Democratic 18,107 100.0% 18,107 18,107
1986[16] Primary Sep. 9 Tim Carpenter (inc.) Democratic 3,538 65.51% Stephen P. Kotecki Dem. 1,863 34.49% 5,401 1,675
General Nov. 4 Tim Carpenter (inc.) Democratic 11,081 70.53% Jerome D. Schultz Rep. 4,630 29.47% 15,711 6,451
1988[17] General Nov. 8 Tim Carpenter (inc.) Democratic 17,870 100.0% 17,870 17,870
1990[18] General Nov. 6 Tim Carpenter (inc.) Democratic 8,872 67.17% Dorothy Wosick Seidl Rep. 4,336 32.83% 13,208 4,536

Wisconsin Assembly, 9th district (1992–2000)

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Year Election Date Elected Defeated Total Plurality
1992[19] General Nov. 3 Tim Carpenter Democratic 17,790 100.0% 17,790 17,790
1994[20] General Nov. 8 Tim Carpenter (inc.) Democratic 9,569 59.33% James T. Sanfilippo Rep. 6,559 40.67% 16,128 3,010
1996[21] Primary Sep. 10 Tim Carpenter (inc.) Democratic 3,312 72.44% James T. Sanfilippo Dem. 1,260 27.56% 4,572 2,052
General Nov. 5 Tim Carpenter (inc.) Democratic 14,758 100.0% 14,758 14,758
1998[22] General Nov. 3 Tim Carpenter (inc.) Democratic 11,418 100.0% 11,418 11,418
2000[23] General Nov. 7 Tim Carpenter (inc.) Democratic 14,244 70.60% Richard T. Mannisto Rep. 5,863 29.06% 20,176 8,381

U.S. House (2004)

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Year Election Date Elected Defeated Total Plurality
2004 Primary[7] Sep. 14 Gwen Moore Democratic 48,858 64.20% Matt Flynn Dem. 19,377 25.46% 76,103 29,481
Tim Carpenter Dem. 7,801 10.25%

Wisconsin Senate (2002–present)

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Year Election Date Elected Defeated Total Plurality
2002 Primary[5] Sep. 10 Tim Carpenter Democratic 8,491 52.92% Pat Farley Dem. 5,328 33.21% 16,044 3,163
Roman R. Blenski (deceased) Dem. 2,187 13.63%
General[6] Nov. 5 Tim Carpenter Democratic 24,431 97.96% 24,939 23,923
2006 General[24] Nov. 7 Tim Carpenter (inc.) Democratic 30,768 98.51% 31,232 30,304
2010 General[25] Nov. 2 Tim Carpenter (inc.) Democratic 23,401 61.09% Annette Miller Krznarich Rep. 14,796 38.63% 38,305 8,605
2014 General[26] Nov. 4 Tim Carpenter (inc.) Democratic 29,291 97.10% 30,166 28,416
2018 General[27] Nov. 6 Tim Carpenter (inc.) Democratic 36,875 97.40% 37,860 35,890
2022 General[28] Nov. 8 Tim Carpenter (inc.) Democratic 27,958 68.98% Angel Sanchez Rep. 12,536 30.93% 40,533 15,422

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Biography". Tim Carpenter - Wisconsin State Senator. Retrieved January 20, 2021.
  2. ^ Theobald, H. Rupert; Robbins, Patricia V., eds. (1985). "Biographies" (PDF). The state of Wisconsin 1985-1986 Blue Book (Report). State of Wisconsin. p. 35. Retrieved January 20, 2021.
  3. ^ "The Wisconsin Assembly". Wisconsin State Journal. January 27, 1985. Retrieved January 20, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ a b Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau (1985). "Elections" (PDF). In Theobald, H. Rupert; Robbins, Patricia V. (eds.). The state of Wisconsin 1985-1986 Blue Book (Report). State of Wisconsin. pp. 906, 925. Retrieved January 20, 2021.
  5. ^ a b Results of Fall Primary Election - 09/10/2002 (PDF) (Report). Wisconsin State Elections Board. September 24, 2002. p. 14. Retrieved January 20, 2021.
  6. ^ a b Results of Fall General Election - 11/05/2002 (PDF) (Report). Wisconsin State Elections Board. December 2, 2002. p. 6. Retrieved January 20, 2021.
  7. ^ a b Results of Fall Primary Election - 09/14/2004 (Report). Wisconsin State Elections Board. November 10, 2004. p. 6. Retrieved June 28, 2025 – via Wisconsin Historical Society.
  8. ^ Sandler, Larry (November 3, 2004). "Moore rewrites history: Mainstream appeal makes her state's first black congresswoman". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
  9. ^ Barish, Lawrence S.; Lemanski, Lynn, eds. (2009). "Biographies" (PDF). State of Wisconsin 2009–2010 Blue Book (Report). Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau. p. 24. ISBN 978-0-9752820-3-8. Retrieved June 28, 2025.
  10. ^ Murphy, Ian (November 18, 2013). "I Punk'd Scott Walker". Politico. Retrieved June 28, 2025.
  11. ^ Sandler, Larry. "Coggs, Carpenter to square off for treasurer". www.jsonline.com. Retrieved Jun 25, 2020.
  12. ^ "Official election results" (PDF). Retrieved 26 July 2018.
  13. ^ Sandler, Larry. "Coggs edges Carpenter in city treasurer's race". www.jsonline.com. Retrieved Jun 25, 2020.
  14. ^ "Mark Borkowski wins special aldermanic election". www.jsonline.com. Retrieved 2022-09-23.
  15. ^ "State Senator says he was attacked during Madison protest, collapses in front of 27 News crew". Jun 24, 2020. Retrieved Jun 25, 2020.
  16. ^ Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau (1987). "Elections" (PDF). In Theobald, H. Rupert; Barish, Lawrence S. (eds.). The state of Wisconsin 1987-1988 Blue Book (Report). State of Wisconsin. pp. 888, 907. Retrieved January 20, 2021.
  17. ^ Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau (1989). "Elections" (PDF). In Barish, Lawrence S.; Theobald, H. Rupert (eds.). State of Wisconsin 1989-1990 Blue Book (Report). State of Wisconsin. pp. 910, 925. Retrieved January 20, 2021.
  18. ^ Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau (1991). "Elections" (PDF). In Barish, Lawrence S.; Theobald, H. Rupert (eds.). State of Wisconsin 1991-1992 Blue Book (Report). State of Wisconsin. pp. 899, 915. Retrieved January 20, 2021.
  19. ^ Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau (1993). "Elections" (PDF). In Barish, Lawrence S.; Theobald, H. Rupert (eds.). State of Wisconsin 1993-1994 Blue Book (Report). State of Wisconsin. pp. 903, 921. Retrieved January 20, 2021.
  20. ^ Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau (1995). "Elections" (PDF). In Barish, Lawrence S. (ed.). State of Wisconsin 1995-1996 Blue Book (Report). State of Wisconsin. pp. 903, 921. Retrieved January 20, 2021.
  21. ^ Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau (1997). "Elections" (PDF). In Barish, Lawrence S. (ed.). State of Wisconsin 1997-1998 Blue Book (Report). State of Wisconsin. pp. 899, 903. Retrieved January 20, 2021.
  22. ^ Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau (1999). "Elections" (PDF). In Barish, Lawrence S.; Meloy, Patricia E. (eds.). State of Wisconsin 1999-2000 Blue Book (Report). State of Wisconsin. pp. 879, 882. Retrieved January 20, 2021.
  23. ^ Results of Fall General Election - 11/07/2000 (PDF) (Report). Wisconsin State Elections Board. May 10, 2001. p. 13. Retrieved January 20, 2021.
  24. ^ Results of Fall General Election - 11/07/2006 (PDF) (Report). Wisconsin State Elections Board. December 5, 2006. p. 7. Retrieved January 20, 2021.
  25. ^ 2010 Fall General Election Results Summary (PDF) (Report). Wisconsin Government Accountability Board. December 1, 2010. p. 5. Retrieved January 20, 2021.
  26. ^ Canvass Results for 2014 General Election - 11/4/2014 (PDF) (Report). Wisconsin Government Accountability Board. November 26, 2014. p. 5. Retrieved January 20, 2021.
  27. ^ Canvass Results for 2018 General Election - 11/6/2018 (PDF) (Report). Wisconsin Elections Commission. February 22, 2019. p. 6. Retrieved January 20, 2021.
  28. ^ Canvass Results for 2022 General Election - 11/8/2022 (PDF) (Report). Wisconsin Elections Commission. November 30, 2022. p. 5. Retrieved June 28, 2025.
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Wisconsin State Assembly
Preceded by Member of the Wisconsin State Assembly from the 20th district
January 3, 1985 – January 4, 1993 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Member of the Wisconsin State Assembly from the 9th district
January 4, 1993 – January 3, 2003 		Succeeded by
Wisconsin Senate
Preceded by Member of the Wisconsin Senate from the 3rd district
January 3, 2003 – present 		Incumbent
Preceded by President pro tempore of the Wisconsin Senate
July 16, 2012 – January 7, 2013 		Succeeded by