Melissa Ratcliff

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Melissa Ratcliff
Image of Melissa Ratcliff

Democratic Party

Wisconsin State Senate District 16
Tenure

2025 - Present

Term ends

2029

Years in position

0

Predecessor
Prior offices
Dane County Board of Supervisors District 36
Successor: David Peterson
Predecessor: Danielle Williams
Wisconsin State Assembly District 46
Successor: Joan Fitzgerald
Predecessor: Gary Hebl
Elections and appointments
Last elected

November 5, 2024

Personal
Profession
Paralegal
Contact

Campaign website

Campaign Facebook

Campaign YouTube

Personal Facebook

Personal Instagram

Personal LinkedIn 

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Melissa Ratcliff (Democratic Party) is a member of the Wisconsin State Senate, representing District 16. She assumed office on January 6, 2025. Her current term ends on January 3, 2029.

Ratcliff (Democratic Party) ran for election to the Wisconsin State Senate to represent District 16. She won in the general election on November 5, 2024.

The board of supervisors originally appointed her to replace Danielle Williams.[1]

Biography

Melissa Ratcliff has lived in Cottage Grove, Wisconsin. Her career experience includes working as a paralegal. Ratcliff also served as a trustee for the village of Cottage Grove and on the Cottage Grove Plan Commission.[1][2]

The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according to BillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.


Committee assignments

2023-2024

Ratcliff was assigned to the following committees:

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Elections

2024

See also: Wisconsin State Senate elections, 2024

General election

General election for Wisconsin State Senate District 16

Melissa Ratcliff won election in the general election for Wisconsin State Senate District 16 on November 5, 2024.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Melissa Ratcliff
Melissa Ratcliff (D)
 
97.2
 
82,828
 Other/Write-in votes
 
2.8
 
2,361

There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 85,189
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Wisconsin State Senate District 16

Melissa Ratcliff defeated Jimmy Anderson and Samba Baldeh in the Democratic primary for Wisconsin State Senate District 16 on August 13, 2024.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Melissa Ratcliff
Melissa Ratcliff
 
52.0
 
17,205
Image of Jimmy Anderson
Jimmy Anderson
 
31.0
 
10,258
Image of Samba Baldeh
Samba Baldeh
 
16.9
 
5,575
 Other/Write-in votes
 
0.1
 
25

There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 33,063
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

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Campaign finance

Endorsements

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Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Ratcliff in this election.

2022

Wisconsin State Assembly

See also: Wisconsin State Assembly elections, 2022

General election

General election for Wisconsin State Assembly District 46

Melissa Ratcliff defeated Andrew McKinney in the general election for Wisconsin State Assembly District 46 on November 8, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Melissa Ratcliff
Melissa Ratcliff (D)
 
69.6
 
20,710
Image of Andrew McKinney
Andrew McKinney (R)
 
30.3
 
9,001
 Other/Write-in votes
 
0.1
 
24

There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 29,735
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Wisconsin State Assembly District 46

Melissa Ratcliff defeated Syed Abbas, Andrew Hysell, Analiese Eicher, and Mike Jacobs in the Democratic primary for Wisconsin State Assembly District 46 on August 9, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Melissa Ratcliff
Melissa Ratcliff
 
36.2
 
3,112
Image of Syed Abbas
Syed Abbas
 
22.1
 
1,895
Image of Andrew Hysell
Andrew Hysell
 
17.7
 
1,525
Silhouette Placeholder Image.png
Submit photo
Analiese Eicher
 
13.7
 
1,178
Silhouette Placeholder Image.png
Submit photo
Mike Jacobs
 
10.2
 
876
 Other/Write-in votes
 
0.1
 
7

There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 8,593
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Wisconsin State Assembly District 46

Andrew McKinney advanced from the Republican primary for Wisconsin State Assembly District 46 on August 9, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Andrew McKinney
Andrew McKinney
 
98.8
 
2,977
 Other/Write-in votes
 
1.2
 
36

There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 3,013
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Campaign finance

Dane County Board of Supervisors

See also: Municipal elections in Dane County, Wisconsin (2022)

General election

General election for Dane County Board of Supervisors District 36

Incumbent Melissa Ratcliff defeated Andrew McKinney in the general election for Dane County Board of Supervisors District 36 on April 5, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Melissa Ratcliff
Melissa Ratcliff (Nonpartisan)
 
64.7
 
1,132
Image of Andrew McKinney
Andrew McKinney (Nonpartisan)
 
34.6
 
605
 Other/Write-in votes
 
0.7
 
13

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 1,750
(100.00% precincts reporting)
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Nonpartisan primary election

The primary election was canceled. Incumbent Melissa Ratcliff and Andrew McKinney advanced from the primary for Dane County Board of Supervisors District 36.

Campaign finance

2020

See also: Municipal elections in Dane County, Wisconsin (2020)

General election

General election for Dane County Board of Supervisors District 36

Incumbent Melissa Ratcliff won election in the general election for Dane County Board of Supervisors District 36 on April 7, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Melissa Ratcliff
Melissa Ratcliff (Nonpartisan)
 
98.6
 
3,427
 Other/Write-in votes
 
1.4
 
47

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 3,474
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

2019

See also: Municipal elections in Dane County, Wisconsin (2019)

General election

General election for Dane County Board of Supervisors District 36

Incumbent Melissa Ratcliff won election in the general election for Dane County Board of Supervisors District 36 on April 2, 2019.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Melissa Ratcliff
Melissa Ratcliff (Nonpartisan)
 
98.4
 
2,354
 Other/Write-in votes
 
1.6
 
38

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 2,392
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Campaign themes

2024

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Melissa Ratcliff did not complete Ballotpedia's 2024 Candidate Connection survey.

2022

Wisconsin State Assembly

Melissa Ratcliff did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.

Dane County Board of Supervisors

Melissa Ratcliff did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.

2020

Melissa Ratcliff did not complete Ballotpedia's 2020 Candidate Connection survey.

Campaign finance summary

Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.

Melissa Ratcliff campaign contribution history
YearOfficeStatusContributionsExpenditures
2024* Wisconsin State Senate District 16Won general$94,501 $72,705
2022Wisconsin State Assembly District 46Won general$54,832 $53,702
Grand total$149,333 $126,407
Sources: OpenSecrets,  Federal Elections Commission ***This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
* Data from this year may not be complete

Scorecards

See also: State legislative scorecards and State legislative scorecards in Wisconsin

A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.

Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.

Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states. To contribute to the list of Wisconsin scorecards, email suggestions to [email protected].


2024


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Candidate

Wisconsin State Senate District 16

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    Footnotes

    1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 The Cap Times, "Dane County Board confirms Melissa Ratcliff as District 36 supervisor," September 7, 2018
    2. ↑ Melissa Ratcliff 2022 campaign website, "About Melissa," accessed February 27, 2023

    Political offices
    Preceded by
    Melissa Agard (D)     		Wisconsin State Senate District 16
    2025-Present    		 Succeeded by
    -
    Preceded by
    Gary Hebl (D)     		Wisconsin State Assembly District 46
    2023-2025    		 Succeeded by
    Joan Fitzgerald (D)
    Preceded by
    Danielle Williams     		Dane County Board of Supervisors District 36
    2018-2024    		 Succeeded by
    David Peterson


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