State Representative
85th Assembly District
I am currently serving my fourth term in the State Assembly as the Assistant Democratic Leader. I was raised in the Fox Valley, where I graduated from Neenah High School. From there, I attended UW-Stevens Point and received a B.S. in Sociology. For the last 30 years, I have been a resident of Marathon County.
For 16 years prior to my State Assembly election, I was the Clerk of Courts in Marathon County. Early in my career, I served as a police officer with the Wausau Police Department and later as an investigator in the District Attorney's office.
Currently, I serve as the Assistant Democratic Leader and as a member of the Committee on Health, Committee on Children and Families, Committee on Assembly Organization and Committee on Rules. I have also served on the Committee to Improve Interpreting and Translation in Wisconsin Courts since April 2006, the Children's Trust Fund of Wisconsin's Child Abuse & Neglect Prevention Board since January 2005 and was recently named to Wisconsin Women in Government's 2011 Board of Directors and Leadership Team.
I have also been involved in a variety of community groups, including Wausau Noon Optimists Club, Northcentral Technical College Board of Trustees, Wisconsin Association of Clerk of Courts (Legislative Committee Chair & past President), United Way of Marathon County Board, The Women's Community Board of Directors (past President), Wausau Festival of Arts Board of Directors and the Wausau YMCA Board of Directors.
I am married to Andy Benedetto and have a daughter, Kim; a stepson, Adam and a stepdaughter, Cara.