Meet the Senator

A lifelong Wisconsinite, Kristin was born and raised on a beef farm in central Wisconsin. For many years, she was active in both NAIFA (National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors-Wisconsin) and the Alzheimer’s Association, working to build bipartisan coalitions capable of actually passing legislation to help ordinary Wisconsinites. She has served as State President of NAIFA and on the Board of Directors for the Alzheimer's Association. She currently works as a retirement planner, helping middle-class families navigate the complexities of retirement.

Realizing just how important local government is, Kristin chose to run for her alderwoman seat in 2020, winning and serving on the Appleton Common Council. While in office, she worked to make sure local government was responsive to the needs of its citizens and was spending their tax dollars effectively. In addition, she helped to pass city ordinances to ensure the city was planning for climate change and worked to secure funding for an extensive and much needed renovation of the Appleton Public Library.

In 2022, frustrated with the dysfunction in the state legislature, she ran for State Senate. Despite being outspent nearly three to one, she came within 6,500 votes of winning in a severely gerrymandered district. In 2024, under the new, fairer maps, Kristin ran to represent the newly created State Senate District 18 and won. The Senator is excited to put her coalition-building skills to work to pass legislation to address the housing shortage, rising healthcare costs, funding for municipalities and public schools, and protecting women's reproductive rights — issues that she heard about again and again while on the campaign trail. 

She now splits her time between Madison, where she works hard to pass legislation to support and uplift her community, and Appleton, where she resides with her family and their cherished black lab, Hank.