Lena Taylor

Lena C. Taylor (born July 25, 1966) is a Democratic member of the Wisconsin Senate, representing the 4th District since 2005, and formerly served as the co-chair of the Joint Committee on Finance. She previously served in the Wisconsin Assembly, representing the 18th District from 2003 through 2005.

Early life, education and career

Taylor, a lifelong resident of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, is a 1984 graduate of Rufus King High School. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee in 1990, and a law degree from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale in 1993. As an undergraduate, she joined Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority.

After law school, Taylor worked as a public defender for more than two years, representing indigent citizens in need of legal services. In 1996, she opened Taylor and Associates Law Office, a general practice firm on the north side of Milwaukee.

Wisconsin legislature

Taylor was elected to the Wisconsin State Assembly in a special election in April 2003 and was subsequently elected to the Wisconsin State Senate in 2004. When Democrats were elected to the majority in the Wisconsin State Senate in November 2006, Taylor was chosen to Chair the Committee on Judiciary and Corrections, on which she had served for the preceding two years. In January 2007, Taylor was selected by the Majority Leader to serve on the Joint Committee on Finance for the second time. Following the recall of Van Wanggaard in June 2012, and the return of Democrats to majority party control, Taylor was named co-chair of the Joint Committee on Finance. She is the first African-American woman ever to serve as the co-chair of the committee.