Dora Drake

21st century American politician
Dora Drake
Member of the Wisconsin State Assembly
from the 11th district
Incumbent
Assumed office
January 4, 2021
Preceded byJason Fields
Personal details
BornMarch 1993 (1993-03) (age 31)
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Political partyDemocratic
Residence(s)Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Alma mater
  • Marquette University (BA)
Occupationpolitician
Website
  • Campaign website

Dora Elizabeth Drake (born March 1993) is an American community advocate and Democratic politician from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She is a member of the Wisconsin State Assembly, representing Wisconsin's 11th Assembly district since 2021.

Early life and education

Dora Drake was born and raised in the Graceland neighborhood of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She was accepted into Marquette University's Educational Opportunities Program and graduated with her bachelor's degree in Social Welfare and Justice in 2015.[1] Shortly after graduating, she was employed by JusticePoint, a nonprofit organization promoting reforms to the criminal justice system and supporting people through their interactions with the justice system.[2]

Political career

Through her involvement in her community, she became involved in local politics and was employed as campaign manager for the 2019 school board campaign of Shyla Deacon.[1] Deacon ultimately fell 27 votes short of her opponent in the spring election.[1][3]

Following the campaign, Drake was employed at the Center for Self Sufficiency, which assists formerly incarcerated people with family support and reentry services.[1] But a year after the end of the Deacon campaign, Drake announced her own candidacy for Wisconsin State Assembly in the 11th district with the support of Emerge Wisconsin, an organization which recruits, trains, and supports Democratic women running for office in Wisconsin.[4][5] The 11th district had been represented by Democrat Jason Fields, who had run for Milwaukee city comptroller in the spring election. He announced after losing that election that he would not run for re-election in the Assembly.[6][7] Three other candidates ultimately also ran in the Democratic primary for this seat, with Drake prevailing with 47% of the vote.[8][9] Drake prevailed by a wide margin in the general election over Republican candidate Orlando Owens.[10] She was one of 16 new assemblymembers elected in the 2020 election.[11]

In February 2024, Drake announced she would run for Wisconsin Senate in the 4th Senate district, following the resignation of five-term incumbent Lena Taylor.[12]

Personal life and family

Dora Drake is the oldest of eight children. She is a worship singer at Milwaukee's New Horizons Integrated Ministries.[1]

Electoral history

Wisconsin Assembly (2020)

Wisconsin Assembly, 11th District Election, 2020[9][10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic Primary, August 11, 2020
Democratic Dora Drake 2,471 47.32%
Democratic Tomika S. Vukovic 1,632 31.25%
Democratic Curtis Cook II 824 15.78%
Democratic Carl Gates 287 5.50%
Scattering 8 0.15%
Plurality 839 16.07%
Total votes 5,222 100.0%
General Election, November 3, 2020
Democratic Dora Drake 18,329 84.64% -14.10%
Republican Orlando Owens 3,299 15.24%
Scattering 26 0.12%
Plurality 15,030 69.41% -28.08%
Total votes 21,654 100.0% +24.59%
Democratic hold

References

  1. ^ a b c d e "Meet Dora Drake". Dora Drake for State Assembly. Retrieved December 14, 2020.
  2. ^ "Applying Evidence - Achieving Justice". JusticePoint. Retrieved December 14, 2020.
  3. ^ City of Milwaukee - April 2, 2019 - Spring Election. City of Milwaukee (Report). Retrieved December 14, 2020.
  4. ^ "Dora Drake Announces Her Candidacy for the 11th Wisconsin State Assembly District". Dora Drake for Assembly (Press release). Milwaukee. April 21, 2020. Retrieved December 14, 2020 – via Urban Milwaukee.
  5. ^ "Meet the 30 women of the class of 2020". Emerge Wisconsin. Retrieved December 14, 2020.
  6. ^ Conklin, Melanie (April 25, 2020). "Many Democratic Legislators Resigning". Wisconsin Examiner. Retrieved December 14, 2020 – via Urban Milwaukee.
  7. ^ "Rep. Fields: Not seeking re-election to State Legislature in 2020". Office of Representative Jason Fields (Press release). Madison, Wisconsin. Retrieved December 14, 2020 – via Wispolitics.com.
  8. ^ Garfield, Allison (August 3, 2020). "Four Democrats face off in August primary for Rep. Jason Fields' Assembly seat". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Retrieved December 14, 2020.
  9. ^ a b Canvass Results for 2020 Partisan Primary - 8/11/2020 (PDF) (Report). Wisconsin Elections Commission. August 26, 2020. pp. 16–17. Retrieved December 14, 2020.
  10. ^ a b Canvass Results for 2020 General Election - 11/3/2020 (PDF) (Report). Wisconsin Elections Commission. November 18, 2020. p. 10. Retrieved December 9, 2020.
  11. ^ "Assembly welcomes 16 new members, while Senate welcomes 8". Wispolitics.com. December 11, 2020. Retrieved December 14, 2020.
  12. ^ Karnopp, Hope (February 13, 2024). "A vacant Milwaukee Senate seat will have a primary as Rep. Dora Drake announces campaign". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Retrieved February 27, 2024.

External links

  • Profile at Vote Smart
  • Dora Drake at Ballotpedia
  • Campaign website
  • JusticePoint
  • Center for Self Sufficiency
  • New Horizons Integrated Ministries
  • Emerge Wisconsin
Wisconsin State Assembly
Preceded by Member of the Wisconsin State Assembly from the 11th district
January 4, 2021 – present 		Incumbent
  • v
  • t
  • e
106th Wisconsin Legislature (2023–2025)
  1. ▌Joel Kitchens (R)
  2. ▌Shae Sortwell (R)
  3. ▌Ron Tusler (R)
  4. ▌David Steffen (R)
  5. ▌Joy Goeben (R)
  6. ▌Peter Schmidt (R)
  7. ▌Daniel Riemer (D)
  8. ▌Sylvia Ortiz-Velez (D)
  9. ▌Marisabel Cabrera (D)
  10. ▌Darrin Madison (D)
  11. ▌Dora Drake (D)
  12. ▌LaKeshia Myers (D)
  13. ▌Tom Michalski (R)
  14. ▌Robyn Vining (D)
  15. ▌Dave Maxey (R)
  16. ▌Kalan Haywood (D)
  17. ▌Supreme Moore Omokunde (D)
  18. ▌Evan Goyke (D)
  19. ▌Ryan Clancy (D)
  20. ▌Christine Sinicki (D)
  21. ▌Jessie Rodriguez (R)
  22. ▌Janel Brandtjen (R)
  23. ▌Deb Andraca (D)
  24. ▌Paul Melotik (R)
  25. ▌Paul Tittl (R)
  26. ▌Terry Katsma (R)
  27. ▌Amy Binsfeld (R)
  28. ▌Gae Magnafici (R)
  29. ▌Clint Moses (R)
  30. ▌Shannon Zimmerman (R)
  31. ▌Ellen Schutt (R)
  32. ▌Tyler August (R)
  33. ▌Scott Johnson (R)
  34. ▌Rob Swearingen (R)
  35. ▌Calvin Callahan (R)
  36. ▌Jeffrey Mursau (R)
  37. ▌William Penterman (R)
  38. ▌Barbara Dittrich (R)
  39. ▌Mark Born (R)
  40. ▌Kevin D. Petersen (R)
  41. ▌Alex Dallman (R)
  42. ▌Jon Plumer (R)
  43. ▌Jenna Jacobson (D)
  44. ▌Sue Conley (D)
  45. ▌Clinton Anderson (D)
  46. ▌Melissa Ratcliff (D)
  47. ▌Jimmy P. Anderson (D)
  48. ▌Samba Baldeh (D)
  49. ▌Travis Tranel (R)
  50. ▌Tony Kurtz (R)
  51. ▌Todd Novak (R)
  52. ▌Jerry L. O'Connor (R)
  53. ▌Michael Schraa (R)
  54. ▌Lori Palmeri (D)
  55. ▌Nate Gustafson (R)
  56. ▌Dave Murphy (R)
  57. ▌Lee Snodgrass (D)
  58. ▌Rick Gundrum (R)
  59. ▌Ty Bodden (R)
  60. ▌Robert Brooks (R)
  61. ▌Amanda Nedweski (R)
  62. ▌Robert Wittke (R)
  63. ▌Robin Vos (R)
  64. ▌Tip McGuire (D)
  65. ▌Tod Ohnstad (D)
  66. ▌Greta Neubauer (D)
  67. ▌Rob Summerfield (R)
  68. ▌Karen Hurd (R)
  69. ▌Donna Rozar (R)
  70. ▌Nancy VanderMeer (R)
  71. ▌Katrina Shankland (D)
  72. ▌Scott Krug (R)
  73. ▌Angie Sapik (R)
  74. ▌Chanz Green (R)
  75. ▌David Armstrong (R)
  76. ▌Francesca Hong (D)
  77. ▌Shelia Stubbs (D)
  78. ▌Lisa Subeck (D)
  79. ▌Alex Joers (D)
  80. ▌Mike Bare (D)
  81. ▌Dave Considine (D)
  82. ▌Chuck Wichgers (R)
  83. ▌Nik Rettinger (R)
  84. ▌Bob Donovan (R)
  85. ▌Patrick Snyder (R)
  86. ▌John Spiros (R)
  87. ▌James Edming (R)
  88. ▌John Macco (R)
  89. ▌Elijah Behnke (R)
  90. ▌Kristina Shelton (D)
  91. ▌Jodi Emerson (D)
  92. ▌Treig Pronschinske (R)
  93. ▌Warren Petryk (R)
  94. ▌Steve Doyle (D)
  95. ▌Jill Billings (D)
  96. ▌Loren Oldenburg (R)
  97. ▌Scott Allen (R)
  98. ▌Adam Neylon (R)
  99. ▌Cindi Duchow (R)