25 Facts About Kathleen Falk

Kathleen Falk was born on June 26,1951 and is an American attorney, politician, and policymaker from Wisconsin who served as Dane County Executive from 1997 until 2011.

In 2006, Falk defeated Democratic Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager to win the party's nomination for Attorney General, but was defeated by Republican J B Van Hollen in the general election.

Kathleen Falk was the first woman to serve as Dane County Executive and to seek a major party's gubernatorial nomination in Wisconsin.

Kathleen Falk earned a bachelor's degree in philosophy from Stanford University in 1973 and graduated from the University of Wisconsin Law School in 1976.

Kathleen Falk is a graduate of Harvard University's Senior Executives in State and Local Government Program.

Kathleen Falk argued cases before the Wisconsin Supreme Court during her tenure there.

In 1983, Kathleen Falk was hired as an assistant attorney general in the Wisconsin Department of Justice.

Attorney General Bronson La Follette appointed Kathleen Falk to serve as Public Intervenor, in which capacity Kathleen Falk performed litigation, lobbying, and advocacy on environmental protection matters.

Kathleen Falk's position was eliminated in 1995, during the tenure of Attorney General Jim Doyle, and Kathleen Falk became an assistant attorney general at the department.

Kathleen Falk made her first run for public office in 1996, running for Dane County Executive.

Kathleen Falk finished first in the runoff and eventually defeated a long-time county board member, Mike Blaska.

Kathleen Falk enlarged the county sheriff's department by adding 134 new positions, opened a juvenile justice facility, and launched a community-based initiative aimed at gang prevention.

Kathleen Falk's budgets funded jail diversion programs for non-violent substance-addicted offenders, a home visitation model for at-risk families, and environmental programs focused on water quality and land conservation.

Kathleen Falk was Wisconsin's first woman candidate for governor from a major political party.

In 2006, Kathleen Falk challenged and defeated Peg Lautenschlager in a Democratic primary for Wisconsin Attorney General.

Kathleen Falk went on to lose the general election race by fewer than 9,000 votes out of more than 2.1 million cast.

Kathleen Falk was a contender to challenge Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker in his recall attempt.

Kathleen Falk announced her candidacy on January 18,2012, but lost in the Democratic gubernatorial primary to Tom Barrett.

In October 2010, Kathleen Falk announced that she would step down midway through her fourth term as county executive in April 2011, citing an interest in contributing to public policy in a new way.

Dane County Board of Supervisors chair Scott McDonell became acting County Executive, and appointed Kathleen Falk to serve as the Interim County Executive starting January 7,2011, after confirmation by the full board, to serve until the special election.

In September 2013, US Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius appointed Falk to serve as DHHS's Region V Director.

Kathleen Falk has received awards and recognition from environmental groups, business interests, women's organizations, LGBT equality activists, advocates for the disabled, conservation groups, the American Legion and domestic violence support groups.

Kathleen Falk was inducted into the Wisconsin Conservation Hall of Fame in 2022.

Kathleen Falk is married to former Democratic State Representative Peter Bock.

Kathleen Falk has one son, Eric Phillips, and is an avid baseball fan, bicyclist, hunter, and angler.