Melissa Amy Ratcliff is an American Democratic politician from Cottage Grove, Wisconsin.
11 Facts About Melissa Ratcliff
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Melissa Ratcliff is a member of the Wisconsin Senate, representing Wisconsin's 16th Senate district since 2025.
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Melissa Ratcliff was born Melissa Larsen in Green Bay, Wisconsin and was raised in Wausau, Wisconsin.
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Melissa Ratcliff graduated from Wausau East High School in 1995.
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Melissa Ratcliff earned her paralegal certification from Madison Area Technical College and was a paralegal for 24 years at Eisenberg Law Offices in Madison, Wisconsin.
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Melissa Ratcliff was elected in spring of 2019 to finish the term, elected to a full term on the board in the 2020 Spring election and was re-elected in 2022.
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In 2023, incumbent state senator Melissa Ratcliff Agard announced she would run for Dane County Executive rather than seeking another term representing the 16th Senate district.
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The heavily Democratic Senate district attracted all three incumbent state representatives in the district, including Melissa Ratcliff, to forgo their Assembly re-elections to instead enter the Democratic Senate primary.
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Melissa Ratcliff Larsen married Daniel Kartes in August 1995, but ultimately divorced three years later.
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Subsequently, she married Philip Melissa Ratcliff and took his last name.
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Melissa and Philip Ratcliff have two children together and reside in Cottage Grove, Wisconsin.