Kimberly Plache (born January 4, 1961) is an American Democratic politician and former member of the Wisconsin State Senate.

Kimberly Plache
Member of the Wisconsin Senate
from the 21st district
In office
June 14, 1996 – January 6, 2003
Preceded byGeorge Petak
Succeeded byCathy Stepp
Member of the Wisconsin State Assembly
from the 62nd district
In office
January 3, 1989 – June 13, 1996
Preceded byJeffrey A. Neubauer
Succeeded byJohn Lehman
Member of the Racine Unified School Board
In office
2009–2016
Personal details
Born (1961-01-04) January 4, 1961 (age 63)
Racine, Wisconsin, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
SpousePaul Hable
Children1
Alma materUniversity of Wisconsin–Parkside

Early life and education

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Born in Racine, Wisconsin, Plache graduated from William Horlick High School in 1979. In 1984, she received her bachelor's degree in psychology from University of Wisconsin–Parkside.

Career

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Shortly after her college graduation, Plache was hired as a legislative aide by her representative in the Wisconsin State Assembly, Jeffrey A. Neubauer. When Neubauer chose not to run for re-election in 1988, Plache ran and was elected to succeed him in the Assembly.

She was re-elected in 1990, 1992, and 1994.

In October 1995, Racine County's representative in the Wisconsin Senate, George Petak, ran into controversy when he changed his vote on a funding bill for the Miller Park stadium. Miller Park was being planned to replace the forty-year-old Milwaukee County Stadium and was being pushed by Republican Governor Tommy Thompson and Milwaukee Brewers owner and future-Commissioner of Baseball, Bud Selig. Petak had promised his constituents that he would vote against the bill, but changed his mind based on the belief that the Brewers would leave Wisconsin if a new stadium wasn't built.[1]

Petak's deciding vote supported a 0.1 percent sales tax increase for the five counties in the proposed stadium's vicinity, including Racine.[2] Petak faced immediate outrage in his home district, and local Democrats were energized to collect signatures for a recall petition. The petition was certified on March 26, 1996, and a recall election was ordered for June.[3]

Plache decided to run in the recall and faced no competition in the Democratic primary. In June, she defeated Petak, making him the first Wisconsin state legislator to be removed from office in a recall election.[4][5]

Plache was re-elected to a full term in the senate in 1998, defeating Racine Unified School Board Member David Hazen.[6] Plache sought re-election again in 2002, but was narrowly defeated by Republican Cathy Stepp.[7]

In 2009, the Mayor of Racine was forced to resign after being indicted. Plache ran in the special election to replace him, but did not pass the primary. In the same year, however, she was elected to the Racine Unified School Board. She served on the school board until 2016.[8]

She is currently a senior community relations officer for the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority.

Personal life

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Plache married Paul Hable in October 1999. They live in Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin, and they have one daughter.

Electoral history

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Wisconsin Assembly (1988-1994)

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Wisconsin Assembly, 62nd District Election, 1988
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Primary Election
Democratic Kimberly Plache 2,846 43.18%
Republican Saundra Herre 1,932 29.31%
Democratic Thomas A. Kexel 1,799 27.29%
Independent Kay C. Rouse 14 0.02%
Total votes '4,645' '100.0%'
General Election
Democratic Kimberly Plache 11,796 62.76% +1.07%
Republican Saundra Herre 6,703 35.66% −2.65%
Independent Kay C. Rouse 297 1.58%
Total votes '18,796' '100.0%' +28.27%
Democratic hold
Wisconsin Assembly, 62nd District Election, 1990
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Primary Election
Democratic Kimberly Plache (incumbent) 1,320 65.87%
Republican Kay C. Rouse 684 34.13%
Total votes '2.004' '100.0%' -18.60%
General Election
Democratic Kimberly Plache (incumbent) 7,484 62.75% −0.01%
Republican Kay C. Rouse 4,443 37.25% +1.59%
Total votes '11,927' '100.0%' -18.60%
Democratic hold
Wisconsin Assembly, 62nd District Election, 1992
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Primary Election
Democratic Kimberly Plache (incumbent) 3,644 69.88%
Republican Mark Ladd 1,571 30.12%
Total votes '5,215' '100.0%'
General Election
Democratic Kimberly Plache (incumbent) 14,244 61.28% −1.45%
Republican Mark Ladd 8,999 38.72%
Total votes '23,243' '100.0%' +69.56%
Democratic hold
Wisconsin Assembly, 62nd District Election, 1994
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Primary Election
Republican James Turek 1,258 40.26%
Democratic Kimberly Plache (incumbent) 989 59.74%
Total votes '2,247' '100.0%'
General Election
Democratic Kimberly Plache (incumbent) 9,504 59.74% −1.54%
Republican James Turek 6,404 40.26%
Total votes '15,908' '100.0%' +33.38%
Democratic hold

Wisconsin Senate (1996-2002)

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Wisconsin Senate, 21st District Recall Election, 1996
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Primary Election
Republican George Petak (incumbent) 14,147 60.20%
Republican William A. Pangman 5,174 22.02%
Democratic Kimberly Plache 4,016 17.09%
Libertarian Todd Mascaretti 163 0.07%
Total votes 23,500 '100.0%'
General Election
Democratic Kimberly Plache 21,045 51.22% +13.33%
Republican George Petak (incumbent) 19,318 47.02% −15.09%
Libertarian Todd Mascaretti 725 1.76%
Total votes 41,088 '100.0%' -10.00%
Democratic gain from Republican
Wisconsin Senate, 21st District Election, 1998
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Primary Election
Democratic Kimberly Plache (incumbent) 5,505 61.45%
Republican David Hazen 3,454 38.55%
Total votes '8,959' '100.0%'
General Election
Democratic Kimberly Plache (incumbent) 27,353 55.46% +4.24%
Republican David Hazen 21,967 44.54% −2.48%
Total votes '49,320' '100.0%' +20.04%
Democratic hold
Wisconsin Senate, 21st District Election, 2002
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Primary Election
Democratic Kimberly Plache (incumbent) 12,207 63.31%
Republican Cathy Stepp 5,462 28.33%
Republican John W. Knuteson 1,613 8.36%
Total votes '19,282' '100.0%'
General Election
Republican Cathy Stepp 25,367 50.68% +6.14%
Democratic Kimberly Plache (incumbent) 24,594 49.14% −6.32%
Total votes '50,050' '100.0%' +1.48%
Republican gain from Democratic

Racine Mayor (2009)

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Racine Mayoral Special Election, 2009
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Primary Election
Independent John Dickert 2,307 23.09%
Independent Robert L. Turner 1,671 16.73%
Independent Kimberly Plache 1,313 13.14%
Independent James Spangenberg 1,249 12.50%
Independent Greg Helding 1,150 11.51%
Independent Pete Karas 851 8.52%
Independent Jody Harding 658 6.59%
Independent Q.A. Shakoor II 414 4.14%
Independent Lesia Hill-Driver 161 1.61%
Independent Raymond Fay 148 1.48%
Independent Jaimie Charon 69 0.69%
Total votes '9,991' '100.0%'
General Election
Independent John Dickert 6,027 55.46%
Independent Robert L. Turner 4,841 44.54%
Total votes '10,868' '100.0%'

Racine School Board (2009–2016)

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Racine School Board Election, 2009[9]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
General Election
Independent Don J. Nielsen (incumbent) 9,550 24.46%
Independent Gretchen L. Warner (incumbent) 8,440 21.62%
Independent Kimberly Plache 7,747 19.84%
Independent Stella A. Young 7,041 18.04%
Independent John Leiber 6,176 15.82%
Write-ins 85 0.22%
Total votes '39,039' '100.0%'
Racine School Board Election, 2012
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
General Election
Independent Kimberly Plache (incumbent) 12,223 22.27%
Independent Don J. Nielsen (incumbent) 10,383 18.91%
Independent Gretchen L. Warner (incumbent) 10,012 18.24%
Independent Brian Dey 7,910 14.41%
Independent Roger Pfost 7,416 13.51%
Independent Scott Brownell 6,840 12.46%
Write-ins 112 0.20%
Total votes '54,896' '100.0%'
Racine School Board Election, 2015
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
General Election
Independent Kimberly Plache (incumbent) 11,183 25.33%
Independent Don J. Nielsen (incumbent) 9,571 21.68%
Independent Lisa Parham 9,248 20.95%
Independent Wally Rendón (incumbent) 7,494 16.97%
Independent Bryn Biemeck 6,656 15.08%
Total votes '44,152' '100.0%'
Racine School Board, 4th District Election, 2016[10]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
General Election
Independent Julie McKenna (incumbent) 2,293 51.13%
Independent Kimberly Plache (incumbent) 2,192 48.87%
Total votes '4,485' '100.0%'

Notes

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  1. ^ Sandomir, Richard (1998-05-07). "Stadiums Are Proposed, but Public Isn't Always Disposed to Pay Price". The New York Times. Retrieved 2019-02-15.
  2. ^ "Petak Recall Counter to History". Racine Journal Times. Madison. 1996-04-12. Retrieved 2011-10-04.
  3. ^ "Recall gets green light". Racine Journal Times. Madison. 1996-03-27. Retrieved 2019-02-15.
  4. ^ "Plache sworn in as state senator". Racine Journal Times. 1996-06-14. Retrieved 2019-02-15.
  5. ^ Toner, Robin (1996-06-09). "Political Briefing: The States and the Issues;Wisconsin: Recall Alters Balance of Power". The New York Times. Retrieved 2019-02-11.
  6. ^ Sides, Phyllis (2003-01-08). "Unified School Board veteran not seeking re-election". Racine Journal Times. Racine. Retrieved 2019-02-24.
  7. ^ Wisconsin Historical Society-Kimberly Plache
  8. ^ ProgressMajority.org=Kimberly Plache
  9. ^ Official Proceedings (PDF) (Report). Racine Unified School District. 2009-04-20. p. 7. Retrieved 2019-04-05.
  10. ^ Final Official 04-05-2016 Election Results for State and County Races (Report). Racine County Clerk. 2016-04-05. p. 20. Retrieved 2019-04-05.