Dina Nina Martinez-Rutherford Elected as Wisconsin’s First Transgender State Lawmaker

Dina Nina Martinez-Rutherford Wins Wisconsin Assembly Seat

I think about when I was a kid, had I seen people that were trans doing things like being in government and being on television and living life, I would have been able to transition a lot sooner, Dina Nina Martinez-Rutherford said on election night, as the Cap Times reported. Madison voters elected Martinez-Rutherford to the state Assembly on Tuesday, making her Wisconsin’s first openly transgender state lawmaker.

The 56-year-old Democrat and Madison city alder won the 76th Assembly District with 92% of the vote against Republican candidate Nina Chat, according to the Cap Times. The seat was previously held by Democratic Representative Francesca Hong, who gave up an Assembly reelection bid to run for governor, Our Lives reported. Martinez-Rutherford’s victory in her August primary proved to be the decisive contest in the heavily Democratic district.

Policy Priorities for the State Capitol

Martinez-Rutherford plans to focus her legislative agenda on housing affordability, healthcare access, and public school funding. Drawing on her experience removing credit scores for subsidized housing during her tenure on the Madison Common Council, she aims to tackle similar economic barriers statewide. Our Lives noted that her broader policy goals also involve expanding Wisconsin’s 1982 nondiscrimination law to explicitly cover gender identity and expression.

The new representative brings lived experience as a food service worker, small business owner, and former resident who has experienced homelessness, tipped wages, and a lack of health insurance. Our Lives detailed how these personal experiences shaped her campaign centered around working-class affordability. Her election also adds a transgender legislator directly into statehouse debates concerning rights and restrictions, arriving just months after Governor Tony Evers vetoed five bills targeting transgender and gender-nonconforming young people.

Building on a Legacy of LGBTQ Leadership in Madison

The 76th Assembly District carries a distinct history of LGBTQ representation in Wisconsin politics. Previous representatives for the downtown Madison seat include gay rights pioneer David Clarenbach, U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin, and U.S. Representative Mark Pocan, according to Our Lives. Martinez-Rutherford’s political path includes winning election to the Madison Common Council in 2023 as the city’s first openly transgender woman, followed by a successful reelection bid in April 2025 despite suspending her campaign that year to focus on her health.

Nationwide, Martinez-Rutherford is one of five transgender candidates who won election to state legislatures on Tuesday. The Cap Times reported that the historic group includes Bentley Hudgins in Georgia, Joanna Whaley in Michigan, Allison Montgomery in Alabama, and Jaelynn Scott in Washington. Acknowledging that she may encounter personal opposition in the Capitol, Martinez-Rutherford told the Cap Times that she intends to lead with kindness, emphasizing that transgender individuals simply want to live, pursue happiness, and be understood.

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