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Dora Drake

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Dora Drake
Member-elect of the Wisconsin Senate
from the 4th district
Assuming office
TBD
SucceedingLena Taylor
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
Occupationpolitician
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. She was elected unopposed in a July 30, 2024, special election for Wisconsin Senate.

Early life and education

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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

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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] A special election was not called until May, scheduled for July. Drake faced only one opponent for the Senate seat, fellow Democratic state representative LaKeshia Myers.[13] Drake prevailed in the special primary, held July 2, 2024, and was unopposed in the July 30 special election.[14][15] Drake subsequently won the August 13 Democratic primary for a new four-year term to begin in January 2025.[16]

Personal life and family

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

Electoral history

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Wisconsin Assembly (2020, 2022)

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Year Election Date Elected Defeated Total Plurality
2020 Primary[9] Aug. 11 Dora Drake Democratic 2,471 47.32% Tomika S. Vukovic Dem. 1,632 31.25% 5,222 839
Curtis Cook II Dem. 824 15.78%
Carl Gates Dem. 287 5.50%
General[10] Nov. 3 Dora Drake Democratic 18,329 84.64% Orlando Owens Rep. 3,299 15.24% 21,654 15,030
2022 General[17] Nov. 8 Dora Drake (inc) Democratic 14,311 99.00% --unopposed-- 14,456 14,166

Wisconsin Senate (2024)

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Year Election Date Elected Defeated Total Plurality
2024
(special) 		Primary Jul. 2 Dora Drake Democratic 4,439 65.75% LaKeshia Myers Dem. 2,298 34.04% 6,751 2,141
Special Jul. 30 Dora Drake Democratic 4,843 96.57% --Unopposed-- 5,015 4,671
2024 Primary Aug. 13 Dora Drake (inc) Democratic 12,630 62.35% LaKeshia Myers Dem. 7,605 37.54% 20,258 5,025
General[18] Nov. 5 Dora Drake (inc) Democratic 67,215 98.45% --Unopposed-- 68,276

References

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  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.
  13. ^ Karnopp, Hope; Andrea, Lawrence (May 14, 2024). "Evers schedules special elections for seats vacated by Lena Taylor, Mike Gallagher". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Retrieved July 3, 2024.
  14. ^ Casey, Evan (July 3, 2024). "State Rep. Dora Drake wins special primary election". Wisconsin Public Radio. Retrieved July 3, 2024.
  15. ^ "Dora Drake wins special election for Wisconsin's 4th Senate District seat". WISN-TV. July 30, 2024. Retrieved July 31, 2024.
  16. ^ Jannene, Jeramey (13 August 2024). "Drake Defeats Myers For State Senate Seat". Urban Milwaukee. Retrieved 23 September 2024.
  17. ^ Canvass Results for 2022 General Election - 11/8/2022 (PDF) (Report). Wisconsin Elections Commission. November 30, 2022. p. 11. Retrieved July 3, 2024.
  18. ^ County by County Report - 2024 General Election (PDF) (Report). Wisconsin Elections Commission. November 27, 2024. p. 2. Retrieved November 30, 2024.
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Wisconsin State Assembly
Preceded by Member of the Wisconsin State Assembly from the 11th district
January 4, 2021 – present 		Incumbent
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