The Honorable Lena C. Taylor

Attorney and state legislator Lena C. Taylor was born on July 25, 1966, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She received her B.A. degree in English in 1990 from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and her J.D. degree in 1993 from Southern Illinois University School of Law, in Carbondale, Illinois.

After graduating from law school, Taylor worked as a public defender until 1996, when she opened Taylor and Associates Law Office in Milwaukee. In 2003, she won a special election to the Wisconsin State Assembly, representing the 18th district, comprising the west side of the City of Milwaukee. In 2004, Taylor was elected to the Wisconsin State Senate, representing the 4th district, comprising part of the City of Milwaukee’s north side, as well as the village of Shorewood, the southern half of the city of Glendale, and part of northern Wauwatosa. She was appointed to the Joint Committee on Finance and the Joint Committee on Judiciary and Corrections in 2004, of which she became chair in 2006. Taylor ran for Milwaukee County Executive in 2008. In 2012, she was named co-chair of the Joint Committee on Finance. In 2013, she became an attorney at Pitman, Kyle, Sicula and Dentice in Milwaukee, where she also has served as senior counsel. Taylor ran for mayor of Milwaukee in 2020 and for lieutenant governor of Wisconsin in 2021.

In the Wisconsin State Legislature, Taylor has served on the Committee on Agriculture and Tourism, the Committee on Insurance, Licensing and Forestry, the Committee on Judiciary and Public Safety Joint Review, the Committee on Criminal Penalties Joint Survey, and the Committee on Tax Exemptions. She also has been a columnist for the Milwaukee Courier and served as secretary of the West End Development Corporation, vice chair of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, and chair of the Legislative Black and Hispanic Caucus.

Taylor received the Becky Young Community Justice Award in 2009, the Wisconsin Builder’s Association’s Friend of Housing Award from 2009-2016, the National Legislator of the Year Award from the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies in 2010, the Conservation Champion award from the League of Conservation Voters and the Public Service Support for Reproductive Rights award from Family Planning Health Services, Inc., in 2012, and the Friend of Agriculture Award from the Wisconsin Farm Bureau.

Taylor and her son, Isaiah, live in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Lena C. Taylor was interviewed by The HistoryMakers on January 27, 2022.