Alberta Darling

Darling was born in Hammond, Indiana and raised in Peoria, Illinois where she graduated from Richwoods High School. She attended the University of Wisconsin–Madison, receiving a Bachelor of Science degree in 1966. After graduating from UW-Madison, she moved to Milwaukee and did graduate work at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee from 1972 to 1974. [1] Darling was a high school English teacher in Milwaukee and later a marketing and business development director in the private sector before being elected to public office. [2]

Darling met her husband, Dr. William "Bill" Darling, during their time at the University of Wisconsin. The two married in 1967, and up until his death in the spring of 2015, Bill was a respected ear, nose, and throat surgeon in Southeast Wisconsin. Darling and her husband have two children and three grandchildren. She is a longtime resident of River Hills, Wisconsin, which she represents in the Senate.[3][4]

Darling first joined the Wisconsin State Legislature by winning a special election in 1990 for the 10th district, defeating Rick Graber in the primary. She served the remainder of the term and a full two-year term in the State Assembly before being elected in 1992 to the state Senate, a seat she has held ever since. Unopposed in regular elections since 2008, Darling announced in July of 2019 that she would be running for re-election in the 2020 election cycle.[5]

Since 2000, she has served on the Joint Finance Committee, the state's budget-writing committee, and currently serves as the Senate co-chair. In addition to the Joint Finance Committee, Darling serves as Chair of the Senate Committee on Finance and Vice-Chair of the Committee on Education, and also serves on the Committee on Judiciary and Public Safety, the Committee on Universities, Technical Colleges, Children and Families, the Joint Committee on Employment Relations, Joint Legislative Audit Committee, and the Joint Legislative Council. [6]

Senator Darling during committee

Darling was one of nine Senators (six Republicans and three Democrats) to face a recall election effort in 2011 following the enactment of 2011 Wisconsin Act 10. On March 2, 2011 the "Committee to Recall Darling" officially registered with the Wisconsin Government Accountability Board[7] and on April 20, 2011, the recall campaigns announced that they had gathered nearly 30,000 signatures - enough to trigger a recall election. The 8th Senate District was considered a heavy target for Democrats and outside spending,[8] yet Darling would defeat Democratic challenger Sandy Pasch by a larger margin than she had won in 2008; 54 percent to 46 percent.[9] The election was notably the last race to be called with the balance of the Senate and the ultimate fate of Republican reforms at stake, and received national coverage on election night as a result.[10]

• Senator Alberta Darling at the Wisconsin State Legislature
  • constituency site
• Alberta Darling official campaign site
• Profile at Vote Smart
• 8th Senate District, Senator Darling in the Wisconsin Blue Book (2005–2006)
• 10th Assembly District, Representative Darling in the Wisconsin Blue Book (1991–1992)
• Appearances on C-SPAN