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Karen DeSanto

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Democratic Representative · Assembly District 40

Source: Wisconsin Legislature , Wisconsin Ethics Commission · pulled · record through

Floor votes missed
0 of 245
Bills led
4 · 0 became law
Votes with their party
98% · 243 votes, 2025
Committees
3

Bills they led · 4

Bills where Karen DeSanto is the lead author, the first name on the bill. Sponsoring a bill means putting it forward: the text itself is drafted by the nonpartisan Legislative Reference Bureau. Bills they signed onto behind another member are listed below, and bills they only voted on are in Vote history. What these roles mean

Of the 4 bills they led: 0 became law, 0 were vetoed, 4 died without a public hearing. Statuses come from each bill's official history.

4 died at session end
Died at session end 4 bills
  • AB 805 Sandhill crane damage abatement assistance for corn producers, granting rule-making authority, and making an appropriation. (FE) 2025
  • AB 804 Farm to fork grants, farm to school grants, matching funds for the federal farm to school program, granting rule-making authority, and making an appropriation. (FE) 2025
  • AB 381 Perimenopause and menopause education. (FE) 2025
  • AB 1149 Adding a teacher representative to school boards. (FE) 2025

Coauthored · 161

Bills led by another member of the Assembly that Karen DeSanto signed onto. Signing on adds their name to the bill; it is not the same as leading it. From each bill's official history.

Show all 161 coauthored bills
  • AJR 90 Recognizing August as Immunization Awareness Month in Wisconsin. 2025
  • AJR 9 Honoring the life and enduring legacy of Robert George Uecker. 2025
  • AJR 79 Recognizing June 2025 as LGBTQ Pride Month. 2025
  • AJR 76 Eliminating constitutional restrictions on marriage (first consideration). 2025
  • AJR 70 Proclaiming June 2025 as Immigrant Heritage Month. 2025
  • AJR 63 Proclaiming January 1, 2025, to December 31, 2025, as Wisconsin State Park System 125th Anniversary. 2025
  • AJR 62 Designating June 2025 as Pollinator Awareness Month in Wisconsin. 2025
  • AJR 61 Proclaiming June 6, 2025, as Gun Violence Awareness Day in Wisconsin. 2025
  • AJR 58 Designating May as Older Americans Month in Wisconsin. 2025
  • AJR 54 Observing Tuesday, March 25, 2025, as Equal Pay Day in Wisconsin. 2025
  • AJR 53 Commemorating the Bay View labor strike and tragedy. 2025
  • AJR 5 Proclaiming February 2025 as Black History Month. 2025
  • AJR 42 An advisory referendum on an amendment to the U.S. Constitution. 2025
  • AJR 41 Proclaiming May 2025 and May 2026 as Jewish American Heritage Months. 2025
  • AJR 40 Celebrating 50 years of strength and resilience of the Hmong, Lao, Cambodian, and Vietnamese people. 2025
  • AJR 39 Recognizing Asian American and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander (AANHPI) Heritage Month as a time to honor the important contributions of Asians, Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders to the history of the United States. 2025
  • AJR 38 Proclaiming 2025 as the year of the snake. 2025
  • AJR 36 The right of the people to a clean, safe, and healthy natural environment and to its preservation (first consideration). 2025
  • AJR 33 Declaration of the Economic Justice Bill of Rights. 2025
  • AJR 31 Proclaiming March 31, 2025, as Wisconsin’s Transgender Day of Visibility. 2025
  • AJR 3 Proclaiming January 2025 as Human Trafficking Awareness and Prevention Month in the state of Wisconsin. 2025
  • AJR 25 Proclaiming April 24, 2025, to be Holocaust Remembrance Day and April 27, 2025, to May 4, 2025, as Holocaust Days of Remembrance in Wisconsin. 2025
  • AJR 23 Designating April 2025 and April 2026 as Parkinson’s Disease Awareness Months. 2025
  • AJR 20 Proclaiming the week of April 28 to May 2, 2025, as School Nutrition Professionals Appreciation Week. 2025
  • AJR 19 Honoring April 22, 2025, as the 55th anniversary of Earth Day. 2025
  • AJR 150 Proclaiming April 2026 as family strengthening month in Wisconsin. 2025
  • AJR 147 Establishing an annual Education Foundation Day in Wisconsin. 2025
  • AJR 144 Congratulating the U.S. Olympic Women’s Ice Hockey Team on winning the Olympic gold medal. 2025
  • AJR 136 The right to privacy (first consideration). 2025
  • AJR 118 Proclaiming the months of October 2025 and October 2026 as Cybersecurity Awareness Month. 2025
  • AJR 114 Recognizing the inherent rights of nature and Wisconsin’s commitment to environmental stewardship. 2025
  • AB 999 Collective bargaining for employees of the University of Wisconsin Hospitals and Clinics Authority. 2025
  • AB 974 A public affairs network trust fund, grants to the WisconsinEye Public Affairs Network, and making an appropriation. (FE) 2025
  • AB 960 Requiring social media platforms to provide mental health warnings and providing a penalty. 2025
  • AB 889 Creating the Wisconsin Climate Corps program, granting rule-making authority, and making an appropriation. (FE) 2025
  • AB 888 Green jobs training program grants, providing an exemption from emergency rule procedures, and making an appropriation. 2025
  • AB 873 Funding for crime victim services and making an appropriation. (FE) 2025
  • AB 860 Written resource guides informing inmates and juveniles in custody of their rights and making an appropriation. (FE) 2025
  • AB 859 The reimbursement rate for special education costs and school age parents programs and making an appropriation. (FE) 2025
  • AB 855 Synthetic digital representations and providing a penalty. 2025
  • AB 854 Violence prevention grants and making an appropriation. (FE) 2025
  • AB 852 Farmland preservation implementation grants, maximum acres of agricultural enterprise areas, indexing the farmland preservation tax credit for inflation, and making an appropriation. (FE) 2025
  • AB 851 The agricultural conservation easement purchase program and making an appropriation. (FE) 2025
  • AB 850 Spending cap for the Wisconsin agricultural exports program and making an appropriation. (FE) 2025
  • AB 847 Grants for alternatives to prosecution and incarceration programs for persons with mental illness and making an appropriation. (FE) 2025
  • AB 846 Funding for Buy Local, Buy Wisconsin grants, the “Something Special from Wisconsin” promotion, and making an appropriation. (FE) 2025
  • AB 835 Grants for students enrolled in teacher education programs, school district revenue limits, the reimbursement rate for special education costs, and making an appropriation. (FE) 2025
  • AB 834 Courtroom supports for and sealing the identifying information of child victims and child witnesses of human trafficking crimes. (FE) 2025
  • AB 823 Healthy food incentive program funding, payment processing equipment and services for farmers’ markets and farmers, and making an appropriation. (FE) 2025
  • AB 797 Grants for testing privately owned wells and providing education, providing an exemption from emergency rule procedures, granting rule-making authority, and making an appropriation. (FE) 2025

Showing 50 of 161, see the full record

Cosponsored · 160

Bills from the other house that Karen DeSanto signed onto. Signing on adds their name to the bill; it is not the same as leading it. From each bill's official history.

Show all 160 cosponsored bills
  • SJR 85 Recognizing August as Immunization Awareness Month in Wisconsin. 2025
  • SJR 73 Recognizing June 2025 as LGBTQ Pride Month. 2025
  • SJR 72 Proclaiming June 2025 as Immigrant Heritage Month. 2025
  • SJR 68 Eliminating constitutional restrictions on marriage (first consideration). 2025
  • SJR 62 Proclaiming January 1, 2025, to December 31, 2025, as Wisconsin State Park System 125th Anniversary. 2025
  • SJR 61 Designating June 2025 as Pollinator Awareness Month in Wisconsin. 2025
  • SJR 60 Proclaiming June 6, 2025, as Gun Violence Awareness Day in Wisconsin. 2025
  • SJR 6 Honoring the life and enduring legacy of Robert George Uecker. 2025
  • SJR 57 Designating May as Older Americans Month in Wisconsin. 2025
  • SJR 47 Observing Tuesday, March 25, 2025, as Equal Pay Day in Wisconsin. 2025
  • SJR 45 Proclaiming May 2025 and May 2026 as Jewish American Heritage Months. 2025
  • SJR 42 Proclaiming 2025 as the year of the snake. 2025
  • SJR 41 Celebrating 50 years of strength and resilience of the Hmong, Lao, Cambodian, and Vietnamese people. 2025
  • SJR 40 Recognizing Asian American and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander (AANHPI) Heritage Month as a time to honor the important contributions of Asians, Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders to the history of the United States. 2025
  • SJR 38 An advisory referendum on an amendment to the U.S. Constitution. 2025
  • SJR 37 The right of the people to a clean, safe, and healthy natural environment and to its preservation (first consideration). 2025
  • SJR 33 Declaration of the Economic Justice Bill of Rights. 2025
  • SJR 31 Proclaiming March 31, 2025, as Wisconsin’s Transgender Day of Visibility. 2025
  • SJR 3 Proclaiming January 2025 as Human Trafficking Awareness and Prevention Month in the state of Wisconsin. 2025
  • SJR 23 Proclaiming the week of April 28 to May 2, 2025, as School Nutrition Professionals Appreciation Week. 2025
  • SJR 17 Honoring April 22, 2025, as the 55th anniversary of Earth Day. 2025
  • SJR 149 Proclaiming April 2026 as family strengthening month in Wisconsin. 2025
  • SJR 147 Establishing an annual Education Foundation Day in Wisconsin. 2025
  • SJR 140 Congratulating the U.S. Olympic Women’s Ice Hockey Team on winning the Olympic gold medal. 2025
  • SJR 131 The right to privacy (first consideration). 2025
  • SJR 111 Proclaiming the months of October 2025 and October 2026 as Cybersecurity Awareness Month. 2025
  • SJR 107 Recognizing the inherent rights of nature and Wisconsin’s commitment to environmental stewardship. 2025
  • SB 992 References to like-kin under the Wisconsin Shares program. 2025
  • SB 991 Funding for tribal child care training and technical assistance and making an appropriation. (FE) 2025
  • SB 978 Online services accessed by minors, minors’ personal data, and granting rule-making authority. 2025
  • SB 965 Collective bargaining for employees of the University of Wisconsin Hospitals and Clinics Authority. 2025
  • SB 958 Creating the water fund for our future, granting rule-making authority, and making an appropriation. (FE) 2025
  • SB 933 Requiring social media platforms to provide mental health warnings and providing a penalty. 2025
  • SB 894 A victim protective services grant program and making an appropriation. (FE) 2025
  • SB 881 Funding for crime victim services and making an appropriation. (FE) 2025
  • SB 876 Green jobs training program grants, providing an exemption from emergency rule procedures, and making an appropriation. 2025
  • SB 864 Courtroom supports for and sealing the identifying information of child victims and child witnesses of human trafficking crimes. (FE) 2025
  • SB 852 The reimbursement rate for special education costs and school age parents programs and making an appropriation. (FE) 2025
  • SB 847 Written resource guides informing inmates and juveniles in custody of their rights and making an appropriation. (FE) 2025
  • SB 842 Violence prevention grants and making an appropriation. (FE) 2025
  • SB 841 Farmland preservation implementation grants, maximum acres of agricultural enterprise areas, indexing the farmland preservation tax credit for inflation, and making an appropriation. (FE) 2025
  • SB 840 The agricultural conservation easement purchase program and making an appropriation. (FE) 2025
  • SB 837 Grants for alternatives to prosecution and incarceration programs for persons with mental illness and making an appropriation. (FE) 2025
  • SB 829 Funding for Buy Local, Buy Wisconsin grants, the “Something Special from Wisconsin” promotion, and making an appropriation. (FE) 2025
  • SB 828 Grants for students enrolled in teacher education programs, school district revenue limits, the reimbursement rate for special education costs, and making an appropriation. (FE) 2025
  • SB 823 Spending cap for the Wisconsin agricultural exports program and making an appropriation. (FE) 2025
  • SB 817 Healthy food incentive program funding, payment processing equipment and services for farmers’ markets and farmers, and making an appropriation. (FE) 2025
  • SB 815 Synthetic digital representations and providing a penalty. 2025
  • SB 807 Grants to WisconsinEye for the establishment of an endowment fund, creating the Office of the Public Affairs Network to administer a public affairs network in Wisconsin, and making an appropriation. (FE) 2025
  • SB 775 Sandhill crane damage abatement assistance for corn producers, granting rule-making authority, and making an appropriation. (FE) 2025

Showing 50 of 160, see the full record

Campaign money

$42,132 reported receipts across 334 records

Jan 1, 2025–Dec 31, 2026. Includes collected receipts before taking office. Latest reported transaction: Jul 27, 2026. Earliest collected receipt in this view: Jan 19, 2025. Filings and amendments may be missing; totals cover collected records.

2025
Receipts by quarter in the selected period. Gold bars with a tick under them are election quarters; peak $10,743 in 2026 Q2.
Quarter by quarter
  • 2025 Q1: $106
  • 2025 Q2: $5,519
  • 2025 Q3: $3,837
  • 2025 Q4: $5,797
  • 2026 Q1: $9,129
  • 2026 Q2: $10,743
  • 2026 Q3: $7,001

Where it came from

  • Individuals: $30,365 (72%)
  • Political committees: $6,549 (16%)
  • Businesses & other entities: $3,868 (9%)
  • Unregistered: $1,350 (3%)

Source types exactly as the committee reported each receipt to CFIS.

Top contributing committees

PACs, party and other political committees

Top individual donors

within the selected period, grouped by CFIS donor identity

  • Susan Lipp 1 receipts $1,000
  • Rebecca Oettinger 1 receipts $1,000
  • Jonathan Lipp 1 receipts $1,000
  • Molly Nowlan 1 receipts $1,000
  • Sarah Sell 1 receipts $1,000

Top occupations of individual donors

as reported by donors; individuals gave $30,365 in total

  • Not employed $10,451
  • Retired $3,645
  • Consultant $1,631
  • CEO $1,250
  • Unknown $1,125

Source: Wisconsin Ethics Commission campaign finance filings (campaignfinance.wi.gov), refreshed nightly. Wisconsin law bars corporations from contributing to candidates; money comes from individuals and political committees. Totals cover verified candidate committees, including runs for other offices. Receipts can include loans, transfers, refunds, and in-kind support. All available history starts no earlier than July 2008 and may have gaps. Full methodology

Key votes · 79

Selected by rule, not judgment: the final recorded passage vote of every bill that became law, any floor vote decided by five or fewer, and every veto-override vote. Each row links to the official roll call.

Votes against their party · 5

Roll calls where Karen DeSanto voted opposite the majority of Democrats casting an Aye or Nay on that roll call. Ties within the party are excluded; absences never count. Each row links to the official roll call.

Show all 5 party-break votes
  • Feb 19, 2026 SB 176 CONCURRENCE AS AMENDED Voted Aye; Democrats split 7 Aye–33 Nay roll call
  • Feb 19, 2026 AB 963 PASSAGE Voted Aye; Democrats split 7 Aye–34 Nay roll call
  • Feb 19, 2026 AB 839 PASSAGE Voted Nay; Democrats split 30 Aye–10 Nay roll call
  • Feb 17, 2026 SB 782 CONCURRENCE Voted Nay; Democrats split 30 Aye–15 Nay roll call
  • Mar 20, 2025 AB 105 PASSAGE Voted Aye; Democrats split 20 Aye–22 Nay roll call

Floor attendance

Only days the chamber held recorded floor votes are shown, on every tile below, they either voted or missed: 245 votes across 25 voting days, none missed.

voted all present, not voting missed votes (striped)
2026
2025

Vote history · 245

Showing the most recent 200, see all 245 votes →