Hendrickson turns in nomination paperwork, touts platform during tour of 17th Senate District

FENNIMORE, Wis. (WMDX) – Wisconsin’s 17th Senate District, in the southwestern corner of the state, will be one of the most-watched elections this fall, as it is currently the district represented by Republican Howard Marklein, co-chair of the state legislature’s Joint Committee on Finance.

Marklein will be defending his seat for the first time under the new maps enacted in 2024.

Three Democratic challengers are vying for the seat: current Assembly Rep. Jenna Jacobson, Lisa White, and Corrine Hendrickson.

Hendrickson, who has held elected office as a school board member and used to own a family child care business for 18 years, has been visiting communities across the 17th SD as campaign efforts ramp up ahead of August’s primary. Education and child care are among her top priorities on her platform, which she spoke about at a stop in Fennimore, located in Grant County, on April 23.

Before launching her campaign, Hendrickson said she had tried to work with Marklein on funding for child care and education, but those conversations never materialized into legislation.

“I had about a year where I tried to work with him and get investments for child care, for public schools, kids with special needs and so many more things, and he just refused to do it,” Hendrickson said. “When the budget came out, and public schools got zero dollars, child care did not get state investment, I decided that I was going to run and attempt to replace him.”

Hendrickson said that owning a child care business, working with special needs students, and seeing a lack of funding for educators and child care workers motivates her campaign efforts. She said that she worked on legislation previously to expand eligibility for students with special needs to get extra support in child care, which also would have benefitted all students.

“The reason I advocate so hard for child care is parents are paying far too much, and educators are not making enough to survive – they’re making poverty-level wages,” Hendrickson said. “I’m advocating to help people understand how important these years are for the children, for the teachers to be well-paid so that they are actually able to give their best to those kids, because that’s what they deserve.”

All three Democratic candidates are campaigning on providing funding for public education, but Hendrickson believes her background and education sets her apart on the topic. Hendrickson said that if elected, she would be the only state Senator with a bachelor’s degree in education.

“I think representation matters,” Hendrickson said. “We need people that are making rules and laws and funding things with actual experience.”

Hendrickson, who also has a master’s degree in policy, said she’s willing to talk to anyone about the bills being drafted by the legislature to help people understand legislation and know what’s at stake.

In addition to education and child care, Hendrickson believes that the state needs to invest in local governments, especially as municipalities across Wisconsin deal with the influx of data centers and utility expansion, particularly in southwestern Wisconsin. She said it’s “basically extortion” when a utility or company promises jobs and money, that local governments don’t really have a choice.

“Government needs to be transparent,” Hendrickson said. “Our state needs to stop being reactive and be proactive, because we keep running into these same situations over and over again.”

On Wednesday, Hendrickson filed nomination paperwork with the Wisconsin Elections Commission, including 587 signatures gathered in the past 14 days, according to a release from her campaign. The deadline for candidates to file paperwork is on June 4 ahead of the August 11 primary.

The 17th Senate District includes all of Grant, Crawford, Iowa, Lafayette, and Green counties, and also includes part of Dane County. In addition, small parts of Vernon and Rock counties are part of the district due to municipalities that are split by county lines.

Before redistricting, the 17th District included a swath of counties from Juneau County down to the Illinois state line, including all of Grant, Richland, Lafayette, and Juneau counties, as well as parts of Iowa, Monroe, Sauk, and Green counties.

In the last state Senate election under the old boundaries for the 17th District in 2022, Marklein easily defeated Democrat Pat Skogen with 60.1% of the vote, a victory margin of more than 20 percentage points. In 2018, Marklein won by 8.2 percentage points, and in his first Senate term in 2014, Marklein had a 10.2 percentage point win.

The 2026 General Election is on November 3, 2026. If officially needed, a primary will be held on August 11, 2026. You can learn about how elections are conducted on the Wisconsin Elections Commission website.

To find out where to vote, how to register to vote, or to see upcoming election information, you can visit MyVote.wi.gov.

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More SD17 Coverage:

Lisa White begins campaign for SD17 (February 3, 2026)

Lisa White talks about her SD17 run (July 30, 2025)

Corrine Hendrickson takes on WI’s 17th SD (September 24, 2025)

Jenna Jacobson announces SD 17 run (July 7, 2025)