State Sen. Kelda Roys (D-Madison) announced her bid Monday for the 2024 Wisconsin State Senate election, according to a press release. Roys has served in the State Senate since 2020, according to the release.
“This last legislative session left so much work undone — including fully funding public K-12 and higher education … and protecting our reproductive freedoms and civil rights,” Roys said in the press release. “I am excited to build a Democratic legislative majority that will finally address these critical issues that have been ignored by state leaders for too long.”
Roys has represented the University of Wisconsin–Madison in a number of initiatives including the UW System’s budget proposal to exchange diversity, equity and inclusion staff positions for state funding, according to previous reporting by The Badger Herald. The deal, approved in March, cut funding for DEI programming on campus but invested in a new engineering building and other campus renovations, according to previous reporting by The Badger Herald.
Roys also advocated for a bill proposed in February that would prohibit firearms on Wisconsin university campuses, according to previous reporting by The Badger Herald. Roys spoke with young people who have expressed frustration with Wisconsin’s inadequate gun laws, she said.
Later that month, Roys held a press conference with UW medical students to criticize U.S. Senate candidate Eric Hovde’s anti-abortion rights stance, according to previous reporting by The Badger Herald.
Roys and 15 other Wisconsin Senate candidates will be included on the Nov. 5, 2024 general election ballot, according to the Wisconsin State Legislature website.