Kitty Rhoades

Who is Kitty Rhoades?

Kitty Rhoades is a former Wisconsin State Assemblywoman who represented the 30th Assembly district. She is now the Wisconsin Secretary of Health Services.

Born in Hudson, Wisconsin, Rhoades received a bachelor's degree from the University of Wisconsin–River Falls and a master's degree from Illinois State University. Rhoades was an educator, small business owner, and consultant. In 1998, she was elected to the Wisconsin State Assembly as a Republican.

In the 1990s, Rhoades proposed the term Winnesota to describe Wisconsin's St. Croix and Pierce Counties, which border Minnesota and are within the U.S. Census Bureau's Minneapolis-Saint Paul Metropolitan Area. According to Rhoades, "I still call my area Winnesota. We are in Wisconsin, but it sure is hard to remember it."

Rhoades retired from the state Assembly in 2010, and took a position with the administration of Gov. Scott Walker in 2011 as Deputy Secretary of the Department of Health Services. Following the resignation of Dennis Smith, she was appointed as the secretary.