Madison Comedian Is Wisconsin’s First Transgender Legislator

Dina Nina Martinez-Rutherford stands near the Wisconsin State Capitol on Monday, Nov. 9, 2026, in Madison, Wis. She will represent Wisconsin’s 76th Assembly District as the first transgender member of the Wisconsin state legislature. Angela Major/WPR

For much of her life, Dina Nina Martinez-Rutherford did not envision herself entering politics.

She chuckles when she remembers a high school trip she took to Washington D.C.

“I was like, “Let’s go to Georgetown and shop,”‘ the Madison alder recalled in an interview with WPR. “The older I got, and … especially after I transitioned, I realized how impactful politics are on our daily lives.”

When she’s sworn in early next year, Martinez-Rutherford, a Democrat, will become the first transgender member of Wisconsin’s state Legislature. That’s after winning more than 92 percent of the vote in Wisconsin’s 76th Assembly District, a deep-blue district that includes Madison and Maple Bluff.

It’s a milestone she takes seriously.

“I think it makes a huge difference for kids to see themselves represented and represented in media and politics and whatever field they want to go in,” Martinez-Rutherford said. “And we are everywhere.”

Martinez-Rutherford grew up in Celina, Texas, as part of what she describes as a “highly religious” Christian family. She was an artsy theater kid, and she used to get called “sissy.”

“I take that as a compliment now,” she said. “So, yeah, I did not fit in.”

As an adult, Martinez-Rutherford moved around a lot, including to Indianapolis, New York and Los Angeles. She worked — briefly — as a pastor and has also been been a flight attendant, actor and stand-up comedian. More than a decade ago, two of her best friends convinced her to move to Madison, where she took what started as a summer job at Monty’s Blue Plate Diner.

One of her co-workers there was trans.

“I was like, ‘Holy cow! In the middle of the country, there’s another trans person just living their daily lives,”‘ she remembered. “It was very exciting, and I got to meet a lot of people who are still friends of mine.”

Martinez-Rutherford, who is now 56, transitioned to female when she was in her 30s. In January, when she makes history as Wisconsin’s first transgender legislator, she will also mark the 20th anniversary of her transition.

“Here we are in the weirdest turn of events, a fat trans lady who is a comedian is now going to be representative,” she said. “It’s bizarre and exciting and terrifying and cool.”

Along with her creative pursuits in comedy, Martinez-Rutherford has spent years in the food service industry. That includes waiting tables, bartending and working for a friend’s food truck.

She says she knows what it’s like to go without health insurance. And she says housing insecurity has forced her to couch-surf while relying on the generosity of friends.

“I’ve experienced homelessness in the sense that I was doubled up,” she said. “I, fortunately, was never unsheltered, but there are so many people that have no other option.”

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Martinez-Rutherford says she was inspired by fundraisers and mutual aid efforts to help people who were struggling. She became the first transgender woman elected to Madison’s Common Council in 2023.

She filed to run for that council seat again in an April 2025 election, but announced she would drop out of the race that January, citing personal and medical reasons. Although she endorsed her opponent, it was too late for Martinez-Rutherford to be removed from the ballot, and she won anyway. She decided to assume the role representing part the city’s east side.

Martinez-Rutherford launched her bid for the state Assembly, after state Rep. Francesca Hong announced her bid for governor, and declined to seek reelection to that seat. Hong, a Democratic socialist, narrowly lost in the Democratic primary to Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, who is now the governor-elect.

During a five-way Democratic primary in August 2026, Martinez-Rutherford took close to 30 percent of the vote, beating the second-place candidate, former Madison Alder Juliana Bennett, by about 500 votes.

Dina Nina Martinez-Rutherford stands near the Madison Municipal Building on Monday, Nov. 9, 2026, in Madison, Wis. She will represent Wisconsin’s 76th Assembly District as the first transgender member of the Wisconsin state legislature. Angela Major/WPR

Running for higher office was a difficult decision, Martinez-Rutherford said.

“I rethought it 20 different times,” she said. “But, if not now, when? And, if not me, who?”

Incidents — like the 2025 killing of a Minnesota state representative—were top of mind, and Martinez-Rutherford said she weighed concerns about her physical safety.

“There’s always fear of you know people hating me because I’m trans and threatening (me),” she said.

But Martinez-Rutherford said part of her motivation to run came after watching a slew of bills targeting trans people work their way through Wisconsin’s Legislature. That includes legislation that would have banned people assigned male at birth from playing on women’s and girls’ school sports teams, a proposal requiring parental approval before school officials use names or pronouns that differ from a student’s birth certificate and a ban on “gender transition medical intervention,” for minors.

Those bills were vetoed by outgoing Democratic Gov. Tony Evers, but Rutherford-Martinez is well-aware of the fact that she’ll soon be working with many of the Republican lawmakers who sponsored them.

“I hope that they see someone in me that maybe changes their hearts,” she said. “Quite honestly, I’m not sure if all of them believe in the rhetoric. It’s just their party that demands it of them.”

Rutherford-Martinez will join the Legislature as part of the majority party, after Democrats took control of both the state Assembly and Senate for the first time in 18 years.

She’s cited priorities including investing in rapid rehousing to prevent homelessness, expanding the state’s Medicaid program known as BadgerCare, raising Wisconsin’s minimum wage to $20 an hour and overturning Act 10, the 2011 law which curtailed collective bargaining rights for public employees.

Across the country, Martinez-Rutherford was among the six candidates who became the first trans or non-binary people elected to their state Legislatures during last week’s midterm elections.

After a childhood spent feeling out-of-place, and a young adulthood spent bouncing around the country, Martinez-Rutherford — and her dog Gertrude — have made Madison into a home.

“I’m just a normal human who is trying to get through this weird thing we call life,” she said. “I want to be able to live in community and kindness and joy as much as possible, and fight the crap.”

Meet the Madison comedian who will become Wisconsin’s first transgender legislator was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.