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Julian Bradley
Member of the Wisconsin Senate
from the 28th district
Assumed office
January 4, 2021
Preceded by Dave Craig
Personal details
Born
Marc Julian Bradley

(1981-02-11) February 11, 1981 (age 43)
Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.
Political party Republican
Residence Franklin, Milwaukee County, Wisconsin
Alma mater Temple University
University of Wisconsin–La Crosse (BS)
Occupation politician, businessman, professional wrestler
Website
  • Campaign website
  • Campaign twitter

Marc Julian Bradley (born February 11, 1981) is an American businessman and Republican politician from Milwaukee County, Wisconsin. He is a member of the Wisconsin Senate, representing the 28th Senate district since 2021. He is the first black Republican to serve in the Wisconsin Senate and only the second black Republican to serve in the Wisconsin Legislature.

Early life and career

Julian Bradley was born in Baltimore, Maryland, and moved with his mother to La Crosse, Wisconsin, in 1992, when he was 11 years old. He was interested in politics from an early age. Upon graduating from La Crosse Central High School in 1999, with his mother in failing health and finding himself unable to afford college, he leaned on his other childhood passion—for professional wrestling—and enrolled in "wrestling school" in Philadelphia, intending to earn money to support his family. He made his professional wrestling debut August 28, 1999, under the pseudonym Kris Krude.

After several years living in Philadelphia he entered Temple University, but only remained in school for one year. In 2007 he left professional wrestling behind and returned to Wisconsin to complete his bachelor's degree at the University of Wisconsin–La Crosse. While attending UW–La Crosse, he began working as an area repair supervisor for telecommunications company CenturyLink. He graduated with a degree in political science and economics in 2014 and worked his way up to manager at CenturyLink by 2017. In 2019 he was hired as a manager at Northwestern Mutual, requiring him to relocate to Franklin, Wisconsin, in Milwaukee County.

Political career

..... His campaign website and press releases acknowledged this as a pivotal moment in his life.

He made his first attempt at elected office in 2010 when he ran for Wisconsin State Assembly in the 95th assembly district, but was defeated in the Republican primary. Despite his primary defeat, he continued working as an organizer and volunteer with the Republican Party of Wisconsin through the general election and became acquainted with Bill Feehan. Feehan planned to seek election as chairman of the La Crosse County Republican Party in 2011 and asked Bradley to join his ticket as vice chair. Bradley agreed and they were elected together. Less than a year later, Feehan stepped down to run for State Senate and Bradley was chosen as his successor. Bradley was chairman of the La Crosse County Republican Party from 2011 through 2014, when he stepped down to make another attempt at elected office. In 2013, he was elected vice chair of the state Republican Party for the 3rd congressional district and was ex officio a member of the state party's executive committee. Also in 2013, he was named Charlie Sykes's Right Wisconsin grassroots activist of the year.

In 2014 he made another run for elected office when he launched a challenge against 32-year incumbent Wisconsin Secretary of State Doug La Follette. This time he prevailed in the Republican primary, but he fell 86,000 votes short of Doug La Follette in the general election in a year when Republicans won every other statewide office.

Following his move to Franklin in 2019, Bradley resumed his political activities and, in 2020, he announced he would be a candidate to replace State Senator Dave Craig, who was not seeking re-election. Four other candidates ultimately also joined the Republican primary contest for the safely-Republican senate seat, but Bradley distinguished himself with strong endorsements from established Republicans in the state party, including two of the three assemblymembers whose districts were contained within the boundaries of the 28th senate district—Ken Skowronski and Chuck Wichgers—as well as former Republican governor Scott Walker. Bradley prevailed with 40% of the vote in the crowded five-person Republican primary. He went on to defeat Democrat Adam Murphy in the general election, taking nearly 60% of the vote.

The 2024 redistricting act drew Bradley out of the 28th Senate district, but Bradley has signaled that he intends to relocate in order to maintain residency and run for re-election in 2024.

Personal life and family

Julian Bradley is the youngest of three children. He lives in Franklin, Milwaukee County, Wisconsin.

Electoral history

Wisconsin Assembly (2010)

Wisconsin Assembly, 95th District Election, 2010
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Republican Primary, September 14, 2010
Republican Nick Charles 1,431 54.14%
Republican Julian Bradley 1,209 45.74%
Scattering 3 0.11%
Plurality 222 8.40%
Total votes 2,643 100.0%

Wisconsin Secretary of State (2014)

Wisconsin Secretary of State Election, 2014
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Republican Primary, August 12, 2014
Republican Julian Bradley 138,569 64.68%
Republican Garey Bies 75,379 35.18%
Scattering 301 0.14%
Plurality 63,190 29.49%
Total votes 214,249 100.0%
General Election, November 4, 2014
Democratic Doug La Follette (incumbent) 1,161,113 50.00% -1.61%
Republican Julian Bradley 1,074,835 46.29% -2.01%
Independent Andy Craig 58,996 2.54%
Constitution Jerry Broitzman 25,744 1.11%
Scattering 1,347 0.06%
Plurality 86,278 3.72% +0.40%
Total votes 2,322,035 100.0% +11.57%
Democrat hold

Wisconsin Senate (2020)

Wisconsin Senate, 28th District Election, 2020
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Republican Primary, August 11, 2020
Republican Julian Bradley 8,263 40.69%
Republican Steve Bobowski 4,692 23.10%
Republican Dan Griffin 4,177 20.57%
Republican Marina Croft 1,623 7.99%
Republican Jim Engstrand 1,543 7.60%
Scattering 11 0.05%
Plurality 3,571 17.58%
Total votes 20,309 100.0%
General Election, November 3, 2020
Republican Julian Bradley 64,179 59.62% -38.48%
Democratic Adam Murphy 43,391 40.31%
Scattering 80 0.07%
Plurality 20,788 19.31% -76.89%
Total votes 107,650 100.0% +50.28%
Republican hold
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