| Joan Ballweg was born the oldest of four to a first generation American in West Allis, Wisconsin on March 16, 1952. After graduating from Nathan Hale High School in 1970, Joan received her Bachelor of Arts in elementary education from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. Joan and her husband, Tom, married in 1974 and settled in Markesan after purchasing Ballweg Implement, a John Deere agricultural and lawn equipment dealership, in 1976.
While Joan and Tom ran a successful John Deere dealership together in Markesan, Joan began to demonstrate her leadership and commitment to the community. In 1984, she chaired the Markesan Revitalization Committee and in the fall of 1986 was elected alderperson to the Markesan City Council. Joan helped charter the Markesan PTA in 1987 and served as its president in 1989. She served as alderperson to the Markesan City Council until being elected Mayor in the fall of 1990, a capacity in which she served until 1997.
Joan has exhibited leadership in education, business, and health care. She participated as a spokesperson for the City of Markesan school referendum in 1998 and served as a member of the Waupun Memorial Hospital Board of Directors from 1999 to 2005, after serving as chairperson of the board from 2002 to 2005.
Joan was elected in November 2004 to represent Wisconsin's 41st district in the State Assembly, winning a nine-way Republican primary. After serving eight terms, Joan was elected to the State Senate in 2020. She serves as chair of the Committee on Agriculture and Tourism, is a member of the committees on Mental Health, Substance Abuse Prevention, Children and Families, Universities and Revenue and State Building Commission and sits on the powerful Joint Committee on Finance. In 2019, Joan chaired the Speaker's Task Force on Suicide Prevention and became the National Chair for the Council of State Governments. In 2020, she was appointed to the Governor's Task Force on Student Debt. During the summer of 2022, she chaired the Legislative Council Study Committee on Uniform Death Reporting Standards.
Joan has authored legislation impacting agriculture, small businesses, health care, education, state preparedness and homeland security in the State of Wisconsin. She has fought to expand the eligibility of financial aid to part-time and non-traditional students; authored legislation to create the Donate Life Wisconsin license plates in an effort to raise awareness and funds for organ donation, created a one-day fishing license for residents and non-residents to purchase and is dedicated to promoting policies that support healthy early childhood development.
Joan and her husband Tom have three adult children and four grandchildren. |