Julian Bradley

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. 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. 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.

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. 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.

Controversies In July 2020, while running in the Republican primary for Wisconsin State Senate, the conservative opinion newspaper RightWisconsin alleged that Bradley and his campaign lied when he said that the online publication refused to publish an op-ed that he had submitted. Rather, the newspaper stated, they had suggested corrections to the Bradley op-ed, as they do with every op-ed that they publish. The original Bradley article made claims and assertions such as:

"It's no coincidence that Planned Parenthood surgical clinics continue to be located primarily in overwhelmingly black neighborhoods." "Sincere black lives matter allies should eliminate the Sanger shrine to racism embodied in every Planned Parenthood today."

When RightWisconsin offered corrections and substitutions for these largely speculative and unfounded claims and assertions, the Bradley campaign rejected the newspaper's suggestions, later falsely claiming that RightWisconsin rejected the op-ed outright.

Personal life and family Julian Bradley is the youngest of three children. He lives in New Berlin, Wisconsin.

Electoral history

Wisconsin Assembly (2010)

Wisconsin Secretary of State (2014)

Wisconsin Senate (2020, 2024)