Barbara Notestein (born April 14, 1949) is an American social worker from Wisconsin who served as a member of the Wisconsin State Assembly and is now executive director of Safe and Sound, a crime prevention organization.
[2] Notestein was a VISTA volunteer, became a social worker, and worked eight years for the Hunger Task Force of Milwaukee, eventually becoming its director.
She was first elected to the Assembly in 1984 as a Democrat from the newly renumbered 12th [formerly 4th] Assembly district (basically the East Side of Milwaukee) to succeed fellow Democrat Barbara Ulichny, who was successfully pursuing election to the Wisconsin State Senate.
Notestein narrowly defeated gay rights activist Leon Rouse in the Democratic primary (1740-1657 in a three-way race), but carried the general election easily, with 15,606 votes to 8137 for Republican C. William Jordahl.
[3] In later years, she faced no serious challenge in the primary or general elections, even after redistricting changed the boundaries of her own district (now the 19th District) to the south; in some general elections, her only challenge came from candidates of the Taxpayer's Party.