Melissa Amy Ratcliff (née Larsen; born November 1976) is an American Democratic politician from Cottage Grove, Wisconsin.
[2] In the Spring of 2018, Ratcliff won her first public office when she was elected to the Cottage Grove village board.
Just after the Spring 2022 election, incumbent state representative Gary Hebl announced he would retire after nine terms in the Assembly.
Within hours of his announcement, Ratcliff entered the race for the Democratic nomination in Hebl's 46th Assembly district.
Ratcliff centered her experience with local and county government, and ultimately prevailed in the primary with 36% of the vote.
All three were progressive Democrats, running on a similar policy platform of expanding Medicaid and defending abortion rights, so the race would ultimately come down to personalities and coalitions.