The district was created in the 1972 redistricting act (1971 Wisc. Act 304) which first established the numbered district system, replacing the previous system which allocated districts to specific counties.[6] The 47th district was drawn with novel boundaries, taking part of the former Dane County 5th district and part of the Rock County 2nd district. The last representative of the Rock County 2nd district, Janet Soergel Mielke, won the 1972 election to become the 1st representative of the 47th Assembly district.[7]
The boundaries of the 47th district have changed significantly in almost every one of the redistrictings since 1982. The court-ordered 1982 redistricting placed the district in northern Wisconsin.[8] The 1983 legislative redistricting, which superseded the court-ordered plan, brought the district back to southern Wisconsin, covering most of Green County, sprawling through western and northern Rock County into southwest Jefferson County.[9] The 1992 and 2002 maps had the district based in Columbia County and parts of northern Dane County.[10][11] The 2011 plan moved the district into central Dane County.
The district has several isolated territorial islands, due to the inclusion of the now defunct town of Madison and Blooming Grove which also as of 2023 has been mostly annexed into the city, but not the wards of city of Madison which would be needed to connect the various pieces of the former towns.
^ abWisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau (1973). "Biographies"(PDF). In Theobald, H. Rupert; Robbins, Patricia V. (eds.). The state of Wisconsin 1973 Blue Book (Report). State of Wisconsin. pp. 52–53. Retrieved February 24, 2021.
^ abWisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau (1983). "Biographies"(PDF). In Theobald, H. Rupert; Robbins, Patricia V. (eds.). The state of Wisconsin 1983-1984 Blue Book (Report). State of Wisconsin. pp. 78–79. Retrieved February 24, 2021.
^ abWisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau (1985). "Biographies"(PDF). In Theobald, H. Rupert; Robbins, Patricia V. (eds.). The state of Wisconsin 1985-1986 Blue Book (Report). State of Wisconsin. pp. 52–53. Retrieved February 24, 2021.
^ abWisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau (2001). "Biographies"(PDF). In Barish, Lawrence S.; Meloy, Patricia E. (eds.). State of Wisconsin 2001-2002 Blue Book (Report). State of Wisconsin. pp. 52–53. Retrieved February 24, 2021.