Regina Vidaver

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Regina Vidaver

Nonpartisan

Madison Common Council District 5

Tenure

2021 - Present

Term ends

2027

Years in position

4

Predecessor

Shiva Bidar-Sielaff

Report an officeholder change

Elections and appointments

Last elected

April 1, 2025

Education

High school

Lincoln High School

Bachelor's

Amherst College, 1992

Ph.D

University of Wisconsin, Madison, 1999

Personal

Birthplace

Nebraska

Profession

Senior manager

Contact

Official website

Campaign website

Campaign Facebook

Campaign Instagram

Personal Facebook

Personal Instagram

Personal LinkedIn

Regina Vidaver is a member of the Madison Common Council in Wisconsin, representing District 5. She assumed office on April 20, 2021. Her current term ends on April 20, 2027.

Vidaver ran for re-election to the Madison Common Council to represent District 5 in Wisconsin. She won in the general election on April 1, 2025.

Vidaver completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2025. Click here to read the survey answers.

Biography

Regina Vidaver was born in Nebraska. She earned a high school diploma from Lincoln High School. She earned a bachelor's degree from Amherst College in 1992 and a Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin, Madison in 1999. Her career experience includes working as a senior manager.

Elections

2025

See also: City elections in Madison, Wisconsin (2025)

General election

General election for Madison Common Council District 5

Incumbent Regina Vidaver defeated Ulrike Dieterle in the general election for Madison Common Council District 5 on April 1, 2025.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Regina Vidaver (Nonpartisan)	70.9	4,005
	Submit photo	Ulrike Dieterle (Nonpartisan)	28.4	1,604
		Other/Write-in votes	0.6	36

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. Source	Total votes: 5,645
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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Nonpartisan primary election

The primary election was canceled. Incumbent Regina Vidaver and Ulrike Dieterle advanced from the primary for Madison Common Council District 5.

Endorsements

Vidaver received the following endorsements. To view a full list of Vidaver's endorsements as published by their campaign, click here.

• 3.14 Action
• 350 Wisconsin Action
• AFL-CIO Wisconsin
• Dane County AFSCME
• Democratic Party of Dane County (WI)
• Downtown Madison Inc.
• Gun Sense Voter
• Planned Parenthood Advocates of Wisconsin
• The Cap Times
• Wisconsin State Journal

2024

See also: Municipal elections in Dane County, Wisconsin (2024)

General election

Special general election for Dane County Executive

Melissa Agard defeated Dana Pellebon in the special general election for Dane County Executive on November 5, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Melissa Agard (Nonpartisan)	60.9	168,168
		Dana Pellebon (Nonpartisan)	37.8	104,487
		Other/Write-in votes	1.3	3,457

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 276,112
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Nonpartisan primary election

Special nonpartisan primary for Dane County Executive

Melissa Agard and Dana Pellebon defeated Regina Vidaver and Wes Sparkman in the special primary for Dane County Executive on August 13, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Melissa Agard (Nonpartisan)	57.0	61,286
✔		Dana Pellebon (Nonpartisan)	17.2	18,561
		Regina Vidaver (Nonpartisan)	15.1	16,269
		Wes Sparkman (Nonpartisan)	10.0	10,791
		Other/Write-in votes	0.7	705

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 107,612
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Endorsements

Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Vidaver in this election.

2023

See also: City elections in Madison, Wisconsin (2023)

General election

General election for Madison Common Council District 5

Incumbent Regina Vidaver won election in the general election for Madison Common Council District 5 on April 4, 2023.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Regina Vidaver (Nonpartisan)	98.3	4,519
		Other/Write-in votes	1.7	80

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 4,599
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Nonpartisan primary election

The primary election was canceled. Incumbent Regina Vidaver advanced from the primary for Madison Common Council District 5.

Endorsements

Vidaver received the following endorsements.

• Wisconsin State AFL-CIO
• 350 Wisconsin Action

2021

See also: City elections in Madison, Wisconsin (2021)

General election

General election for Madison Common Council District 5

Regina Vidaver won election in the general election for Madison Common Council District 5 on April 6, 2021.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Regina Vidaver (Nonpartisan)	99.1	1,725
		Other/Write-in votes	0.9	16

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 1,741
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Campaign themes

2025

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Regina Vidaver completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2025. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Vidaver's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

Regina Vidaver is a trusted local leader who has served on the Madison Common Council and multiple city committees for the last four years. She is a proud Badger, having received her PhD in Cellular and Molecular Biology from UW-Madison. Regina and her husband raised their children here, both graduates of West High, so she knows the challenges and opportunities for families in our community.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

• Inclusion and caring for our neighbors.
• Being responsible stewards of our environment.
• Supporting sustainable, community-focused growth.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

Public health, housing availability and affordability, environmental protections.

What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

Honesty, integrity, humility, and empathy.

What qualities do you possess that you believe would make you a successful officeholder?

Aside from serving in this role for the past 4 years, I currently work at the Wisconsin Division of Public Health, where I am the Section Manager for Chronic Disease Prevention & Cancer Control. I have managed up to 60 people, and more than $45 million in budgets from federal, state, and philanthropic sources. Prior to this role, I was the Manager for the Wisconsin Research and Education Network, a primary care practice-based research network seeking to bring clinical advancements to patient care quicker, and ran a non-profit in lung cancer research and advocacy for a decade. I previously served on the Madison Metropolitan School District Advanced Learning Advisory Committee, and the Board of Directors of Beth Israel Center. Through all of these roles, I have had to leverage background knowledge with emotional intelligence to build relationships, develop collaborations, and get things done.

What do you believe are the core responsibilities for someone elected to this office?

Ensure the long-term needs of a growing city are met through smart, forward-looking policy modifications and additions.

Are there any little-known powers or responsibilities held by this office that you believe more people should be aware of?

Every Alder serves on between 3 and 7 committees, in addition to sitting on the Common Council.

Do you believe that it's beneficial for holders of this office to have previous experience in government or politics?

No, but prior service on committees or boards is highly relevant.

What kind of skills or expertise do you believe would be the most helpful for the holders of this office to possess?

Discernment, listening, health in all policies.

What organizations or individuals have endorsed your campaign?

314 Action Fund

What are your views on financial transparency and government accountability?

Financial transparency and government accountability are key elements to a highly functioning municipality.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

2024

Regina Vidaver did not complete Ballotpedia's 2024 Candidate Connection survey.

2023

Regina Vidaver did not complete Ballotpedia's 2023 Candidate Connection survey.

2021

Regina Vidaver did not complete Ballotpedia's 2021 Candidate Connection survey.

See also

2025 Elections

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Madison Common Council District 5

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Officeholder

Madison Common Council District 5

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Footnotes

Political offices
Preceded by Shiva Bidar-Sielaff	Madison Common Council District 5 2021-Present	Succeeded by -