Mary Spicuzza

Mary Spicuzza has covered politics in Wisconsin since 2009. She joined the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel in early 2015 after covering the statehouse for the Wisconsin State Journal. Spicuzza helped to lead the State Journal’s coverage of Gov. Scott Walker’s 2011 move to end collective bargaining for public workers and the massive protests and exodus from the state by Senate Democrats that came in response to his proposal. The coverage earned a Pulitzer Prize finalist nod for breaking news reporting and won a Sigma Delta Chi Award for deadline reporting from the Society of Professional Journalists. During her time at the Journal Sentinel, she was part of the team that covered Republican state lawmakers’ efforts to sharply limit people’s access to public records in Wisconsin. That work won various honors, including Associated Press Media Editors and National Headliners awards. Spicuzza, a Milwaukee native, has previously reported for The New York Times, The Seattle Times, Frontline and the St. Petersburg Times (now Tampa Bay Times). She co-produced Matias, a documentary retracing the journey of a Mexican migrant who died trying to cross the U.S.-Mexico border, which aired on PBS Frontline/World as A Death in the Desert. Her work has won national and local honors, including awards from Investigative Reporters and Editors and the Overseas Press Club. Spicuzza has a bachelor’s degree in history and women’s studies from the University of California at Santa Cruz and a master’s degree in journalism from the University of California at Berkeley. She lives in a house that’s belonged to her family for nearly 100 years with her husband, Dan Simmons, and daughter Francesca.