About Diana

I was born and raised in Appleton, Wisconsin and was one of 7 children. I lived most of my life in Appleton with a short period of time in Madison, WI and then several years in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Once it was time to start a family I moved back home to Appleton and have lived here again since 1991. Alan Lawrence is my husband and my daughter is Jennifer.

As a result of a challenging life experience I have had a variety of jobs. From being a janitor to a customer service representative to independent contractor status as a real estate agent I have held a variety of positions. Much of my experience comes from being involved in the healthcare industry. From working with insurance billing to working in the realm of employee health benefits I am well versed in how the insurance and healthcare industry works. As a realtor I also understand the issues of property ownership and how this part of the economy works. I also know what it is like living on minimum wage jobs.

My interest in politics extends back to when I was living on Madison and I would go to the Capital building several times a week just to hang around and enjoy the beautiful building. At the time I never thought of actually being a legislator. It was not until I got involved in the local Sierra Club after I met my husband, Alan, that I got more involved in politics. Sierra Club's main mission is to get people out into the environment so they will want to protect it, and part of fulfilling that mission can get politically involved. Writing letters to legislators and letters to the newspaper is one way I have been politically involved with Sierra Club. I have also attended several Conservation Lobby Days with the League of Conservation Voters.

I decided to get into this race because I believe I can make a difference in the lives of the people in this district. In my mind, the primary job of a legislator is to help constituents solve problems. Law making is secondary and is an outgrowth of the problem solving. As a direct result of all my years in customer service and other helping positions I think I am qualified to help people solve problems. I see this job as a full-time position. The need for constituents to have year round access to their assemblyperson is paramount to their active participation in this democracy.

It is my firm intent to involve people in the democratic process as much as possible with regular town hall meetings over the district and as much access to me as possible. A healthy democracy has stakeholders included in decision making as much as possible.

Supported legalization of marijuana in 2018 candidate interview.

October 2020: Lawrence said she "would take a look at" legalizing recreational marijuana. 

"You're walking a tightrope here," she said. "It is technically a drug, but it's not as bad as some of the other stuff we have out there. So I think that if we just legalize it — and I really hate that tax bit. That's not important to me that you can put taxes on it. But I do think that we should legalize it."

Supported legalization of marijuana in 2018 candidate interview.