Candidate Forum Tonight

Whose Side are You On?

With all the hoopla surrounding the presidential sweepstakes, it’s easy to overlook the state and local races taking place this year. Adding to the confusion is Wisconsin’s odd tradition of holding so-called non-partisan elections in the Spring.

Sometime back in our state’s history, our ancestors decided that certain offices, like Mayor and County Executive, shouldn’t be tainted by the unseemliness of political party competition. As a result, Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, a proud Democrat, and County Executive Scott Walker, an equally outspoken Republican, will be on the non-partisan ballot April 1. Just as our founders intended, eh?

But wait, there’s more. If more than two candidates run for any of these non-partisan offices then a primary is held to whittle the field down. Which brings us to February 19, the date of Wisconsin’s primary.

Most political prognosticators are predicting that our primary will be too late to have any meaning in this year’s heavily frontloaded race for the Democratic and Republican nomination. The oddsmakers are convinced that that the choice of both parties will be determined by February 5th, when more than 20 states, including delegate rich New York and California, will have their say.

It’s looking more likely that at least two candidates from both parties will still be competitive when our primary comes along so brace yourselves for the quadrennial onslaught of the presidential wannabes and their national media entourages parading across the state sometime in the not too distant future.

But don’t forget some of those pesky local races will also be on the Feb. 19th primary ballot so it’s time to roll up your sleeves and figure out who you support.
For example, if you live in Milwaukee’s East Side or Riverwest neighborhood, currently represented on the Common Council by Michael D’Amato, who has chosen not to run for reelection, there’s a wide open race to replace him. And nothing stirs the juices of a political junkie more than the competitive ramifications of an open seat.

A candidate forum will be held 7 pm tonight, Jan. 16th at the Miramar Theater (Oakland and Locust) and another is scheduled for Tuesday, Jan. 29th at Gordon Park Pavilion (Humboldt and Locust).
The crowded field includes Sam McGovern-Rowen, a legislative aide to D’Amato who happens to be the grandson of George McGovern, the 1972 Democratic candidate for president. D’Amato could probably have cruised to reelection so McGovern-Rowen may be the presumptive favorite. But D’Amato has also drawn criticism for being too supportive of development so the activist district is unlikely to give McGovern-Rowen a bye.

Sura Faraj, a co-founder of the Riverwest Food co-op and 2007 chair of the Riverwest Neighborhood Association; Nik Kovac, a journalist and member of the RNA and Matt Nelson, a member of the Milwaukee Transit Riders Union and the Milwaukee Police Accountability Coalition are among the other candidates for the third district alderman seat.

So if you live in the Third District come to the one of the candidate forums and participate in this grand experiment we call democracy.