It’s Johnson vs. Donovan For Mayor

Milwaukee’s mayoral race is down to two: Acting Mayor Cavalier Johnson and former alderman Robert Donovan.

Johnson and Donovan finished a leg above the rest of the seven-member field Tuesday. Johnson earned 42% of the vote, Donovan 22%. The two will now square off in the April 5 general election. The winner will serve until April 2024.

Both candidates declared themselves winners at approximately 9 p.m., but an hour later neither Senator Lena Taylor (12.8%) nor Marina Dimitrijevic (12.2%) had conceded.

The 23,867 absentee ballots were reported at approximately 10:45 p.m., boosting Johnson’s total by five percentage points and dropping Donovan’s by a similar amount. Neither Taylor nor Dimitrijevic saw their totals change enough to close the gap.

A total of 61,634 votes were cast in the race according to unofficial results from the Milwaukee County Election Commission.

Cavalier Johnson

Johnson, 35, became acting mayor on Dec. 22 following the resignation of Tom Barrett. He was first elected to the Common Council in 2016 and became council president in 2020 after being reelected.

“Our campaign over the next 49 days is to take our city in a new direction,” said Johnson at a campaign event held at Potawatomi Hotel & Casino. “The top priority is to make our city safer… the fear in our hearts needs to end now.”

“I am not someone who has learned what Milwaukee’s are, I have lived these challenges,” said the acting mayor. “As we look ahead, we need to invest in all the things that make our city stronger, safer and more prosperous.”

Johnson would be the first elected Black mayor in the city’s history. But he needs to win the general election on April 5. The city’s other Black acting mayor, Marvin Pratt, won the 2004 primary narrowly, but lost to Barrett in the general election.

In a speech to supporters and media members, Johnson brought up the need for the city to see cuts to state shared revenue reversed or a new sales tax created, his vision of creating a city with one million residents and of growing the middle class, particularly in minority communities.

“It’s not racial equity or economic strength, it’s prosperity because we include everyone,” said Johnson.

Bob Donovan

Donovan, 65, was first elected to the council in 2000, but elected not to run for reelection in 2020.

He has previously run a citywide race, losing to Barrett 70-30 in the 2016 mayoral election.

“My comments tonight will be brief and to the point. I’m running for mayor of the city of Milwaukee for three major reasons: Safer streets, better schools and good jobs,” said Donovan at his campaign event at McKiernan’s Irish Pub, 2066 S. 37th St.

“It’s been reported, today in the media, that my opponent has spent close to half a million dollars in this primary election. He has outspent me 10 to one. He certainly has the support of the big money special interests,” said Donovan. “But my question to you, and my question to every citizen across Milwaukee: who’s going to elect the next mayor, money or the people?”

An advocate for rank-and-file police officers, Donovan has already earned the endorsement of a number of Republican politicians including gubernatorial candidate Kevin Nicholson and attorney general candidate Eric Toney. Former Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke is also supporting his campaign.

Donovan moved to Greenfield following his 2020 retirement, leasing his southside home to his son. But said he has now moved back. His voter history indicates he has always voted in Milwaukee, but he did not vote in 2021.

Johnson has widespread backing from past and present council members, as well as a handful of Democrats in the Wisconsin State Legislature. His event at Potawatomi was attended by a mix of business and civic leaders as well as city officials. Not present was former County Executive Chris Abele, who is using a third-party group to back Johnson’s campaign.

Taylor and Dimitrijevic each had between 12% and 13% of the vote. Sheriff Earnell Lucas had 9.5% of the vote. Neither Michael Sampson nor Ieshuh Griffin had more than 1% of the vote.

“While we didn’t manage to break that particular glass ceiling this time around, we did show Milwaukee, and all of its women and young girls, that a woman could run a campaign that could be taken seriously,” said Dimitrijevic in a statement.

The winner will serve the remainder of Barrett’s term that lasts until April 2024.

Full results are available in our election results article.

Graham Kilmer contributed to this report