Supervisor Race Has Only Write-In Candidates

There are seven candidates for District 18 on the Milwaukee County Board, but none of their names will appear on the ballot.

All seven candidates, including the incumbent, are running write-in campaigns for District 18. They include, incumbent Sup. Russell Antonio Goodwin, Sr., Byron Marshall, Teneen Rucker, Bruce Winter, George Lor, Carl Munson and former Sup. Deanna Alexander.

The incumbent, Goodwin, Sr., failed to get enough signatures to have his name appear on the ballot, and is instead running a write-in campaign. He told Urban Milwaukee the pandemic made it difficult to collect signatures in person and that on more than one occasion he would spend the entire day knocking doors and not gather a single signature. “It was heartbreaking,” he said. But despite the setback with signatures, he said he was “embracing the challenge.”

Byron Marshall felt so strongly about running for the Milwaukee County Board in District 18 that he moved to do it. He originally filed to run for the county board before the decennial redistricting process finished and reshaped the boundaries of District 18, putting him just a few blocks outside it. But Marshall really wanted to run against the incumbent in District 18, and he recently told Urban Milwaukee, “I’m back in the district now,” and is running a write-in campaign.

Teneen Rucker, a former Milwaukee Public Schools teacher and Milwaukee County Transit System bus driver, currently is a neighborhood safety coordinator with Safe & Sound, a non-profit that works on building connections between youth and community members and law enforcement.

Bruce Winter is currently an employee of the Milwaukee County Highway Department. He ran for the fifth aldermanic district of the Milwaukee Common Council in 2020.

Normally, a write-in candidacy would be a major disadvantage for first-time candidates challenging an incumbent, as they would be fighting the incumbent’s name recognition and need a dedicated base of voters who go to the polls ready to write their name down. But all bets may be off when the entire field is write-in candidates.

Marshall told Urban Milwaukee, “I’m running for better efficiency, transparency, policies and overall representation for each and every resident of Milwaukee County’s District 18.” He said public safety is a major issue for his campaign, saying he wants to “make sure Milwaukee County residents feel safe in their communities.” Specifically, Marshall said he wants to work on ways to address the opioid epidemic and help people struggling with mental health crises. He also said the county needs to secure a long-term funding source for both the parks and transit systems.

Marshall has professional experience with the county board, having interned with the board in the past. He has also served on the city’s Safety and Civic Commission, the City-County Carjacking and Reckless Driving Task Force and the city’s Black Male Achievement Advisory Council.

Rucker said she is running for the board because she is deeply dismayed with the state of public services, like education and transit, in the county, but said, “I can’t continue to complain, if I don’t want to take the time to be a part of the solution.” She said the transit system would be a focus for her as a supervisor, noting the system’s problems aren’t simply financial. As a driver, she said, transit policy can have a big impact on passengers and workers alike. She pointed to transit security, saying, “As a transit driver, safety was not an issue, it’s not a concern for the county.” Rucker also said she is interested in digging into the county’s mental health efforts, “We say every day that all the things are happening because of mental health, but what are we doing to make the difference?”

A top issue for Sup. Goodwin, the incumbent, and a minister at the Movement Center Church, is public safety. His campaign website notes that he has voted against “efforts and attempts to defund the Sheriff’s Department.” It also states, “In the future Rev., Dr. Goodwin would like to see the expansion of the CART team to combat mental illness in our community through medical awareness rather than the focus of law enforcement.” Goodwin also supports generating more revenue for the parks system, without increasing or adding new fees for park services.

Winter is the latest candidate to announce a write-in campaign. In a press release, he said the county highway department needs to hire additional workers, and the parks system should charge fees for parking to help pay for repairs. “I’m not for raising property [taxes],” he said.

Former Sup. Deanna Alexander represented District 18 from 2012 to 2020. In a recent Facebook post about her write-in candidacy she wrote, “I served 8 years on the county board in the past and decided to step up when no one registered to run. I am willing to serve again if the voters would like me to. I know what it takes to get the job done for our residents!” Alexander is the administrator for the Village of Newberg, which straddles the border between Ozaukee and Washington Counties. On her campaign website, she lists her campaign issues as stopping property tax and other fee increases, supporting the county Sheriff, preserving parks and addressing concerns of county employees.

Carl Munson, a retired MPS teacher and administrator, is also running as a write-in candidate. His campaign website states Munson would like to see the county funding more after school and mentorship programs for kids, and more food programs for seniors. He also thinks county departments’ annual budget should not be based on past budgets, rather departments should justify budget line items each year.

George Lor, a chiropractor and owner of Lor Chiropractic, is also running a write-in campaign. Lor, who is Hmong, told Urban Milwaukee the district has a large Hmong population. “I decided it’s the right opportunity to step in and see if I can represent my community,” he said. As supervisor, Lor said he would work to adequately fund the parks and transit systems and the county-run senior centers. As flooding becomes more of an issue in the area, Lor said the county should work on projects that mitigate this wherever possible.

The District 18 race is shaping up to be the most unique one on the ballot this spring, with no names, and seven write-in candidates, one of whom moved to a new home just so he could enter the race.

Correction: An earlier version of this story stated there were four write-in candidates running for District 18. There are seven write-in candidates.