Jack Eckblad Wins Bay View County Board Seat

Jack Eckblad. Photo courtesy of Jack for Milwaukee.

Jack Eckblad narrowly defeated Ron Jansen to replace Sup. Ryan Clancy in the Milwaukee County Board.

Unofficial results show Eckblad winning 54% of the vote in District 4 on the county board which covers the southeastern corner of the city of Milwaukee, including Bay View. Jansen carried 44.8% of the vote.

“This win has been made possible by a massive effort, spanning more than eight months, and including hundreds of volunteers and supporters,” Eckblad said in a statement. “We made a bet that District 4 was hungry for a positive, progressive message that directly focused on making Milwaukee the best place possible to live and raise a family.”

This was Eckblad’s first run for office, but he has worked on political campaigns and community organizing in the past. He is currently a senior account executive for Samsara, an AI-driven “Internet of Things” company.

Eckblad received campaign support from a number of former and current county supervisors including Chairwoman Marcelia Nicholson. He was endorsed by the local Democratic Party and Milwaukee Democrats like state representatives Evan Goyke and Christine Sinicki.

Jansen has worked on community organizing campaigns and is a local activist who regularly speaks at county board meetings. He is an ally of Clancy, who endorsed and campaigned for him. Jansen received endorsements from the Milwaukee Teachers Education Association (MTEA) and Voces de la Frontera.

Eckblad and Jansen, who is a socialist, both received endorsements from progressive political organizations in the city. Some organizations, like the Milwaukee Area Labor Council, issued a dual endorsement backing both candidates in the race.

Outgoing supervisor Clancy was first elected to the county board in 2020. After winning a seat in the Wisconsin Assembly in 2022 he opted not to seek re-election to the board.

County supervisors are elected to a two-year term. The part-time, non-partisan position pays $25,924 annually. The county board is the legislative arm of Milwaukee County government.