Special Election Called For Brostoff’s Third District Seat

Ald. Jonathan Brostoff’s honorary desk. Photo by Jeramey Jannene.

East Side and Riverwest residents will have a choice in the spring to elect their next representative at Milwaukee City Hall.

Common Council President José G. Pérez called a special election Monday to fill the 3rd District aldermanic seat held by the late Jonathan Brostoff.

The nonpartisan election is to occur alongside the already-scheduled spring election on April 1. If three or more candidates register to run, a primary election would be held on Feb. 18 to narrow the field to two.

The district, generally speaking, stretches from E. Pleasant Street north to the city limits at E. Edgewood Avenue and from Lake Michigan west to N. Fratney Street. According to the 2021 redistricting process, 77.5% of the approximately 35,000 voting-age residents identify as white, with 7.6% identifying as Black, 6.5% as Hispanic and 4.9% as Asian.

The 3rd District traditionally has had the city’s highest voter turnout, a fact that held true in the 2024 presidential election.

Brostoff was first elected in a 2022 special election. The then-state representative was the only candidate in the race to replace longtime alderman Nik Kovac, who resigned to become Mayor Cavalier Johnson‘s budget director. Brostff died on Nov. 4.

But open races in the district often have many candidates. Kovac won an eight-way race in 2008 to serve as alderman, but never faced substantial challengers in the three subsequent elections.

Circulation of nomination papers can begin on Dec. 1 and all signatures (nomination papers) must be submitted by 5 p.m. on Jan. 7.

Council members are paid $84,205 annually.

The winner will hold the seat until Brostoff’s term expires in April 2028.