Mayor, Democrats Gather To Talk About Winning

Mayor Cavalier Johnson (center) talks with Democratic leaders. Photo by Jeramey Jannene.

Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson gathered Democratic leaders Monday morning for a conversation that was less about the next election than what the party should do with its growing political strength.

The discussion, hosted by Johnson and Majority Democrats, a national political action committee, focused on the future of the Democratic Party in Wisconsin, from building a year-round presence with voters to developing a clearer policy agenda if Democrats can win control of the state Legislature.

The conversation included state party chair Devin Remiker, state Rep. Deb Andraca, Assembly candidate Ismael Luna and Democratic strategist Melissa Baldauff, and was held at Blue Bat Kitchen & Tequilaria.

A recurring theme was that Democrats cannot limit their organizing to the months immediately before an election.

Baldauff said the party needs to remain engaged with voters between campaigns, particularly with constituencies Democrats rely on at election time.

“We can’t just show up every four years, or every two years,” she said. The party, said Baldauff, must also seek not just to define itself by opposition to Republican extremism.

Andraca, a North Shore legislator who previously flipped a historically Republican-leaning district, said Wisconsin’s new legislative maps have created opportunities for Democrats to compete in places where the party had previously been largely absent.

“My perspective in the Legislature, a longtime Democrat, I’ve been very interested in seeing, when we got our fair maps, that we now have Democrats in all parts of the state who are competing,” she said.

That, Andraca argued, gives Democrats an opportunity not simply to campaign in more communities, but to demonstrate what Democratic officeholders are doing.

She recalled attending meetings after she was first elected in places where residents said they had rarely encountered Democratic elected officials. Simply being present, she said, provides an opening to explain government decisions and connect them to issues residents are already raising. Residents and civic leaders, she said, were talking about the area’s ambulance service, and Andraca said she was able to connect the dots to things that Democratic politicians have done, like Gov. Tony Evers providing funding to keep the EMS system operational. “They’ve never heard that before,” she said.

Andraca said the same principle applies to campaigning door-to-door.

“You care, and you want to understand the issues better, because when you’re explaining things to constituents and you actually understand their perspective, that translates into policies that then work for people,” she said.

She recalled spending roughly 30 minutes at one voter’s door discussing special education.

“Just having someone who’s there listening and caring, and you can take that back to the state Legislature, or to the executive branch, or wherever you are — I think that’s where you start,” Andraca said.

Johnson similarly emphasized listening to voters and building an organization that remains engaged outside of election season. His comments came two weeks after Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley narrowly won the Democratic gubernatorial primary, a contest that exposed ideological and generational tensions within the party while also producing substantial Democratic turnout.

The Monday discussion suggested Democrats are already looking beyond individual campaigns and toward what the party would do if it gains greater governing power in Madison.

Andraca pointed to school funding, conservation programs and gun laws as examples of policies Democrats could pursue with likely support from Democratic and Republican voters.

She expressed particular frustration with the Legislature’s handling of firearms legislation, saying proposals such as red flag laws and expanded background checks have struggled even to receive public hearings under Republican control.

“We can’t have public hearings. We can’t discuss these issues. We can’t solve it,” Andraca said.

She said Democratic control of the Legislature would allow the party to advance measures it has promoted for years, including measures aimed at keeping guns away from dangerous individuals.

“Being able to have control of the Legislature will enable us to do that, and not just in Milwaukee, but every community across the state of Wisconsin,” she said.

The participants also repeatedly returned to the need for Democrats to offer voters a positive vision rather than define themselves primarily through opposition to Republicans.

Baldauff said the party should make a clearer case for what Democratic government would deliver, citing public education and other pocketbook issues.

Luna, who upset incumbent Democratic legislator Sylvia Ortiz-Velez, said it was important that Democrats maintain their focus on issues that directly affect people, which could be as simple as cutting grass. It’s something he said repeatedly came up when he did doors during his campaign. “We need to show that we are hungry, that we really want this,” he said.

Remiker said the party encouraged all of the candidates for governor to maintain a positive economic message focused on the state’s potential and how it was a state that was going to attract people. Johnson, who previously declared 2026 the Year of Housing, said that is part of why he is so focused on making sure new housing is built in the city.

The state party chair said it was important to convince voters that candidates cared about them. That includes meeting them where they are, whether at home or at a No Kings rally.

“Show up and listen,” said Andraca.

Johnson said it was important to show that Democrats aren’t taking voters for granted.

The mayor closed the discussion by suggesting that electoral success alone would create a new challenge: demonstrating to voters that the party could turn years of proposals and promises into tangible results.

After years spent largely trying to block Republican policies in Madison, Democrats are increasingly confronting a different question.

What happens if they actually get the votes to govern?

Majority Democrats is a national political organization seeking to accomplish this. It was launched in 2025, following Democrats’ losses in the 2024 election, with the goal of reshaping the party around candidates it says can win in competitive territory and deliver tangible results. The group, chaired by Massachusetts U.S. Rep. Jake Auchincloss and run by former Tesla executive and Obama administration official Rohan Patel, includes federal, state and local elected officials and has generally aligned itself with the party’s center-left wing. Johnson joined in March.

The organization describes its mission as developing a new generation of leaders, sustaining Democratic majorities and challenging party orthodoxy when necessary. Its political operation is heavily dependent on large donors: CBS News reported in April that more than 90% of its publicly disclosed fundraising since its launch could be traced to more than $7 million from hedge-fund investor Stephen Mandel and his wife, Sue, and about $1 million from investor Mark Heising.

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