Mayor Cavalier Johnson Still Wants His Meeting With VP About Elections
He's headed to DC Wednesday, poised to take the VP up on his prior offer.
Vice President JD Vance in Milwaukee on July 8. Mayor Cavalier Johnson conferring with election administrator Paulina Gutierrez in November 2024. Photos by Jeramey Jannene.
When Mayor Cavalier Johnson goes to Washington, D.C., Wednesday, he is still hoping Vice President JD Vance will be there to meet him.
After all, Vance invited him in July.
“He’s welcome to come to Washington, D.C. I’ll sit down with him. I don’t have time to meet with him today because we have to get back to Washington. I’m happy to meet with him,” Vance said during an appearance at the 128th Air Refueling Wing in Milwaukee on July 8. The White House confirmed Vance’s July 8 Milwaukee appearance.
Now, as promised in July, Johnson is headed to Washington.
Given the Trump administration’s continued focus on alleged election fraud, Johnson invited the vice president to tour Milwaukee’s election operations and meet with staff after Vance’s July trip to Milwaukee was announced. Vance declined Johnson’s invitation that day and accused the mayor of “protesting too much,” but U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin later accepted Johnson’s offer and toured the city’s central count facility.
Johnson, meanwhile, hasn’t forgotten about Vance’s counteroffer.
The mayor sent a second letter to the vice president on Sept. 11, this time giving Vance a specific date.
“I write to you as a follow-up on your offer to meet in Washington, D.C., to discuss Milwaukee’s elections,” Johnson wrote. “I look forward to sharing specific information that verifies the integrity and accuracy of balloting in my city.”
Johnson told Vance he would be in Washington on Sept. 23 and could make himself available at any point that day.
But two days before the trip, Johnson still didn’t have a meeting to announce.
“I sent letters to the vice president — two, as a matter of fact — hopeful that he takes up the opportunity to meet with me,” Johnson told reporters Monday morning. “He said that he would when I’m in Washington, and so I’ll make the effort. So let’s see if he shows up.”
Johnson’s trip isn’t being made solely in pursuit of Vance.
The mayor is traveling to Washington for the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce‘s 36th annual Milwaukee Night in Washington, D.C. The event is scheduled for Wednesday evening at Union Station.
Johnson said he also plans to meet with members of Wisconsin’s congressional delegation about city priorities.
“And then, yeah, I’m hoping that the vice president takes up the opportunity to meet with me,” Johnson said Monday. “Like he said that he would since he didn’t come in to see our election operations when he was in Milwaukee.”
The back-and-forth began before Vance’s July 8 visit, when Johnson sent the vice president an open letter inviting him to meet with Milwaukee election officials.
Johnson has been sharply critical of the Trump administration’s renewed scrutiny of Milwaukee’s handling of the 2020 election, including FBI interviews with Milwaukee Police Department officers connected to election operations. He has said the city has repeatedly demonstrated that its elections are properly administered and has challenged administration officials to produce evidence supporting allegations of fraud.
Vance, speaking in Milwaukee in July, said he was willing to meet with Johnson in Washington but questioned why the mayor was raising the issue so forcefully.
Johnson responded by asking what evidence the administration had of voter fraud in Milwaukee and why federal investigators were interviewing current and former election officials.
The mayor subsequently used Baldwin’s July 31 tour of the Milwaukee Election Commission‘s central count facility to renew his invitation to Vance and other officials. Baldwin toured the storage and preparation areas, discussed the city’s ballot-handling procedures with election officials and praised the operation’s organization and oversight.
Milwaukee’s election operations found themselves in a media spotlight on Aug. 11 during the partisan primary when results were delayed because the wrong files were downloaded. Election Commission Director Paulina Gutiérrez said the delay, while unfortunate, was an example of the system’s safeguards working.
Dating back to May, Congressman Tom Tiffany, the Republican gubernatorial candidate, has also ignored an open letter from the mayor offering a tour of the city’s election operations.
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