Will There Be a City Attorney Race?

Evan Goyke at a Sept. 26 event at Black Husky Brewing. Photo by Michael Horne.

A politician under criminal investigation announced last week that he would not seek re-election. That would be George Santos, the Republican congressman from New York, who delivered the news after the release of a damning 56-page House Ethics Committee report.

Will history repeat itself for another first-time office holder here?

Two weeks ago, Inspector General Ronda Kohlheim recommended criminal charges against Milwaukee City Attorney Tearman Spencer and a deputy for various abuses of their offices. Spencer has since been accused of interfering with building inspectors who sought a permit for a garage where Spencer stores numerous automobiles for free, adding to a list of questionable activities since he took office in April 2020.

Spencer’s term ends on April 16, two weeks after the Spring General Election on April 2. He has from Dec. 1 until 5 p.m. Jan. 2 to circulate and submit nomination papers containing between 1,500 and 3,000 valid signatures to the election commission. If more than two candidates submit sufficient signatures, a primary election would be held Feb. 20.

A Clear Field for Goyke?

Spencer has not said if he plans to run for re-election, dodging questions from Urban Milwaukee’s Jeramey Jannene and other reporters. And he did not respond to a request for comment for this article. “The only thing I am planning to do is have a good Thanksgiving,” he told Jannene in a brief interview.

So far, only one candidate has emerged — Milwaukee Democratic Rep. Evan Goyke, whose run was announced here on Dec. 4, 2022.

As of July, the Goyke campaign had $68,825 of cash on hand, and no debts. Spencer’s report for the first six months of 2023 showed a total of $2,806 in the campaign hopper. That was $20 more than his January report. The only donor, Bessie Smith, is reported as being “retired,” although she also serves as the Spencer campaign treasurer. Furthermore, the Spencer campaign owes the candidate the $100,000 he lent it in the past, presumably thinking then the money would be easily recouped by later fundraising.

The Spencer campaign seems moribund, and his most prominent early supporter Rep. Gwen Moore has since been silent, although she was the 2020 campaign’s second largest donor, after the candidate himself. There is no internet or social media presence, nor campaign e-mail addresses. Nor do any fundraising events appear to be scheduled.

Goyke, on the other hand, has been running a traditional campaign during what he calls “the first post-COVID election season, with endorsements, events and fundraisers,” at locations like Best Place, where Milwaukee state Sen. LaTonya Johnson is hosting a “Help Evan Get on the Ballot!” nomination paper party for him Dec. 18 from 5-7 p.m.

A “traditional” campaign also implies the existence of a rival candidate. At a Sept. 26 event at Black Husky Brewing, Goyke told the crowd of about 50 that he did not expect there to be a February primary for the office. “It’s the end of September. A serious candidate would have announced by now,” he said, adding, “I think Spencer will run. Just because we have an embattled city attorney does not mean he can’t win…. It will be a two-horse race.” [I asked Goyke in an e-mail if he still felt this way, but did not receive a response.]

Usually when there is only one candidate running for an office it is because he or she is the incumbent. This was the case for Grant Langley, Spencer’s predecessor who held the office from 1984 until his 2020 defeat. That fateful election was the first time he had faced an opponent since 2008.

There is a recent example of a non-incumbent being the sole candidate for an open office: Jonathan Brostoff, a former Representative to the Assembly himself, who was elected 3rd District alderman, replacing Nik Kovac in November 2022.