District 3 Aldermanic Candidate Narrowly Survives Nomination Challenge

(Left to right) Attorney Charlie Hoffmann and Bryant Junco. Photo by Graham Kilmer.

There are eight candidates running in the special election for Milwaukee Common Council District 3, but there were almost only seven.

Bryant Junco, one of the aldermanic candidates, narrowly managed to keep his name on the ballot for the February 18th District 3 primary. The Milwaukee Election Commission had decided it would not accept a handful of partial and sloppily written names and addresses on his nomination papers. Junco told the commission he collected most of the signatures at local bars and restaurants.

But during a meeting of commission on Monday night, Junco and his attorney Charlie Hoffmann of Cramer Multhauf LLP managed to successfully challenge the commission’s original ruling on a handful of signatures — offering photos of existing Milwaukee addresses and even a sworn declaration from one nominator.

Junco and his attorney managed to pull their challenge together after he was notified on Friday morning that he did not meet the threshold for ballot access.

If Junco’s name sounds familiar it’s likely because of news he made during Summer 2024 for driving around the East Side, watching for and alerting police to vehicle break-ins.

“It was me, over the summer, riding around making sure people’s cars weren’t being broken into,” Junco said. “Whether or not you had a Green Bay Packers bumper sticker or Chicago Bears bumper sticker, I was making sure vehicles weren’t being broken into.”

The special election was called following the death of Jonathan Brostoff on Nov. 4. Brostoff had held the seat since 2022. He previously served in the state Assembly and ran for the Common Council after the former alderman Nik Kovac joined Mayor Cavalier Johnson‘s administration as budget director.

District 3 runs approximately from E. Pleasant Street north to the city limits at E. Edgewood Avenue and from Lake Michigan west to N. Fratney Street. The district regularly has the highest turnout in city election. The top two vote-getters will advance to a general election on April 1.

The crowded primary field has drawn both first-time and perennial candidates. One candidate, Daniel Bauman, entered the race with the endorsement of both Mayor Johnson and Brostoff’s widow, Diana Vang Brostoff.

Council members are paid $84,205 annually.

District 3 Candidates

Josh Anderson

Daniel Bauman

Alex Brower

Franco Ferrante

Ieshuh Griffin

Bryant Junco

Alexander Kostal

Nasser Musa