April Milwaukee council elections to feature household names, political newcomers

Alison Dirr, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

February 22, 2023 at 11:06 AM·4 min read

Top: Milwaukee Common Council District 1 candidates Andrea Pratt and David Bowen; Milwaukee Common Council District 5 candidate Lamont T. Westmoreland. Bottom: District 5 candidate Annette Jackson; District 9 candidates Odell Ball and Larresa Taylor

Milwaukee voters in three northwest side aldermanic districts on Tuesday narrowed the field of candidates from 20 to six ― two per race — for the April 4 general election.

The crowded field represented a mix of household names and political newcomers, and those who made it through to April are no different.

Here are the top vote-getters and the percentage of the vote each received, based on unofficial results:

District 1: Andrea Pratt with 34% of the vote and David Bowen with 33% of the vote
District 5: Lamont T. Westmoreland with 29% of the vote and Annette Jackson with 18% of the vote
District 9: Odell Ball with 24% of the vote and Larresa Taylor with 21% of the vote

Tuesday's election takes the 15-member council one step closer to returning to full strength. One-third of its seats turned over since Mayor Cavalier Johnson's election in April last year from his position as Common Council president. The absences left residents of those districts without council representation on issues large and small and put a greater strain on the remaining members.

At one point, the five seats were vacant at the same time. The District 2 seat Johnson had held on the city's north side and District 3 on the city's east side were filled in the November election.

District 1

Pratt and Bowen were the biggest names in the race.

Pratt is the daughter of Marvin Pratt, who was acting Milwaukee mayor and the first African American to serve in the position.

She has worked at the City of Milwaukee in the aldermanic office she's seeking and since March as an equal rights specialist for the city's Department of Administration Office of Equity and Inclusion. She has also worked in Milwaukee Public Schools.

Bowen is a former state representative who was elected to the Assembly in 2014 after serving on the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors. He did not seek reelection last year following his mother's death.

Other candidates in the race were Zandra Bailey, Marshall Martin and Vince G. Toney.

District 5

District 5 residents rejected better-known candidates.

Westmoreland said he founded, built and operated a residential and commercial color coating business after working as a small-business lender.

Jackson said has worked as a customer service representative at Milwaukee Water Works, an administrative assistant at the Common Council City Clerk's Office and as a license specialist in the clerk's Licenses Division, according to the city Department of Employee Relations.

Coming in third and fourth, respectively, were retired Milwaukee Assistant Police Chief Ray Banks and former longtime Milwaukee School Board member Jeff Spence. (Spence is simultaneously running in April's election for an at-large seat on the School Board.)

Other candidates were P. Thomas Thadison III, Bruce Winter and Joe Fisch.

District 9

Ball has worked in community development, technology, education, and drug and alcohol abuse prevention. His teaching experience includes Milwaukee Public Schools, he said in a previous statement.

He is the husband of Milwaukee County Sheriff Denita Ball.

Taylor described herself as a mother of three, military veteran, teacher and community advocate. She previously told the Journal Sentinel she has been a block watch captain for more than 20 years and is a Milwaukee Public Schools teacher.

Other candidates in the race were Amber Danyus, former Milwaukee County Supervisor Russell Antonio Goodwin Sr., Jasmine Tyler, Donna Ross, Walt Love and Cherie Ray.

Various reasons for council vacancies

The five council seats were vacated for a variety of reasons.

After his mayoral election win, Johnson appointed then-District 3 Ald. Nik Kovac to serve as his budget director and then-District 1 Ald. Ashanti Hamilton to lead the city's Office of Violence Prevention.

District 5 Ald. Nikiya Dodd stepped down at the end of November citing "serious family and medical issues." She now works as the development director at the Dr. Howard Fuller Collegiate Academy, a public charter high school in Milwaukee.

District 9 Ald. Chantia Lewis was removed from office in July after she was convicted in Milwaukee County court on two felonies related to her conduct in office.

The newly elected council members will serve the remainder of their predecessors' terms, which end in April 2024.

Our subscribers make this reporting possible. Please consider supporting local journalism by subscribing to the Journal Sentinel at jsonline.com/deal.

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee Common Council election results for spring primary 2023

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District 1

District 5

District 9

Various reasons for council vacancies

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