In key GOP, Dem. primaries, money and endorsements stack up

 

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- A pair of legislative primary elections Tuesday will offer new clues about Republican and Democratic voters in Milwaukee and a crucial suburban pocket.

One contest will decide what type of progressivism plays best in a dark blue district while a race between two familiar names in Waukesha and Washington counties will test the value of former President Donald Trump's endorsement.

On Milwaukee's east side Monday afternoon, both Rep. Ryan Clancy (D-Milwaukee) and Jarrod Anderson knocked on doors, making a last-minute push to convince voters they're the right kind of Democrat.

Anderson is challenging Clancy, who's run afoul of Milwaukee's most prominent Democrats, including Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson, Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley and Wisconsin Elections Commission Chair Ann Jacobs. The previous holder of Clancy's seat, Jonathan Brostoff, who's now a Milwaukee alderman, campaigned with Anderson Monday.

Anderson said he would be more likely to help secure the votes necessary to pass Democratic priorities like expanding BadgerCare, protecting abortion rights and increasing public school funding because he would be able to work with lawmakers he doesn't always agree with.

"The difference is in approach. It is absolutely in approach, and we've said this from the start," Anderson said. "We need someone who wants to build coalitions. We need someone who the mayor believes in, the county believes in, and who the other colleagues in the Assembly will believe in."

Clancy said he's alienated powerful Democrats because he's been willing to stand by his principles. That included voting against the shared revenue agreement last year that allowed Milwaukee to have a city sales tax but included Republican-sought requirements like returning police to Milwaukee Public Schools buildings. 

"The mayor and the county executive are coming after me for Act 12 (the shared revenue law) and opposing the Republican National Convention," Clancy said Monday. "They are certainly to the right, I think, of this district, though."

The 19th Assembly district runs along Milwaukee's lakefront, covering the east side, Riverwest, downtown and Bay View neighborhoods. 

Clancy, one of two self-described socialists in the Legislature, has raised $62,792 according to campaign finance reports filed with the state.

He's endorsed by some of the state's most liberal lawmakers, including Sen. Chris Larson (D-Milwaukee) and Rep. Francesca Hong (D-Madison). Clancy has received donations from the American Federation of Teachers chapter that represents Milwaukee Area Technical College educators and Christine Neumann-Ortiz, executive director of immigrant advocacy group, Voces de la Frontera.

Anderson raised $71,040, and he received funding from the campaigns of both Johnson and Crowley. The Milwaukee Police Association also donated to Anderson. Clancy previously posted on social media that police work has "neither dignity or value."

The war in Gaza is also an issue in this primary. Clancy was one of the leaders of a push during the spring to have Wisconsin liberals vote "uninstructed" in the presidential primary as a form of protest against President Joe Biden's support of Israel. 

Anderson said Clancy's actions demonstrate he risks being less dialed in on legislative issues.

"If you wanna be a progressive, you gotta be able to make progress," Anderson said. "And to make progress, you gotta build coalition around policy."

Clancy said Gaza is an important issue to many voters in the district, and he said his stance does not affect his support of Vice President Kamala Harris in the general election, nor would it take away his focus from state issues.

"We can do both," he said. "We can talk about our tax dollars being used and thrown over to Israel, and we can talk about where our tax dollars should be used here at the state."

John Johnson, a research fellow at Marquette University, said a legislative primary like this provides a unique window into a district that typically votes 80% Democratic in general elections.

"If you just walk around those neighborhoods, you can see that there's a lot of people supporting each of those candidates," Johnson said. I think they've tapped into a genuine divide within the Democratic Party's supporters who live in that district, and we'll see which group is larger."

GOP primary to show value of Trump endorsement

In Milwaukee's northwest suburbs, another Assembly primary will give an updated view of how much sway Mr. Trump has with a crucial group of Waukesha and Washington counties' voters.

The 24th Assembly district includes Menomonee Falls, Germantown and Butler. People in the 24th are largely familiar with Rep. Janel Brandtjen (R-Menomonee Falls) and Sen. Dan Knodl (R-Germantown).

Knodl, who was drawn out of his Senate seat under the new maps adopted this year by the state Supreme Court, is challenging Brandtjen.

In a bit of an oddity, Knodl may actually have the incumbency advantage. According to an analysis Johnson did on the new maps, 54% of the 24th district voters were previously represented by Brandtjen. Knodl represented 100% of the district in the Senate.

"He may well have an even more familiar name than Brandtjen does to those voters," he said.

Knodl outraised Brandtjen by a substantial margin. He took in $71,403, and Knodl is also backed by Republican legislative leadership. He received donations from Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester), Majority Leader Tyler August (R-Walworth), and Rep. Mark Born (R-Beaver Dam), who co-chairs the budget-writing Joint Finance Committee.

GOP leaders had grown frustrated with Brandtjen's ongoing push for the Legislature to pursue conspiracy theories about the 2020 election.

While Brandtjen raised only $16,439, she earned Mr. Trump's endorsement. Johnson noted the district's supported Rebecca Kleefisch in the 2022 gubernatorial primary, even though Tim Michels was backed by Mr. Trump.

"We actually have a history in that district of, in the past, a Trump endorsement not being all that valuable among those Republican voters," Johnson said. "But maybe that changed now that Trump is the nominee and seems to have the universal support of his party behind him."

Knodl won't be confused with any moderates. During the current two-year legislative session, he co-sponsored a 14-week abortion ban bill and played a role in keeping a bill that would've allowed early processing of absentee ballots from coming up for a vote in the Senate. 

However, Brandtjen received a donation from the Pro-Life Wisconsin Victory Fund, and her push to relitigate the 2020 election got her public praise from Mr. Trump. In a stretch of suburbs that hasn't embraced Mr. Trump the way it has other Republicans, Johnson said this race, along with the 8th Congressional District primary in Green Bay, will demonstrate how much weight the former president's endorsement carries.

"I think if Brandtjen wins tomorrow, that will tell us that this area has really unified behind Trump's nomination," he said.