City treasurer election in Milwaukee, Wisconsin (2020)

From Ballotpedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Ballotpedia Election Coverage Badge-smaller use.png

U.S. House • Congressional special elections • State Senate • State Assembly • Supreme court • Appellate courts • Local judges • State ballot measures • Local ballot measures • School boards • Municipal • Recalls • How to run for office
Flag of Wisconsin.png


Official Seal of the City of Milwaukee.png
Milwaukee elections, 2020

Mayor

City treasurer

Other races
City attorney, city comptroller, and all 15 common council seats

General election: April 7, 2020
Last election: 2019
Next election: 2021

Incumbent City Treasurer Spencer Coggs defeated Brandon Methu in the general election for city treasurer of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on April 7, 2020. According to results released April 13, Coggs received 66.8% of the vote to Methu's 32.9%.[1]

Coggs had held elected office since 1982, while this was Methu's first run for office.

Coggs was first elected city treasurer in 2012, receiving 50.3% of the vote to Tim Carpenter's 49.3%. Coggs was re-elected in 2016 with 72% of the vote.[2] He was a Democratic member of the Wisconsin State Senate representing District 6 from 2003 to 2013. He also served in the Wisconsin State Assembly from 1982 to 2002.[3]

Methu founded OpportunityCrowd, a real estate investment platform. As of his 2020 campaign, he was a real estate investor for a commercial real estate firm in Milwaukee, and he served as a member of Milwaukee's Board of Review since 2018. The board is appointed by the mayor and is responsible for correcting property assessment errors.[4][5][6]

Click on candidate names below to view statements about their experience and their goals in office.


Coggs

Methu


Milwaukee also held general elections for mayor, city attorney, city comptroller, and all 15 common council members on April 7, 2020.

Click here for coverage of other city elections in Milwaukee.


Candidates and election results

General election

General election for Milwaukee City Treasurer

Incumbent Spencer Coggs defeated Brandon Methu in the general election for Milwaukee City Treasurer on April 7, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Spencer Coggs
Spencer Coggs (Nonpartisan)
 
66.8
 
55,722
Image of Brandon Methu
Brandon Methu (Nonpartisan) Candidate Connection
 
32.9
 
27,450
 Other/Write-in votes
 
0.3
 
248

Total votes: 83,420
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Election changes in response to coronavirus

See also: Changes to Wisconsin's spring elections in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, 2020

On April 6, 2020, the Wisconsin state supreme court voted 4-2 to enjoin an executive order issued earlier in the day by Governor Tony Evers (D) postponing in-person voting in the spring election, scheduled for April 7, 2020, to June 9, 2020. As a result, in-person voting took place as scheduled on April 7, 2020. Also on April 6, 2020, the Supreme Court of the United States voted 5-4 to stay a district court order that had extended the absentee voting deadline. As a result, the absentee ballot postmark and return deadlines were reinstated to April 7, 2020.[7] Click here for more.

What does the city treasurer do?

The City of Milwaukee website describes the city treasurer as the "chief revenue collection and investment officer." It lists the following as the treasurer's primary responsibilities:[8]

  • Receiving and accounting for all monies paid to the City.
  • Making disbursements that have been vouchered for payment by the City Comptroller.
  • Managing and investing City funds not needed to meet current expenditures.
  • Collecting all property taxes levied by the respective taxing jurisdictions within the City of Milwaukee.
  • Collecting the delinquent property taxes of all taxing jurisdictions within the City of Milwaukee.
  • Settling property tax levy collections on a pro-rata basis with the other taxing jurisdictions within the City of Milwaukee and remitting to each their share of the monies collected.[9]

Why they ran

Candidates' statements on their experience and goals are presented below.

Coggs

See also: Coggs' 2020 campaign website

Campaign mailer

A mailer from Coggs' campaign stated the following as accomplishments of his time in the treasurer's office:[10]

  • Stabilized Milwaukee neighborhoods by dealing with abandoned houses
  • Ended long lines with new payment options
  • Modernized the Treasurer's office to protect our system's integrity[9]

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel quoted Coggs as stating the following:[4]

I came in and wanted to make sure that not many people were getting foreclosed on and with the changes that we made, we’ve done that. ... The foreclosure rate has gone down and the redemption rate has gone up. In 2015, only 38% of people who were being foreclosed on were able to save their homes. Now, last year in 2019, it’s up to 58%. We’re making progress.[9]

There are a number of neighborhoods that I would love to be more stable, but they have abandoned or vacant homes and sometimes it’s a blight on the neighborhood. ... [The city council and treasurer's office] should be working more closely together because they get a number of calls from people and then they call us. It would be great to have a coordinated effort from the beginning.[9]

We have relationship with a group called Take Root Milwaukee and they talk to people about the problems they have paying their property taxes. ... One of my pledges for the upcoming term is to work more closely with Take Root Milwaukee so that we can get ahead of the curve.[9]

Methu

See also: Methu's 2020 campaign website

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Candidate Connection

Brandon Methu completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Methu's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

Prior to founding Northernstar Companies, Brandon was the lead analyst of a Milwaukee-based commercial real estate company where he led structuring and negotiation of acquisitions, RFP submissions, and pre-development activities.

Previously, Brandon managed the financial analysis, project planning, and preliminary due diligence of more than $150 Million of world-class affordable real estate projects as the Project Coordinator of a regional housing developer and Investment Analyst with the Federal Home Loan Bank. He is a graduate of the Associates in Commercial Real Estate program (MSOE & Marquette University).

Brandon holds a B.A. in Economics from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. He sits on the City of Milwaukee's Board of Review.

As an advocate for lower taxes, fairer assessments, and better transparency, I was called to run for City treasurer during my time as a member of the Board of Review. As a member of the board, I learned that Milwaukee was evicting longtime residents from their community under the guise of increasing assessments. However, unlike evictions from a rental unit, there are very few legal resources available to homeowners faced with this burden. I decided to get behind the "curtain" to work with Common Council and the Assessor's office as City Treasurer arming citizens with the information they need to ensure fair and accurate property assessments.

As the City's chief investment officer, I will propose an investment policy that is centered on meaningful capital infusion into Milwaukee's crumbling infrastructure. Our roads, sidewalks, and bike lanes will be given the attention they desperately need. The new investment policy will focus on local outcomes and position our taxpayer resources to improve Milwaukee's quality of life.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel quoted Methu as stating the following:[4]

During my time reviewing these startling cases [on the Board of Review], I learned that Milwaukee was evicting longtime residents from their community under the guise of increasing assessments. ... However, unlike evictions from a rental unit, there are very few legal resources available to homeowners faced with this burden.[9]

“Government and also my time in real estate, women just don’t get a fair shake. ... They’re mistreated, especially in government positions. As someone who values women as well as minorities, I want to make it clear that if elected I would create a workplace that allows them to thrive which I don’t think they’ve experienced up to this point in the city of Milwaukee and really the city treasurer’s office as well.[9]

Candidate survey

Candidate Connection Logo - stacked.png

Ballotpedia invites candidates to participate in its annual survey.
Click here to fill out the survey.

Additional elections on the ballot

See also: Wisconsin elections, 2020

What's on your ballot?
Click here to find out using My Vote


About the city

See also: Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Milwaukee is a city located in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin. As of 2020, its population was 577,222.

City government

See also: Mayor-council government

The city of Milwaukee uses a strong mayor and city council system. In this form of municipal government, the city council serves as the city's primary legislative body and the mayor serves as the city's chief executive.

Demographics

The following table displays demographic data provided by the United States Census Bureau.

Demographic Data for Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Milwaukee Wisconsin
Population 577,222 5,893,718
Land area (sq mi) 96 54,166
Race and ethnicity**
White 42% 84.3%
Black/African American 38.8% 6.3%
Asian 4.6% 2.8%
Native American 0.5% 0.8%
Pacific Islander 0% 0%
Other (single race) 8.4% 2.3%
Multiple 5.6% 3.4%
Hispanic/Latino 19.4% 7%
Education
High school graduation rate 84.4% 92.6%
College graduation rate 24.6% 30.8%
Income
Median household income $43,125 $63,293
Persons below poverty level 24.6% 11%
Source: population provided by U.S. Census Bureau, "Decennial Census" (2020). Other figures provided by U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2015-2020).
**Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.


Pivot Counties

See also: Pivot Counties by state

Twenty-three of 72 Wisconsin counties—32 percent—are Pivot Counties. Pivot Counties are counties that voted for Barack Obama (D) in 2008 and 2012 and for Donald Trump (R) in 2016. Altogether, the nation had 206 Pivot Counties, with most being concentrated in upper midwestern and northeastern states.

Counties won by Trump in 2016 and Obama in 2012 and 2008
County Trump margin of victory in 2016 Obama margin of victory in 2012 Obama margin of victory in 2008
Adams County, Wisconsin 21.92% 8.73% 18.35%
Buffalo County, Wisconsin 21.82% 2.93% 14.66%
Columbia County, Wisconsin 2.14% 13.58% 15.26%
Crawford County, Wisconsin 5.40% 19.98% 27.03%
Door County, Wisconsin 3.22% 6.99% 17.33%
Dunn County, Wisconsin 11.09% 4.97% 14.95%
Forest County, Wisconsin 26.58% 5.44% 15.16%
Grant County, Wisconsin 9.43% 13.77% 23.88%
Jackson County, Wisconsin 11.74% 15.01% 21.84%
Juneau County, Wisconsin 26.05% 7.03% 9.00%
Kenosha County, Wisconsin 0.31% 12.23% 18.06%
Lafayette County, Wisconsin 8.99% 15.37% 22.32%
Lincoln County, Wisconsin 20.60% 0.71% 12.48%
Marquette County, Wisconsin 24.09% 0.27% 5.28%
Pepin County, Wisconsin 23.08% 2.22% 12.89%
Price County, Wisconsin 25.00% 0.04% 13.40%
Racine County, Wisconsin 4.28% 3.54% 7.41%
Richland County, Wisconsin 5.50% 16.13% 20.63%
Sauk County, Wisconsin 0.35% 18.47% 23.04%
Sawyer County, Wisconsin 18.41% 0.49% 6.23%
Trempealeau County, Wisconsin 12.64% 14.08% 26.39%
Vernon County, Wisconsin 4.43% 14.73% 22.00%
Winnebago County, Wisconsin 7.34% 3.73% 11.66%

In the 2016 presidential election, Donald Trump (R) won Wisconsin with 47.2 percent of the vote. Hillary Clinton (D) received 46.5 percent. In presidential elections between 1900 and 2016, Wisconsin cast votes for the winning presidential candidate 76.7 percent of the time. In that same time frame, Wisconsin supported Republicans slightly more than Democratic candidates, 50.0 to 46.7 percent. The state, however, favored Democrats in every presidential election from 2000 to 2012 before voting for Trump in 2016.

Presidential results by legislative district

The following table details results of the 2012 and 2016 presidential elections by state Assembly districts in Wisconsin. Click [show] to expand the table. The "Obama," "Romney," "Clinton," and "Trump" columns describe the percent of the vote each presidential candidate received in the district. The "2012 Margin" and "2016 Margin" columns describe the margin of victory between the two presidential candidates in those years. The "Party Control" column notes which party held that seat heading into the 2018 general election. Data on the results of the 2012 and 2016 presidential elections broken down by state legislative districts was compiled by Daily Kos.[11][12]

In 2012, Barack Obama (D) won 43 out of 99 state Assembly districts in Wisconsin with an average margin of victory of 34.1 points. In 2016, Hillary Clinton (D) won 36 out of 99 state Assembly districts in Wisconsin with an average margin of victory of 34.6 points. Clinton won three districts controlled by Republicans heading into the 2018 elections.
In 2012, Mitt Romney (R) won 56 out of 99 state Assembly districts in Wisconsin with an average margin of victory of 12.1 points. In 2016, Donald Trump (R) won 63 out of 99 state Assembly districts in Wisconsin with an average margin of victory of 19.4 points. Trump won two districts controlled by Democrats heading into the 2018 elections.


See also

Milwaukee, Wisconsin Wisconsin Municipal government Other local coverage
Official Seal of the City of Milwaukee.png
Seal of Wisconsin.png
Municipal Government Final.png
Local Politics Image.jpg


External links

Footnotes