Elias Tsarovsky

Elias Tsarovsky ran for election to the Madison Common Council to represent District 4 in Wisconsin. He lost in the general election on April 1, 2025.

Tsarovsky completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2025. Click here to read the survey answers.

Elections

2025

General election

General election for Madison Common Council District 4

Incumbent Michael Verveer defeated Elias Tsarovsky in the general election for Madison Common Council District 4 on April 1, 2025.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Michael Verveer (Nonpartisan)	53.2	2,737
	Elias Tsarovsky (Nonpartisan)	45.7	2,348
	Other/Write-in votes	1.1	56

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 5,141
= 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.

Nonpartisan primary election

The primary election was canceled. Incumbent Michael Verveer and Elias Tsarovsky advanced from the primary for Madison Common Council District 4.

Endorsements

Tsarovsky received the following endorsements. To view a full list of Tsarovsky's endorsements as published by their campaign, click here.

Campaign themes

2025

Ballotpedia survey responses

Elias Tsarovsky completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2025. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Tsarovsky's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

As a community organizer in downtown Madison, I have worked tirelessly to build community, lower rent, improve safety in downtown Madison, and protect our environment. In my work and volunteering, I work on pressing public health issues: I currently work doing suicide prevention work at UW-Madison to educate the campus community on skills to support others and prevent suicide; and in the community, I serve in many coalitions, boards, and committees including in the Wisconsin Public Health Association, the Isthmus Safety Initiative in downtown Madison, the Suicide Prevention & Harm Reduction Coalition of Dane County, and the Board of Directors of Downtown Madison Inc. I received my degree in Biochemistry from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2021. In May 2025, I will finish my dual master’s program in Public Health and Public Affairs from the School of Medicine and Public Health at UW-Madison and the Robert M. La Follette School of Public Affairs. Through these diverse experiences, I've developed a strong foundation in community engagement, public health, and policy advocacy, equipping me with the necessary skills and knowledge to serve as an elected official and advocate for the needs of our community effectively.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

Housing security through affordability has been my main advocacy focus in the past 5 years. I have been a part of the fight to lower rent for neighbors downtown through the local development processes and by engaging neighbors in providing feedback directly to development teams. As the past President of the Campus Area Neighborhood Association and current President of Capitol Neighborhoods Inc., I successfully led the petitioning of our local elected officials and spoke at city meetings to demand we do better as a community to create better solutions to lower the cost of housing in our city. I have created multigenerational and multiracial coalitions to determine how local development projects and city zoning can better build our community.
I have centered my work on our environment by pushing local developers to build more environmentally friendly buildings, making developers think about stormwater management to keep our lakes from becoming polluted, and supporting neighbors in connecting with local community gardens to enhance the green space of downtown Madison. I will make sure our city’s transformational projects protect our environment and invest in sustainable development.
Safety has been at the center of my work for the residents of downtown Madison. As an undergraduate student at UW-Madison, I was the chair of PAVE (Promoting Awareness Victim Empowerment-UW), co-created coalitions, and advocated for increased resources to support survivors of sexual and intimate partner violence on campus. As a neighborhood association president, I have worked with the Isthmus Safety Initiative through Public Health Madison & Dane County to create community solutions to prevent sexual violence and support our housing-insecure neighbors by co-leading a community coalition to make resources safer to access in downtown Madison.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

Health in All Policies is the concept that every policy decision has a health impact, and I have dedicated my education to understanding this intersection. I will use my background in Public Health and Public Policy to consider the impacts of council decisions on the people of Madison. The top issues I want to elevate are access to safe, quality, low-cost housing and access to mental health support services in Madison. We can work with our neighbors, local community service providers, and business leaders to find sustainable solutions and address the root causes of these health issues.

Is there a book, essay, film, or something else you would recommend to someone who wants to understand your political philosophy?

I would highly recommend “Walking with the Wind: A Memoir of the Movement” by John Lewis and “Obereos Unidos: The Roots and Legacy of the Farmworkers Movement” by Jesús Salas. Both books discuss the importance of young organizers leaning into community power and challenging institutional power that is working against the people and teach important principles of multigenerational and multiracial movements. I integrate these lessons into how I organize as a community leader.

What is the first historical event that happened in your lifetime that you remember? How old were you at the time?

The first historical event that I remember was Obama being elected as president in 2008. At 9 years old, I remember watching Obama’s inauguration and my parents and friends being very hopeful for the future. As a young adult, I have dedicated my work to creating a progressive future where our youth feel safe and hopeful for their future. As a public health professional who has worked on suicide prevention, intimate partner violence prevention, mental health promotion, and reproductive justice, I will bring my understanding of how policies affect communities and their health to the Common Council.

What organizations or individuals have endorsed your campaign?

Our Wisconsin Revolution

Run For Something
Dane Dems (Democratic Party of Dane County)
TAA/AFT Local 3220 (Graduate worker union of UW-Madison) Executive Board
Madison Alder Juliana Bennett
Madison Alder Jael Currie
Fitchburg Mayor Julia Arata-Fratta
Fitchburg Alder Joe Maldonado

See full list at https://www.eli4madison.com/endorsements.

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.

External links

Search Google News for this topic

Candidate

Madison Common Council District 4

Personal

Footnotes

	v • e State of Wisconsin Madison (capital)
Elections	What's on my ballot? \| Elections in 2025 \| How to vote \| How to run for office \| Ballot measures
Government	Who represents me? \| U.S. President \| U.S. Congress \| Federal courts \| State executives \| State legislature \| State and local courts \| Counties \| Cities \| School districts \| Public policy

Elias Tsarovsky

Contents

Elections

2025

General election

General election for Madison Common Council District 4

Nonpartisan primary election

Endorsements

Campaign themes

2025

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also

External links

Footnotes

Information about voting

2025 Elections

2026 Elections

2024 Election analysis

Trending

Public Policy

Information for candidates

Get Engaged

Services

Additional analysis

SITE NAVIGATION