Ethan Reed (Eau Claire Common Council At-large, Wisconsin, candidate 2025)
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Ethan Reed ran for election to the Eau Claire Common Council At-large in Wisconsin. Reed was on the ballot in the general election on April 1, 2025.
Reed completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2025. Click here to read the survey answers.
[1]Biography
Ethan Reed provided the following biographical information via Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey on March 31, 2025:
- High school: Pulaski High School
- Bachelor's: University of Wisconsin- Stout, 2021
- Profession: Community Organizer
- Incumbent officeholder: No
- Campaign slogan: Built for People, Powered by Community
- Campaign website
- Campaign endorsements
- Campaign Facebook
- Campaign Instagram
- Campaign YouTube video
Elections
General election
General election for Eau Claire Common Council At-large (5 seats)
The following candidates ran in the general election for Eau Claire Common Council At-large on April 1, 2025.
Candidate | ||
| Charlie Johnson (Nonpartisan) | ||
| Larry O. Mboga (Nonpartisan) | ||
| Joshua Miller (Nonpartisan) | ||
| Nate Otto (Nonpartisan) | ||
| Mary Catherine Partlow (Nonpartisan) | ||
 | Ethan Reed (Nonpartisan)  | |
| Philip Swanhorst (Nonpartisan) | ||
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| = 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. | ||||
Election results
Endorsements
Reed received the following endorsements. To view a full list of Reed's endorsements as published by their campaign, click here.
Campaign themes
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Ethan Reed completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2025. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Reed's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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I’m Ethan Reed—a community organizer and longtime IT worker who’s had enough of the status quo. I live in Eau Claire because I believe in its people and potential. I organize to fight for better wages, stronger communities, and a local government that actually works for us. I’m a proud union member, but my day-to-day focus is building power for everyday people—amplifying voices that too often get ignored. I’m running for Eau Claire City Council because I’m tired of watching real problems get brushed aside while the same people stay in charge. It’s time for leadership that listens, acts, and delivers—not just more talk. I want a city that puts people before profit, prioritizes safe streets, affordable housing, and a strong local economy where everyone can thrive. This campaign isn’t about politics as usual. It’s about taking action and getting things done.
- Everyone deserves a safe, stable place to live—no exceptions. I’ll push for smart zoning, expanded housing options, and stronger tenant protections to keep people in their homes. We need to make it easier to build affordable units, support mixed-use neighborhoods, and ensure that working families, students, and seniors aren’t priced out of Eau Claire. Housing is a basic need, not a luxury.
- Our streets should be safe whether you’re driving, biking, or walking. I’ll fight for better road design, accessible sidewalks, and traffic calming in neighborhoods that have been ignored for too long. That means fixing the basics—potholes, lighting, crossings—and designing with safety in mind, not just speed.
- Small businesses and local workers are the backbone of Eau Claire. I’ll advocate for policies that help local entrepreneurs grow, keep money in our community, and support jobs you can actually live on. We need to make it easier to start a business, harder for big corporations to undercut locals, and ensure city projects support local labor.
I’m passionate about building communities people actually want to live in. That means protecting clean water, preserving what makes Eau Claire unique—like our bridges and riverfront—and supporting mixed-use development that blends homes, shops, and public spaces. I care about walkable, bikeable neighborhoods with safe paths and access to local businesses, like coffee shops and corner stores. Good policy isn’t just about numbers—it’s about creating places that feel like home.
It’s the level of government closest to the people. City council decisions hit faster and harder than anything from Madison or D.C.—zoning, roads, housing, public safety. You’re not setting abstract policy; you’re deciding what gets built, what gets fixed, and who gets heard. That makes it powerful—and a hell of a lot more important than most people realize.
I look up to people who organize quietly and fight like hell—people who don’t wait for permission to make change. Folks like Angela Davis, whose work bridges theory and action, and local leaders who grind every day without a spotlight. I don’t care about titles—I care about people who show up, stay rooted in their values, and get results. That’s the example I try to follow.
Freedom Is a Constant Struggle by Angela Davis. It connects the dots between local issues and global movements, and it makes it clear that real change takes organizing, persistence, and a refusal to settle for the way things are. If you want to understand how I approach politics—bottom-up, justice-focused, unapologetically people-first—start there.
Accountability, transparency, and actually giving a damn. An elected official should listen more than they talk, follow through on what they promise, and stay rooted in the community—not in backroom politics. They should be honest, accessible, and willing to make tough calls based on what’s right, not what’s easy or popular. If you’re not here to serve people, get out of the way.
I listen, I follow through, and I don’t back down when things get tough. I’ve organized communities, navigated bureaucracy, and pushed institutions to do better. I know how to cut through noise, stay focused, and get things done without wasting time or words. I’m not here to play politics—I’m here to make it work for people.
Show up, listen, make decisions that actually help people. City council isn’t about grandstanding—it’s about budgets, ordinances, and services that shape daily life. Your job is to represent your district, push for smart policy, and hold the city accountable. That means answering emails, attending meetings, and not vanishing once the campaign’s over. Basic stuff. Just do the work.
Yeah—land use and development. Most people don’t realize the city council decides what gets built where, which directly affects housing costs, traffic, small business survival, and even climate impact. You want more affordable homes, safer streets, or fewer chain stores taking over? That starts at the council table. It's not flashy, but it’s where the real stuff happens.
It can help—but it’s not everything. Experience is useless if you’re out of touch or just playing the game. What matters more is knowing how to listen, organize, and get things done. I’ve worked alongside government, pushed it to do better, and helped people navigate it from the outside. That kind of experience matters just as much, if not more.
Common sense, the ability to listen without ego, and the guts to make decisions. You need to understand budgets, zoning, and policy—but more importantly, you need to know how to cut through BS, ask the right questions, and stay grounded in what residents actually need. Bonus points if you can read a spreadsheet without crying.
It’s where big decisions meet real life. The city council controls zoning, budgets, infrastructure—stuff that shapes your neighborhood, not five years from now, but tomorrow. It’s the frontline of local government, where residents can actually show up, speak out, and be heard. No middlemen, no layers. Just direct impact. That’s what makes it powerful—and why it matters who’s in the seat.
State Rep. Jodi Emerson
City Councilors Kate Felton & Aaron Brewster
Wisconsin State AFL-CIO
Wisconsin College Dems Chair Matt Lehner
Run for Something
Simple: if you're spending public money, the public deserves to know where it’s going. No excuses, no hiding behind jargon. I support clear budgets, open meetings, and systems that make it easy for residents to track decisions and hold officials accountable. Trust in government starts with telling the truth and doing your damn job in public.
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.
See also
2025 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ [Email with Wisconsin Secretary of State Election office, "Candidate list," March 12, 2025]
