Milwaukee Election Review: Incumbents strong in primary
February 17, 2016
By Ballotpedia's Municipal government team
Milwaukee, Wis., held its primary election for mayor and city council on February 16, 2016. In the mayoral race and seven city council races, the candidates were whittled down to the two who will face each other in the general election on April 5. Incumbents ran in the mayoral race and five of the city council races. In all of these races, the incumbent easily came in first place.[1]
Mayor
Incumbent Mayor Tom Barrett came in first with a comfortable lead, receiving about 46 percent of the vote. Robert G. Donovan, a city councilman who is concurrently running for the mayoral spot and for re-election to his council seat in 2016, came in second with 32.5 percent of the vote. Joe Davis Sr. and James Methu trailed in third and fourth.[1]
| Mayor of Milwaukee, Primary Election, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Tom Barrett Incumbent |
46.14% | 30,239 |
| Robert G. Donovan |
32.44% | 21,261 |
| Joe Davis Sr. | 18.51% | 12,132 |
| James Methu | 2.68% | 1,755 |
| Write-in votes | 0.22% | 147 |
| Total Votes | 65,534 | |
| Source: City of Milwaukee, "2016 Spring Primary Final Results," February 19, 2016 | ||
City council
Incumbents of the council also fared well across the board. All of the incumbents—Nik Kovac, Robert Bauman, Milele A. Coggs, Robert G. Donovan and Robert W. Puente—took the top spots with ease. There were, however, some tight battles for the second slots. In District 4, Monique Kelly beat Andrew Shaw by 77 votes, and in District 9, Chantia Lewis topped Martin Mac Weddle by 65 votes.[1]
In the two open races, Districts 2 and 7, five candidates fought for the two general election spots. Incumbent Joe Davis Sr. did not run for re-election to District 2, instead vying for the mayorship. Chevy Johnson and Sherman Morton took first and second, respectively, in the primary for District 2. Both Johnson and Morton have experience in the city government. Johnson is a former staff assistant to Mayor Tom Barrett, and Morton worked as an aide for Councilman Joe Davis Sr.
Willie C. Wade of District 7 did not run for re-election this year, and five candidates hoped to fill his spot. This was the only race where the first- and second-place candidates were fairly close. Khalif Rainey received 31.6 percent of the votes, and Michael Bonds received 26.1 percent of the votes. David Crowley ended up in third, with 22.6 percent.[1]
| Milwaukee City Council District 2, Primary Election, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
| Chevy Johnson |
38.03% | 1,436 |
| Sherman Morton |
23.33% | 881 |
| Larresa Taylor | 15.36% | 580 |
| Keith Bailey | 11.84% | 447 |
| Tracey Dent | 11.04% | 417 |
| Write-in votes | 0.4% | 15 |
| Total Votes | 3,776 | |
| Source: City of Milwaukee, "2016 Spring Primary Final Results," February 19, 2016 | ||
| Milwaukee City Council District 3, Primary Election, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
| Nik Kovac Incumbent |
76.77% | 4,489 |
| Shannan Hayden |
16.69% | 976 |
| Ira Robins | 5.88% | 344 |
| Write-in votes | 0.65% | 38 |
| Total Votes | 5,847 | |
| Source: City of Milwaukee, "2016 Spring Primary Final Results," February 19, 2016 | ||
| Milwaukee City Council District 4, Primary Election, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
| Robert Bauman Incumbent |
57.93% | 1,614 |
| Monique Kelly |
22.18% | 618 |
| Andrew Shaw | 19.27% | 537 |
| Write-in votes | 0.61% | 17 |
| Total Votes | 2,786 | |
| Source: City of Milwaukee, "2016 Spring Primary Final Results," February 19, 2016 | ||
| Milwaukee City Council District 6, Primary Election, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
| Milele A. Coggs Incumbent |
67.79% | 2,479 |
| Tory Lowe |
17.34% | 634 |
| Ronny Thompson | 10.28% | 376 |
| Majungaray Watts | 3.77% | 138 |
| Write-in votes | 0.82% | 30 |
| Total Votes | 3,657 | |
| Source: City of Milwaukee, "2016 Spring Primary Final Results," February 19, 2016 | ||
| Milwaukee City Council District 7, Primary Election, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
| Khalif Rainey |
31.51% | 1,351 |
| Michael Bonds |
26.03% | 1,116 |
| David Crowley | 22.44% | 962 |
| Randy Jones | 14.30% | 613 |
| Vivian Redd-Fehr | 5.32% | 228 |
| Write-in votes | 0.4% | 17 |
| Total Votes | 4,287 | |
| Source: City of Milwaukee, "2016 Spring Primary Final Results," February 19, 2016 | ||
| Milwaukee City Council District 8, Primary Election, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
| Robert G. Donovan Incumbent |
62.81% | 1,098 |
| Justin Bielinski |
27.57% | 482 |
| Josh Zepnick | 9.10% | 159 |
| Write-in votes | 0.51% | 9 |
| Total Votes | 1,748 | |
| Source: City of Milwaukee, "2016 Spring Primary Final Results," February 19, 2016 | ||
| Milwaukee City Council District 9, Primary Election, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
| Robert W. Puente Incumbent |
42.57% | 1,831 |
| Chantia Lewis |
20.30% | 873 |
| Martin Mac Weddle | 18.74% | 806 |
| David D. King | 7.18% | 309 |
| Penny Sikora | 6.37% | 274 |
| Frank Emanuele Jr. | 4.53% | 195 |
| Write-in votes | 0.3% | 13 |
| Total Votes | 4,301 | |
| Source: City of Milwaukee, "2016 Spring Primary Final Results," February 19, 2016 | ||
See also
External links
Footnotes
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