Tom Barrett (Wisconsin)

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Tom Barrett
Image of Tom Barrett

Nonpartisan

Prior offices
Wisconsin State Assembly District 14

Wisconsin State Senate District 5

U.S. House Wisconsin District 5

Mayor of Milwaukee
Successor: Cavalier Johnson

Education

High school

Marquette University High School

Bachelor's

University of Wisconsin, Madison, 1976

Law

University of Wisconsin, Madison, 1980

Personal
Profession
Attorney
Contact

Tom Barrett was the Mayor of Milwaukee in Wisconsin. Barrett assumed office on April 20, 2004. Barrett left office on December 22, 2021.

Barrett ran for re-election for Mayor of Milwaukee in Wisconsin. Barrett won in the general election on April 7, 2020.


Barrett was a Democratic candidate for Wisconsin governor in a recall election against incumbent Gov. Scott Walker on June 5, 2012. He also ran against Walker in the general election for governor on November 2, 2010.[1] He was defeated by Republican Scott Walker in both elections.

Barrett previously represented the 14th Assembly District in the Wisconsin State Assembly. He was elected to the Wisconsin State Senate in 1989 and then elected to represent Wisconsin's 5th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives in 1993.


Biography

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Tom Barrett was raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. His father, Thomas, had been a U.S. Air Force pilot who was deployed to Wisconsin for training during World War II. His mother, Gertrude, and his father met at the University of Wisconsin-Madison after she had lost her first husband in World War II.

Tom Barrett earned his undergraduate and law degrees at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and clerked for Judge Robert Warren of the Eastern District of Wisconsin federal court from 1980 to 1982. That year he ran unsuccessfully for the State House. In April of 1984, he won a special election for the 14th Assembly District.[2] Barrett was re-elected in November of 1984, 1986, and 1988. In December of 1989, Barrett ran for the 5th State Senate District in a special election and won.[2] Three years later, Congressman Jim Moody announced his retirement, and Barrett ran successfully for his empty seat in Wisconsin's 5th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Wisconsin lost a congressional seat in the 2000 Census, and Barrett declined to compete in a primary for the newly drawn 4th Congressional District in 2002. That year, he ran for governor but lost the Democratic primary to eventual Governor Jim Doyle. In 2004, he defeated incumbent Milwaukee Mayor Marvin Pratt and was re-elected as mayor in 2008, 2012, and 2016.

Barrett has lived in Milwaukee's Washington Heights neighborhood with his wife, Kris, and their four children.

Career

Elections

2020

See also: Mayoral election in Milwaukee, Wisconsin (2020)

General election

General election for Mayor of Milwaukee

Incumbent Tom Barrett defeated Lena Taylor in the general election for Mayor of Milwaukee on April 7, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Tom Barrett
Tom Barrett (Nonpartisan)
 
62.5
 
57,492
Image of Lena Taylor
Lena Taylor (Nonpartisan)
 
36.5
 
33,572
 Other/Write-in votes
 
0.9
 
852

Total votes: 91,916
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Nonpartisan primary election

Nonpartisan primary for Mayor of Milwaukee

Incumbent Tom Barrett and Lena Taylor defeated Tony Zielinski and Paul Rasky in the primary for Mayor of Milwaukee on February 18, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Tom Barrett
Tom Barrett (Nonpartisan)
 
50.0
 
33,151
Image of Lena Taylor
Lena Taylor (Nonpartisan)
 
30.7
 
20,347
Image of Tony Zielinski
Tony Zielinski (Nonpartisan)
 
15.7
 
10,385
Paul Rasky (Nonpartisan)
 
2.9
 
1,902
 Other/Write-in votes
 
0.8
 
509

Total votes: 66,294
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.

2016

See also: Municipal elections in Milwaukee, Wisconsin (2016)

The city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, held elections for mayor and city council on April 5, 2016. A primary election took place on February 16, 2016. All 15 city council seats were up for election. Incumbent Tom Barrett defeated Robert G. Donovan in the Mayor of Milwaukee general election.[3]

Mayor of Milwaukee, General Election, 2016
Candidate Vote % Votes
Green check mark transparent.png Tom Barrett Incumbent 70.01% 111,016
Robert G. Donovan 29.69% 47,082
Write-in votes 0.3% 475
Total Votes 158,573
Source: City of Milwaukee, "Spring Election Official Results," April 11, 2016


Mayor of Milwaukee, Primary Election, 2016
Candidate Vote % Votes
Green check mark transparent.png Tom Barrett Incumbent 46.14% 30,239
Green check mark transparent.png 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

Endorsements

Barrett received the following endorsements in 2016:

Tom Barrett has been an outstanding mayor for the city of Milwaukee, and his hard work has put his city on a path toward a stronger future. Tom has fought to strengthen neighborhoods by bringing people together to solve tough problems. He's been a leader in the battle to get illegal guns off the street.[6]
—President Barack Obama[5]

2012

See also: Scott Walker recall, Wisconsin (2012)

Barrett ran for Wisconsin Governor in the recall election against incumbent Gov. Scott Walker. He lost to Walker in the recall on June 5, 2012. Hariprasad "Hari" Trivedi came in third.

Recall of Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, 2012
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Republican Green check mark transparent.pngScott Walker Incumbent 53.1% 1,335,585
     Democratic Tom Barrett 46.3% 1,164,480
     Independent Hari Trivedi 0.6% 14,463
     Scattering - 0.1% 1,537
Total Votes 2,516,065
Election results via Wisconsin Government Accountability Board


Barrett easily won the primary on May 8[7] against Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk, State Sen. Kathleen Vinehout, Secretary of State Douglas La Follette and protest candidate Gladys Huber.[8][9]

Recall petitions were turned in on January 17, 2012 and certified on March 30, the same day Barrett officially declared he was running.[10]

Wisconsin Governor Recall - Democratic Primary, 2012
Candidate Vote % Votes
Green check mark transparent.pngTom Barrett 58.1% 390,191
Kathleen Falk 34.1% 229,236
Kathleen Vinehout 4% 26,967
Doug La Follette 2.9% 19,497
Gladys Huber 0.7% 4,847
Scattering 0.1% 864
Total Votes 671,602
Election results via Wisconsin Government Accountability Board.

Endorsements

  • Wisconsin Professional Police Association[11]
  • U.S. Sen. Herb Kohl[12]
  • Wisconsin League of Conservation Voters[13]
  • National Association of Police Organizations[14]

Campaign Finance

In 2014, Barrett's campaign fund was required to donate over $20,000 to charity as a result of taking too much money in donations from special interest groups during the recall election. The Government Accountability Board discovered that Barrett had gone over the $700,830 limit on donations from political action committees in 2012. Barrett had accepted $720,911. Patrick Guarasci, a political adviser for Barrett's campaign, said the error was made by accident and the overage of $20,081 was donated to "Earn & Learn," a program created by Barrett to provide summer jobs to Milwaukee teens.[15]

2010

See also: Wisconsin gubernatorial election, 2010 and Gubernatorial elections, 2010

Barrett lost to Scott Walker (R) in the general election on November 2, 2010.[16] James James (Common Sense) and Jim Langer (I) also ran.

Wisconsin Governor, 2010
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Republican Green check mark transparent.pngScott Walker 52.2% 1,128,941
     Democratic Tom Barrett 46.5% 1,004,303
     Independent Jim Langer 0.5% 10,608
     Libertarian No candidate 0.3% 6,790
     CS James James 0.4% 8,273
     Independent Leslie Ervin Smetak 0% 19
     Independent Patricia Messici 0% 22
     Independent Hari Trivedi 0% 18
     - Scattering 0.1% 1,858
Total Votes 2,160,832

Campaign themes

2020

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Tom Barrett did not complete Ballotpedia's 2020 Candidate Connection survey.

Noteworthy events

Events and activity following the death of George Floyd

See also: Events following the death of George Floyd and responses in select cities from May 29-31, 2020

Barrett was mayor of Milwaukee during the weekend of May 29-31, 2020, when events and activity took place in cities across the U.S. following the death of George Floyd. Events in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, began on Friday, May 29, 2020, outside the Wisconsin Black Historical Society.[17] On May 30, Mayor Tom Barrett (D) issued a curfew.[18] The same day, Gov. Tony Evers (D) activated and deployed the Wisconsin National Guard to the city at his own request.[19]

Decision to self-quarantine for coronavirus on March 19, 2020

See also: Government official, politician, and candidate deaths, diagnoses, and quarantines due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, 2020-2021

On March 19, 2020, Tom Barrett announced that he self-quarantined following an interaction with someone who tested positive for coronavirus.[26]

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See also


External links

Footnotes

  1. Associated Press/C-SPAN, "Campaign 2012 - Wisconsin Election Results," June 5, 2012
  2. 2.0 2.1 UW-Madison Digital Archives, "1991-1992 Wisconsin Blue Book," accessed April 22, 2014(See Page 31)
  3. City of Milwaukee, "2016 Spring Election Candidates," January 8, 2016
  4. FOX 6, "Race for mayor of Milwaukee: Big endorsements for incumbent Tom Barrett, challenger Bob Donovan," March 16, 2016
  5. 5.0 5.1 Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Obama issues endorsement of Mayor Tom Barrett for re-election," March 9, 2016
  6. Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
  7. WTAQ, "Recall elections officially ordered against Gov. Walker, 5 other GOP lawmakers," March 30, 2012
  8. Wisconsin State Journal, "GOP's fake Democrats for recall primaries named," April 5, 2012
  9. Chicago Tribune, "Walker, Barrett begin sprint to historic vote," May 9, 2012
  10. Bellingham Herald, "Milwaukee mayor throws hat in ring with upcoming recall election of governor," March 31, 2012
  11. Star Tribune, "Largest police union endorses Democrat Tom Barrett in Wisconsin governor recall," April 24, 2012 (dead link)
  12. FOX 11 Online, "Gov. candidates get big-name endorsements," April 30, 2012
  13. Examiner, "WLCV endorses Tom Barrett for Governor," May 16, 2012
  14. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Walker, Barrett pick up national endorsements," May 24, 2012
  15. Journal Sentinel, "Barrett campaign forfeited $20,000 for recall election violation," April 16, 2014
  16. Wisconsin Government Accountability Board, "G.A.B. Canvass Reporting System," December 8, 2010
  17. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "'We're here in solidarity': Protest in Milwaukee over George Floyd death in Minneapolis," May 29, 2020
  18. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "'We cannot operate like that': Curfew set in Milwaukee, National Guard on the way after MPD officer shot, 16 buildings looted overnight," May 30, 2020
  19. Wisconsin Department of Military Affairs, "Wisconsin National Guard troops mobilized in support of Milwaukee civil authorities," May 30, 2020
  20. Washington Post, "The death of George Floyd: What video and other records show about his final minutes," May 30, 2020
  21. The New York Times, "8 Minutes and 46 Seconds: How George Floyd Was Killed in Police Custody," May 31, 2020
  22. 22.0 22.1 USA Today, "Medical examiner and family-commissioned autopsy agree: George Floyd's death was a homicide," June 1, 2020
  23. Associated Press, "Chauvin guilty of murder and manslaughter in Floyd’s death," April 20, 2021
  24. CNN, "Protests across America after George Floyd's death," accessed June 2, 2020
  25. Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named chi1
  26. CBS 58, "Mayor Barrett self-quarantines after coming into contact with person testing positive for COVID-19," March 19, 2020

Political offices
Preceded by
-
Mayor of Milwaukee
2004-2021
Succeeded by
Cavalier Johnson
Preceded by
-
U.S. House Wisconsin District 5
1993-2003
Succeeded by
F. James Sensenbrenner (R)
Preceded by
-
Wisconsin State Senate District 5
1989-1993
Succeeded by
-
Preceded by
-
Wisconsin State Assembly District 14
1984-1989
Succeeded by
-