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Politics
Milwaukee has a mayor-council form of government with a strong-mayor plan. The
mayor oversees a Common Council of elected members, each representing one of 15
districts in the city. Milwaukee County residents also elect a county executive
who oversees the County Board of Supervisors, or representatives from 19
districts, nine of which are entirely within the city's borders.
Milwaukee has three state Senate districts, each of which is composed of three
Assembly districts. All of the officials representing the city in the Senate and
Assembly are Democrats.
Milwaukee makes up the overwhelming majority of Wisconsin's 4th congressional
district. Because of the district's loyalty to the Democratic Party, the
Democratic primary for the seat is often considered more important than the
general election.[citation needed] The seat is currently held by Gwen Moore,
Wisconsin's first African-American U.S. Representative. The city is also home to
long-time U.S. Senator Herb Kohl.
Beginning with the city's first major wave of German immigrants, the 48ers,
Milwaukee has traditionally supported liberal politicians and movements. It was
a Republican stronghold during the Civil War and, like most major cities,
experienced a period of massive corruption and machine-boss politics. This ended
in 1910 when the voters elected its first of three Socialist mayors.
Since 1960, Milwaukee has been a stronghold of the Democratic Party both locally
and nationally, but the city is largely divided between different factions of
Democrats. The 2004 mayoral race shed a spotlight on one such divide as over 90%
of the city's white voters opted for Tom Barrett, who is white, over black
incumbent Marvin Pratt. Several events marred the race in controversy. Such was
the case when a Milwaukee radio station had received a phone call originating
from a number at the Wisconsin Democratic Headquarters in Madison.[28] Many
Pratt supporters saw this as confirmation that the party was showing favoritism
toward Barrett. (Both candidates were registered Democrats.) The call was later
explained to have come from an independent organization calling from within the
headquarters building.
Although a Democratic stronghold, Milwaukee receives a fair amount of attention
from the Republicans at the state and national levels during election years.
This is due to Wisconsin's status as a pivot state and Milwaukee's relatively
central location to the state's largest Republican strongholds such as Mequon,
Waukesha and Brookfield.[citation needed] The 2004 presidential election was no
exception as Milwaukee saw visits from both George W. Bush and Democratic
candidate John F. Kerry on Election Day.
Third parties have a presence in the Milwaukee as well. In recent years,
Milwaukee has played host to national conventions for the Communist Party USA
(2001) and the Green Party of the United States (2004). While the city has no
elected officials who identify themselves as third-party members (city officials
are not elected on partisan tickets), at least two members of the Green Party
have recently held municipal office: Don Richards, an alder from the 9th
District, and Robert Miranda, the head of the Milwaukee Social Development
Commission.[29]
During the 1970s, Milwaukee was home to an active chapter of the Black Panther
Party for Self Defense. The chapter was one of the few in which no members were
ever killed by the police. In addition to being the catalyst for many
civil-rights victories during the era, it also set up a number of
community-based organizations that are still active today, such as the Hunger
Task Force.
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