Barrett and Feingold come up short
The good news from Tuesday’s election resulted in the successful re-elections of Congresswoman Gwen Moore and Milwaukee County Sheriff David A. Clarke. Moore won with 69 percent of the vote and Clarke won by a similar margin. County Supervisor Elizabeth Coggs made it to the State Legislature winning the seat for the 10th District State Representative seat left vacant by Annette Polly Williams with 93 percent of the vote.
Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett and Senator Russ Feingold were part of the not-so good news for the night. Both got close, but didn’t win. Barrett and Feingold received 47 percent of the votes. High Black voter turnout, and overall turnout from Milwaukee played a big role in the races being close.
“The African American community should be extremely proud of its voter turnout. The overall turnout for African Americans in Milwaukee delivered beyond expectations. The standout district was in the 17th Assembly District, Rep. Barbara Toles’ district, the raw numbers were incredible.” Mike Tate, Chair of the Wisconsin Democratic Party stated on Wednesday afternoon during an interview with The Courier.
Tate went on to say that he is extremely proud of the job that the Wisconsin Democratic Party did and the cooperative work that went into this election. The polls that said many people would stay home were wrong. Even though the results were what they were, there were some wins, and there were losses, but the margins were still close.
Mayor Barrett announced on Wednesday, the day after the election that he will seek reelection of Mayor in 2012, and that he returns to City Hall with “renewed enthusiasm.”
Barrett also said that he is worried that deficit-reduction initiatives by a new administration will reduce shared revenue that Milwaukee depends on for essential city services.
“A cut in shared revenue would have an immediate effect on the services of the city of Milwaukee, or on property taxes, or both,” Barrett said. The mayor talked with Gov.- elect Scott Walker Tuesday night and the two agreed they needed to talk more in the weeks ahead.