Casey Shorts
The race for Milwaukee County Supervisor District 1, a normally sleepy local election, has turned into one of the most intense and highly anticipated local elections in years.
Casey Shorts is running against current Milwaukee County Supervisor and Board Chairman Theo Lipscomb. Lipscomb finds himself facing the most difficult challenge of his political career after his decision to cut about $15 million from the County budget last year, including budget cuts to social services, public transit, Milwaukee County Parks, emergency management services, and numerous road repair projects across the county. Community leaders have questioned Theo Lipscomb’s budget cuts, and he has left many voters asking why Lipscomb, who once ran as a liberal candidate, has enacted conservative budget policies not seen since Scott Walker’s time as Milwaukee County Executive.
Enter Casey Shorts, a young progressive labor attorney who is challenging Lipscomb from the left. Casey lists the endorsements of numerous progressive organizations and labor unions on his website, including the Milwaukee Area Labor Council, Milwaukee Teachers’ Education Association, Citizen Action of Wisconsin, and many other local labor unions.
Casey’s background is one that gives Democratic voters a lot to be excited about. He’s previously worked for Democrats Dave Obey and Herb Kohl as a legislative aide, focusing on health care, veteran’s affairs, and education issues. He is a graduate of UW-Madison and Marquette University Law School.
On the campaign trail, Casey talks about the need for government service to be just that – service for the people. In a letter to voters last fall, Casey says “Everywhere you look it’s more politicking and less good government. This is unacceptable. We need to work together, even with people we may disagree with, in order to address the challenges we face and move Milwaukee County forward.”
He highlights many policy ideas on his website and gives voters a clear idea of where he stands on the issues. He lists Milwaukee County Parks, the environment, fiscal responsibility, workforce development, public health, public transit, and veteran issues as his top priorities. On public transit, he writes “Ensuring that Milwaukee residents have the mobility to get to and from work is critical to addressing long term economic challenges facing County residents and job creators.”
Casey offers voters a “fresh” approach to difficult county issues and it is clear his message is resonating across the district, which includes all of Brown Deer, Glendale, Bayside, Fox Point, River Hills, and parts of northeast Milwaukee.
The election is Tuesday, April 3.