Mitchell (right) while campaigning for U.S. president in 2016.
All 20 members of the Common Council are up for election this year, but only two of them are facing an opponent. While unseating an incumbent is usually a tall order, one of the challengers faces an extra hurdle — he lives in Lindenhurst, Illinois.
James Creighton Mitchell Jr. is trying to oust Ald. Samba Baldeh, who represents an east-side district and is the council’s current president.
“Madison is a nifty place,” Mitchell gushes. “I’m a politically homeless Vietnam veteran and I think I’ve found a home in Wisconsin progressive politics from the early 1900s.”
The fact that it’s 2019 and that he doesn’t live in Madison doesn’t seem to faze Mitchell. His wife lives in District 17. Mitchell says he visits “frequently,” but then quickly adds, “infrequently.”
“My first wife passed away in 2005. We were married 33 years and have four grown children. A few years later, I met somebody online from Wisconsin. We seemed to hit it off well enough and we got married in 2010,” says Mitchell. “My commitment to my wife was always to move up to Wisconsin. But I can’t sell my house and there are tax advantages to living in Illinois.”
Mitchell is willing to give up those tax advantages if elected. In order to be sworn in, he will need to officially reside in the district 10 days before the election — a fact that Mitchell was unaware of until informed by Isthmus.
“Oh, I can do that. I already have a place to live,” says Mitchell. “I’m interested in following through on this completely.”
Baldeh is perplexed by his challenger.
“I’ve never seen him. I’ve never met him. I don’t know him. I think that’s true of almost everyone [in my district]. A lot of people don’t even know I have an opponent,” Baldeh says. “I’m wondering how someone from Illinois is going to be able to understand the issues.”
Mitchell, a 75-year-old Navy veteran, is retired but worked for more than two decades at the Highland Park water treatment plant. He admits he doesn’t know much about Madison.
“Learning about the issues won’t be difficult because most problems are the same across the United States,” says Mitchell. “I have conservative values. I have family values. I have constitutional values. I think they are under assault not only locally, up in Madison, but elsewhere. I want to tackle that.”
Mitchell thinks his career working at a water utility will help District 17 navigate contamination in nearby water wells. The Wisconsin State Journal reported this week that the pollutants originated from the Wisconsin National Guard base.
“I’ve heard Madison has issues with contaminated wells,” says Mitchell. “That’s a critical issue that I have practical knowledge about.”
Mitchell isn’t new to local politics — at least in Illinois. He’s been a township trustee; the president of mosquito abatement, and drainage, districts; a public library trustee; a school board member; and a two-term member of the board in Lake County, the third biggest county in the Land of Lincoln. In 2012, he ran for four local offices simultaneously until Illinois officials booted him from three of the contests. He also made unsuccessful bids for Congress and the Illinois statehouse. He even sought the GOP nomination for president in 2008 and 2016.
During his first run for president, he called for promoting the Ten Commandments, making English the nation’s official language, and cracking down on illegal immigration.
Baldeh, a 48-year-old information technology project manager for American Family Insurance, moved to Madison in 2000 from Gambia. He calls Mitchell’s positions on immigration and other issues “out of touch.”
“This is a nation of immigrants. I think my opponent lives in the 18th century or something,” says Baldeh. “People in my district want to address their own issues instead of looking at their neighbors as ‘the other.’”