Madison city council will be full of new faces

Even with some former alders running again for office, inexperienced members will be in majority

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It felt like a gathering of old friends. Supporters of city council candidate Marsha Rummel mingled in small groups at the Marquette Hotel, pointing out others they knew across the room and catching up. Rummel, who represented District 6 on the east side for 14 years before deciding not to run for reelection in 2021, circulated through the crowd. Rummel is running again for her old seat, though the district’s borders changed in recent redistricting. The late December event at the hotel, located just off Willy Street, served as the kickoff to her campaign. 

One of the supporters there was Fae Dremock, who had filed initial papers to run for the District 6 seat but threw her support behind Rummel once the former alder entered the race. Dremock says she decided to withdraw because the council is going to have “a lot of turnover” this election cycle so people familiar with city government are needed in the mix. “She has that solid experience,” says Dremock. 

Davy Mayer, who ran for Madison mayor in 2011, is also running for District 6. 

Rummel assumed office in 2007, serving terms as both council president and president pro tem. Ald. Brian Benford succeeded her in April 2021. But Benford, like some other alders, was drawn into a new district after the 2022 redistricting, leaving the District 6 seat open. 

Rummel says she tried to find candidates to run for her old district. “I want us to preserve our institutional knowledge as a body, not just agree to whatever idea comes out of the mayor’s office.” Eventually, Rummel figured she had what the council as a whole might be lacking in the upcoming term: experience.

After redistricting and retirements, nearly half the districts in the city are guaranteed to have a new alder before any vote is cast in the Feb. 21 primary or April 4 general election. And a high number of contested elections —  14 of the 20 council seats — means even more newcomers are possible. 

In all, there could be as many as 15 new members taking office this coming spring, and even some of the incumbents, if they prevail, will have served less than a full term. An Isthmus analysis found that there is an average 2.4 years of experience among all the candidates running for city council this spring. Only seven of the 46 declared candidates have served more than one term.

Rummel is not the only former alder who is coming back for more. Isadore Knox, who served from 2004-06, Nino Amato (1975-77), and Paul Skidmore (2001-21), are also running for the council. 

Amato, who is challenging incumbent Nikki Conklin in District 9, served as alder while he was a graduate student at UW-Madison. Since then, he notes, many things about the council have changed —  constituents can watch meetings on Zoom, and staff has grown significantly from one administrative assistant to five positions, including a chief of staff and legislative analyst. But the fundamental dynamic between council members and city staff over policy questions has not changed, he says, and that can take new alders by surprise.

“There are those council members who will take the path of least resistance and work for the department heads,” says Amato. “Then there are those that will do their homework and challenge the department heads — respect the department heads, but hold them accountable with tough questions. Council members who are new to how government works are really at a disadvantage.”

Ald. Matt Phair, who represents District 20 on the west side, says that the responsibilities of a newly elected alder can be overwhelming at first. “It takes a full year or two to really understand the job, understand all the processes, and have that confidence in what you’re doing,” says Phair, who represented the district from 2011-19 and was then appointed to the seat this past summer after Ald. Christian Albouras moved out of the district. Phair is now running for the seat, along with three other candidates; the top two vote-getters in the February primary will advance to the April election. 

For Phair, having new members on the council is not a bad thing, but he notes that there will be more turnover than usual this election cycle. “Fresh faces are good,” he says. “But at this point in time, experience is important. It’s good to have a balance.”

Back at the Marquette Hotel, Rummel is ready to address her supporters. She talks about affordable housing as a top priority and how to make Madison a Green New Deal city. Things slowly work their way into more of a conversation as the topic changes to the Madison Public Market and supporters start to chime in. Rummel listens.

Gary Tipler, a historic preservation consultant and Rummel supporter, tells Isthmus that Rummel navigated proposed redevelopment projects and other potentially contentious neighborhood changes by seeking community feedback early in the process, setting expectations, and bringing constituents on board.

 “She was great at listening, and realistic with people about what to expect and not to expect,” says Tipler. Sometimes new alders can be surprised by community reaction when they don’t invest time in this early engagement, he adds.

With few — or possibly no — longtime alders set to take office this coming term, newcomers have a chance to make a big impact on the council and the city over the next two years. As her public forum winds down and supporters start to spill out onto Baldwin Street, Rummel contrasts that sense of possibility with what she heard from Democratic legislators when she recently ran for state Assembly; they told her, she says, that they felt like they were “beating their head against the wall” due to the Legislature’s partisan stalemate.

Says Rummel: “In the city, you can get things done.” 

[Editor's note: The date Davy Mayer ran for mayor was corrected: it was 2003,  not 2011.]