Longtime downtown Ald. Mike Verveer is facing a challenge for the first time in many years. Opponents are Samantha Givich, left, and Maxwell Laubenstein.
For only the second time in his long career, Ald. Mike Verveer will face a primary election for his downtown council seat. Verveer, who was first elected in 1995, has run unopposed 11 times consecutively. His last primary was in 1997.
His two challengers this year — UW-Madison students Samantha Givich and Maxwell Laubenstein — were not yet born the last time Verveer had a competitive election. He won in a landslide when he last faced a challenger in 1999, receiving 82 percent of the vote. The top-two vote getters during the Feb. 21 primary will move on to the general election on April 4.
The once-a-decade redistricting process in 2022 has also created the unusual scenario of two incumbent alders vying for the same seat. Alds. Sheri Carter and Yannette Figueroa Cole are running to represent District 10 on the city’s southwest side as is a third candidate, Diego Colorado. Far-west-side Alds. Barbara Harrington-McKinney and Matt Phair are both competing for the District 20 seat — along with challengers Sammy Khilji and Aslam Rakhangi.
Five incumbents won’t be seeking reelection this spring so the council will add some new faces in April. However, voters might recognize several candidates who have previously held elected office.
Former Ald. Marsha Rummel represented a good swath of the isthmus for 14 years before deciding not to run for reelection in 2021. She’ll be back on the ballot in District 6 against Davy Mayer, who you might remember ran for Madison mayor in 2003.
Former Ald. Paul Skidmore, who was elected to the District 9 seat on the far west side 10 times, is also running again. He was unseated in 2021 by current Ald. Nikki Conklin, who is running for reelection. Former alder and Madison mayoral candidate Nino Amato is also a candidate. He ran against Conklin and Skidmore in 2021 but did not advance beyond the primary.
Former Ald. Isadore Knox, Jr. will compete in an open primary in District 14, facing political newcomers Noah Lieberman and Katherine Pedracine.
Campus Ald. Juliana Bennett was redistricted out of District 8 so she will be seeking a second term in nearby District 2. Bennett will compete against Colin Barushok and Evan McSorley in the Feb. 21 primary.
Incumbents Regina Vidaver, Nasra Wehelie and Tag Evers are running unopposed in Districts 5, 7 and 13 respectively. Alds. Bill Tishler and Sabrina Madison also have no competition. Both were appointed to the council in 2022 to serve out the terms of alders who resigned early from the council.
We’re more than halfway there, so for good measure, this is how the rest of the 2023 council races are shaking out.
Newcomer John Duncan faces no opponent in District 1 on the far west side. Northside Ald. Charles Myadze is running for a second term against challenger Michelle Ellinger Linley. And Ald. Jael Currie, who represents District 16 on the southwest side, will face Kim Richman.
There are open contests in Districts 3, 8, 12, 15, and 19. This includes a race on the far east side featuring Derek Field, Matt Van Epren and Stephanie Salas.
The campus district has two candidates, both UW students: Charlie Fahey and MGR Govindarajan.
Former state Senate candidate Amani Latimer Burris, Blake Alvarenga, Julia Matthews, Victor Toniolo and Josh Walling are running for an east-side seat, District 12. So are Brad Hinkfuss and Dina Nina Martinez-Rutherford in the adjacent District 15.
Finally, John Guequierre and Kristen Slack are running for outgoing council president Keith Furman’s seat on the far west side close to Middleton.
[Update: According to the Wisconsin State Journal, the city has extended the deadline for filing papers to run in Districts 1 and 14 to Jan. 6, 5 p.m. The alders who were redistricted out of these districts are running in other districts, but failed to submit declarations of non-candidacy in their former districts. Also, the story was corrected to note that the location of District 9 is on the far west side, that Davy Mayer ran for mayor in 2003 and that Marsha Rummel decided not to run for reelection; she did not resign.]
