Ellen Zhang vs. Bobby Gronert, Noah Lieberman vs. Kate Blood, Barbara Harrington-McKinney vs. Islam Khilji, and Ben Jones vs. Huma Ahsan.
Ask Jason Ilstrup, president of booster group Downtown Madison Inc., to name the big issues Madison is grappling with and he’ll respond with familiar concerns: infrastructure investments, social services for those experiencing homelessness, and housing.
“We’re going from a big little city to a little big city in front of our eyes, and that means big infrastructure changes and big issues that the city is going to have to tackle,” says Ilstrup, referencing the city’s ongoing population growth. Madison is primed to receive about 100,000-120,000 new residents over the next 20-25 years, according to city planner Dan McAuliffe.
Not surprisingly, all of the candidates running in this April’s city council election pledge to increase the city’s stock of housing if elected.
Bobby Gronert, a UW-Madison sophomore majoring in political science, is facing off against Ellen Zhang, a sophomore majoring in sociology and economics, for the campus-area District 8 seat currently held by Ald. MGR Govindarajan. In the southside District 14, stay-at-home dad Noah Lieberman is running against chaplain Kate Blood for the seat held by Ald. Isadore Knox Jr. In the far-west side District 20, incumbent Ald. Barbara Harrington-McKinney is facing a challenge from Islam Khilji.
Newer concerns also pop up — platforms for both campus-area and southside candidates pledge, in some form, to fight back against the policies of the Trump administration.
Noticeably missing from most of the candidates’ websites are any promises to reduce property taxes. Increased property tax loads from the city and Madison school district’s property tax referendums are straining many budgets; the effects are particularly severe for seniors on fixed incomes. Harrington-McKinney, one of the council’s most fiscally conservative alders, references delivering residents “high-quality city services at a price we can afford.”
Lieberman’s platform, meanwhile, notes that “as home values go up, so do property taxes, straining the finances of those on fixed incomes.” His platform proposes building additional senior communities to help older residents stay in Madison while lightening the hit on their wallets.
Govindarajan tells Isthmus that the city’s hands are largely tied on property tax increases, given the need to make sure city staff wages and benefits keep up with inflation. He hopes additional state investment in municipal governments and public schools will reduce the need for those bodies to go to referendum to ask taxpayers for more money.
Asked to identify the biggest issues he thinks will come before the new city council, he names the city’s persistent budget deficit, what to do with the beleaguered Office of the Independent Police Monitor, and whether to implement body-worn cameras for police officers.
The prospect of body cameras has long been contentious in Madison: supporters say the cameras will provide a neutral record of events during arrests and other police operations, while detractors argue they do little to reduce officers’ use of force and could lead to further convictions of people of color.
In 2025, the Madison Police Department successfully urged the city council to place the cameras on the city’s “horizon list” for soon-to-be funded capital projects.
“I suspect that [the police department] will request and go forward with asking for body-worn cameras this year,” says Govindarajan. “But [there is a] $7 million deficit, give or take. How are we going to get that done?”
Stephanie Fryer, Madison Police Department spokeswoman, did not respond to a request for comment.
Also on the ballot this spring are 13 of the Dane County Board’s 37 seats. Three of the races had a primary in February. The county’s most pressing concern is a budget deficit that County Executive Melissa Agard expects will be even higher in 2027 than the $31 million the county faced in 2026. Agard criticized the board for adding additional costs in the 2026 budget, writing in a Nov. 12 statement that “I wish more progress was made toward addressing the structural deficit facing the county.”
Other significant issues on the county’s docket: getting in place an overflow shelter to house those on any potential waiting list for the soon-to-open men’s shelter at Bartillon Drive; seeing through the Dane County Jail consolidation; and redeveloping the Alliant Energy Center, a priority for Agard.
“It is an economic driver for our community. With investments into tourism, you see great investments into the community,” Agard told Isthmus in July 2024 when she launched her campaign for Dane County executive.
Nicki Vander Meulen vs. Dana Colussi-Lynde, Blair Mosner Feltham vs. Daniella Molle, and Chris Taylor vs. Maria Lazar.
The Madison school board has the most contested races on the spring ballot since 2022. Dana Colussi-Lynde, an IT consultant, is running against seven-year incumbent and attorney Nicki Vander Meulen, and Daniella Molle, a UW-madison researcher, is taking on two-year board member and Sun Prairie high school teacher Blair Mosner Feltham.
Significant challenges facing the school board include addressing so-called salary compression — the gulf between salaries for new teaching staff and existing teachers; the board approved a $165,000 study on Jan. 26 to examine the issue, according to the Capital Times. Parents have also raised concerns about improving student safety and addressing frequent principal turnover.
[For more on the candidates, see Isthmus coverage: Madison school board sees most contested races since 2022]
Two candidates emerged from the Feb. 17 primary for Dane County Circuit Court Branch 1: incumbent Judge Ben Jones and Huma Ahsan, founder of Madison Immigration Law and former chief justice of the Turtle Mountain appeals court. Jones received 53% of the vote; Ahsan garnered 35%.
Ahsan told Isthmus in February that she planned to close the gap by mobilizing volunteers to campaign for her door to door.
“We’re going to be talking to everyone. It doesn’t matter who they are, what they look like, where they live, we will be going out to every single part of Dane County, talking to people about how important this election is,” Ahsan said.
[See Isthmus coverage: Huma Ahsan vows grassroots challenge in Dane County Circuit Court race]
And there’s a sleepier than expected race to replace retiring Justice Rebecca Bradley on the state Supreme Court. Former Democratic legislator Chris Taylor, currently a state Court of Appeals judge for the Madison-based southwestern 4th District, is facing off against Maria Lazar, a state Court of Appeals judge for the Waukesha-based southeastern 2nd District. Though the race is officially nonpartisan, Taylor is supported by Democrats and Lazar by Republicans.
If Taylor wins, liberals will widen their majority to 5-2. If Lazar wins, the split remains 4-3.
Taylor raised $5.6 million through the end of March, while Lazar raised less than $900,000, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Some conservatives are not happy with how the Republican Party of Wisconsin is handling the race.
“Considering your position, it would really be appreciated if you could engage in the Supreme Court race for Lazar,” former Republican state Sen. Duey Stroebel, who currently works as the Midwest regional administrator for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, wrote in a March 7 X post directed to Republican Party of Wisconsin Chair Brian Schimming.
Schimming did not respond to Stroebel and the Republican Party of Wisconsin did not respond to a request for comment from Isthmus.
[See Isthmus coverage: The unusually quiet race for Wisconsin Supreme Court]
[Editor's note: This article was updated to correct the job descriptions of school board candidates Dana Colussi-Lynde and Daniella Molle.]
