Andy Manis
In the face of defeat, candidate for Dane County Board Rob Franklin turned back into Rob Dz, musician and advocate, when, just before 9 p.m. Tuesday, he strolled into the Cardinal Bar.
The Cardinal, 418 E. Wilson St., was virtually empty save for a few kegs of untapped beer and a couple of campaign volunteers who knew the outcome long before the Dane County clerk had posted the results. Despite claiming just 28% of the votes in the downtown district, Franklin was in good spirits.
“I’m not hurt about it at all,” he said. “Going back to being Rob Dz isn’t a bad thing.”
Franklin had hoped to unseat incumbent Mary Kolar. Although Franklin earned the backing of Progressive Dane, and the county’s Democratic Party endorsed both candidates, Kolar bagged endorsements from 22 of 37 county board members and three former Madison mayors.
“Madison has a way of becoming very comfortable with those they’re familiar with,” Franklin said. “In the beginning, I was kind of pigeonholed as a musician, not someone with a credible voice.”
One block over, at the Essen Haus, a who’s who of Dane County Democratic establishment hobnobbed as MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow chimed in on Wisconsin politics on the television.
State Rep. Lisa Subeck (D-Madison), who didn’t endorse either Kolar or Franklin, says it’s tough for candidates like Franklin to unseat an incumbent for all the usual reasons. But it’s especially difficult when constituents see the incumbent doing a good job.
“It’s a lot harder to make that contrast,” she says. “It also takes a lot of work and a lot of money to run for office, even at the local level.”
Subeck was disappointed there were only four contested races out of 37 seats.
In the three other contested supervisor races, incumbent Michele Ritt easily survived a challenge from Adam Tobias for her north-side seat; Hayley Young beat Angelito Tenorio for an open seat in the heavily student-populated district around the UW campus; and Nikki Jones survived a challenge by John Brixy for her Cross Plains seat. Jones was appointed to the seat last October.
Dane County Democratic Chair Mike Basford said the disinterest in running for county board reflects residents’ satisfaction with their representatives.
“People are happy with how Dane County government is working,” he said. “The quality of life here is good.”
He said the party’s dual endorsement of Franklin and Kolar stemmed from the “good job” Kolar has done and that Franklin represents a younger generation of people Basford would like to see become more politically active in Dane County.
Kolar, who won with an overwhelming 70% of the vote, said she’s honored “that District 1 voters want me to represent them.”
Kolar said her decisive victory is a message to progressives that it is time “to work together to help those most in need.”
“This race has been nothing but a distraction from us working together,” she said.
Franklin said he’s grateful for those who did vote for him.
“It’s time to hold her to the things she preaches,” he said. “This is an important and diverse district. Anyone who knows me knows I work for change.”
Grinning, he added, “But this isn’t the end of the road for me.”
Editor's note: This article was amended to correct that Lisa Subeck was not a former county supervisor.
