Phil Ejercito
Dave Cieslewicz and Paul Soglin
Dave Cieslewicz (left) was the underdog in 2003 when he beat Paul Soglin for mayor. Soglin returned the favor in 2011. Months later they shared the stage at a Capitol rally.
Last week I wrote a blog post about the race to succeed long-serving Sen. Fred Risser of Madison. It caused something of a dust up both on this site and, I’m told, on social media.
I don’t partake in social media so I missed out on what I’m sure was a nuanced and thoughtful discussion, but the objections apparently fell mostly into two related concerns. The first was that I failed to mention all the candidates who had filed statements of candidacy and the second was that Isthmus was somehow partly responsible for my error. Let me take them in reverse order.
If Isthmus had neglected to list all candidates in a news story, then it would be on them. But my blog is clearly labeled “opinion.” Most of us who write opinion pieces are freelancers. Our work is fact checked and lightly edited, but since it is our work under our name the editors try not to take a heavy hand. So, if you were upset that I didn’t name all of the candidates that’s on me, not on Isthmus.
And the underlying concern about not listing all the candidates is certainly legitimate. I didn’t mention their names primarily because candidates aren’t officially on the ballot until they file nomination papers, in this case on June 1, and it’s not uncommon for candidates to drop out before then. Anybody can say they’re a candidate but until they get on the ballot their candidacy is a little bit amorphous. My piece was focused on the two most well-known candidates who had talked about running, one who is definitely in and another who appears to be leaning away from making the race.
In retrospect I should have listed all the candidates who are intending to run. And I should have remembered what it was like to be perceived as a second-tier candidate. When I was running for mayor for the first time in late 2002, former Mayor Paul Soglin jumped into the race unexpectedly and took up all the oxygen. His announcement blazed across the front pages of both daily papers at the time and led all the local TV news shows. When I announced my candidacy the story was buried in the local sections and it probably ran between weather and sports on TV.
So it was ironic that I unintentionally dissed the underdogs since I got the very same treatment at the start of my own political career. I should have known better. I apologize and I wish all those underdogs well.
I do take exception to candidate Nada Elmikashfi’s response, which is based on an identity politics framework. I see identity politics as cancerous to our democracy and especially detrimental to the Democratic Party. But I’ll get to that in a future blog. For now the candidate is owed my regrets for not mentioning her in my blog on the campaign to succeed Risser.
Still, the basic point of my original piece stands. Kelda Roys has served in the Assembly and she ran an impressive race for governor less than two years ago. She finished second in Dane County with almost 20,000 votes and she bested six other active candidates. Moreover, she spent about $1 million in that race. So she has name recognition and proven vote-getting and fundraising ability that the other candidates can’t match at this point. That’s why she’s the front-runner.
But remember that I was in the underdog position going into 2003 and I would end up winning. In politics, money and name recognition matter. But smart candidates who work hard can still pull off upsets if their ideas catch fire.
The current list of announced candidates in the 26th Senate District Democratic Primary to be held on Aug. 11 is as follows:
Brian Benford, success coach for the UW’s Odyssey Project and former Madison city alderman. He says his campaign will have a website up soon.
William Henry Davis III, a write-in candidate for lieutenant governor in 2018. I could not find a website or official announcement for Davis.
Nada Elmikashfi, a 2020 graduate of UW-Madison and activist.
John Imes, a village trustee in Shorewood Hills and executive director of the Wisconsin Environmental Initiative. Imes joined the race last week after my blog appeared.
Aisha Moe, a former Capitol staffer and now a full-time candidate.
Kelda Roys, a former state representative and candidate for governor.
I still encourage more candidates to get in the race and I urge voters to learn as much as they can about each and to give every candidate their consideration.
