Holloway Channels Pratt
In some respects, the race for Milwaukee County Executive seems like a replay of another election. Mayor John Norquist resigned in January, 2004, and was succeeded (on an interim basis) by the black leader of the Common Council, Marvin Pratt, who then sought the office in the spring election.
County Executive Scott Walker resigned in January of this year, and was succeeded (on an interim basis) by Lee Holloway, the black leader of the County Board, who is now seeking the office in a special election.
But there is a twist: under state law, the Chairman of the County Board appoints a new Executive to serve until the election. He can appoint himself; but if he does, he must relinquish his seat on the County Board. Holloway, in a master political move, has appointed former Acting Mayor Marvin Pratt to this position. This choice should virtually guarantee that Holloway will be a finalist for the job on April 5. Let's look at a little history:
As alderman, Marvin Pratt was never a racially polarizing figure, like his colleague Ald. Michael McGee (senior or junior, take your pick.) He was known as a conciliator, which is how he became President of the Common Council. But as a candidate for Mayor, he used the ambiguous slogan "It's Time" , which presumably meant "It's time that Milwaukee had a black mayor." With massive black support, Pratt finished first in the 10-person primary, with 38% percent of the vote. Former US Rep. Tom Barrett came in second, with 32.6%. (1)
Although neither candidate "played the race card" in the hotly-contested general election campaign, a geographical analysis of the vote shows that the contest was highly polarized along racial lines. For example, in the overwhelmingly black Sixth District, Pratt garnered 89% of the vote, while in the white Eleventh District, Barrett took nearly 88.5%. Barrett won that contest with 86,493 votes (53.5%) over Pratt, who received 74,361 votes (46%). (The other 0.5% of the vote went to write-ins.)
By appointing Pratt as interim Executive, Holloway is capitalizing on Pratt's popularity with the African-American population of the City, no doubt expecting that it will rub off on him in the crucial February 15th primary. Although there is another black on the ballot in that election by the name of Ieusha Griffin (2), the Pratt connection should be enough to solidify the black vote behind him.
About 60% of the population of Milwaukee County lives in the City of Milwaukee, and about 40% of City residents are black, so African-Americans constitute nearly 25% of the population of Milwaukee County. If they turn-out on Feb. 15 in the same proportion as whites (about 35% in my estimation), and they are solid for Holloway, he could sail through the 5-candidate primary on the strength of their support. My guess is that Chris Abele will take the other spot on the general election ballot with humongous spending on TV ads, which no one else can afford to match.
But unless Holloway can generate major support from the County's Caucasian voters, he will face a very difficult uphill battle on April 5. And for that, his alignment with Marvin Pratt will not help.
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(1) Milwaukee Election Commission Report: 2004-2005.
(2) After losing her court battle to be identified on the ballot for State Representative as "Not the White Man's Bitch", she received only 7% of the vote in November, 2010.
County Executive Scott Walker resigned in January of this year, and was succeeded (on an interim basis) by Lee Holloway, the black leader of the County Board, who is now seeking the office in a special election.
But there is a twist: under state law, the Chairman of the County Board appoints a new Executive to serve until the election. He can appoint himself; but if he does, he must relinquish his seat on the County Board. Holloway, in a master political move, has appointed former Acting Mayor Marvin Pratt to this position. This choice should virtually guarantee that Holloway will be a finalist for the job on April 5. Let's look at a little history:
As alderman, Marvin Pratt was never a racially polarizing figure, like his colleague Ald. Michael McGee (senior or junior, take your pick.) He was known as a conciliator, which is how he became President of the Common Council. But as a candidate for Mayor, he used the ambiguous slogan "It's Time" , which presumably meant "It's time that Milwaukee had a black mayor." With massive black support, Pratt finished first in the 10-person primary, with 38% percent of the vote. Former US Rep. Tom Barrett came in second, with 32.6%. (1)
Although neither candidate "played the race card" in the hotly-contested general election campaign, a geographical analysis of the vote shows that the contest was highly polarized along racial lines. For example, in the overwhelmingly black Sixth District, Pratt garnered 89% of the vote, while in the white Eleventh District, Barrett took nearly 88.5%. Barrett won that contest with 86,493 votes (53.5%) over Pratt, who received 74,361 votes (46%). (The other 0.5% of the vote went to write-ins.)
By appointing Pratt as interim Executive, Holloway is capitalizing on Pratt's popularity with the African-American population of the City, no doubt expecting that it will rub off on him in the crucial February 15th primary. Although there is another black on the ballot in that election by the name of Ieusha Griffin (2), the Pratt connection should be enough to solidify the black vote behind him.
About 60% of the population of Milwaukee County lives in the City of Milwaukee, and about 40% of City residents are black, so African-Americans constitute nearly 25% of the population of Milwaukee County. If they turn-out on Feb. 15 in the same proportion as whites (about 35% in my estimation), and they are solid for Holloway, he could sail through the 5-candidate primary on the strength of their support. My guess is that Chris Abele will take the other spot on the general election ballot with humongous spending on TV ads, which no one else can afford to match.
But unless Holloway can generate major support from the County's Caucasian voters, he will face a very difficult uphill battle on April 5. And for that, his alignment with Marvin Pratt will not help.
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(1) Milwaukee Election Commission Report: 2004-2005.
(2) After losing her court battle to be identified on the ballot for State Representative as "Not the White Man's Bitch", she received only 7% of the vote in November, 2010.
Labels: Holloway, Milwaukee County Executive, Pratt
posted by Gerald S Glazer at 12:07 PM
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