MILWAUKEE, Wisconsin — While the political identities of most major cities lean at least slightly Democratic and progressive, Milwaukee swims in a unique shade of steeped indigo blue. Now, that left-committed identity will be challenged with the July 15 arrival of the city’s first Republican National Convention.
Once a hotbed for manufacturing and still a labor union stronghold, Milwaukee is the only American city in the 20th century to elect three socialist mayors (Emil Seidel from 1910-1912, Daniel W. Hoan from 1916-1940, and Frank Zeidler from 1948-1960). A Republican hasn’t held the town’s highest office since 1908, and the Milwaukee Common Council is dominated by Democrats.
Still, with most of the voters beyond Milwaukee, Green Bay, and the state capitol in Madison emerging as a solid crimson block voting for a predominantly Republican state Assembly and Senate, Wisconsin ends up deep purple and a possible swing state when former President Donald Trump squares off against President Joe Biden in November. After putting one of its primary season debates in Milwaukee last summer, the Republican Party will bring its big July event back to the city in the hope of capturing the state’s 10 wavering but essential electoral votes.
Milwaukee’s officials and institutions were more comfortable during the ramp-up to the 2020 Democratic National Convention before COVID-19 spoiled the city’s big coming-out party and left only a virtual shadow of a convention in its stead. Unable to convince the Democratic National Committee to give the Milwaukee Bucks’ home arena of Fiserv Forum a sequel, the Beer Capital of the World started a spirited push to attract the GOP.
While the state’s Republicans celebrated the idea of hosting Trump’s second coronation, there was knee-jerk revulsion from some across the aisle.
Cavalier Johnson is Milwaukee’s first black mayor. The Democrat took office from his predecessor (Tom Barrett, currently the U.S. ambassador to Luxembourg) near the end of 2021 as the effort to snag the Republican convention took flight. He acknowledged there was early opposition from blue loyalists despite the spotlight a convention would bring to his town of about 560,000 people.
“There were certainly members of my own party that were not thrilled with me supporting the Republican convention,” Johnson said in an interview. “I’ve never been one to fall into line with everyone in my party because I realize it’s a political reality that you need to reach across the aisle in this state.”
Johnson insisted that securing the Republican National Convention was not about politics but rather the benefit to the community as a whole.
“I’m a Democrat, and I don’t espouse to support any of the policy proposals that Republicans will spew inside Fiserv Forum,” he added. “But I’m a mayor of a city that wants to have large-scale investment and exposure.”
Visit Milwaukee, the city’s convention and visitors bureau, reports that exposure will bring more than 50,000 people and $200 million to MKE. He believes those kinds of numbers should silence any debate in his local party.
“The RNC gives us the opportunity to show off Milwaukee to a potential audience of visitors and investors that aren’t just national but global,” Johnson added. “I don’t want to see those benefits going to Nashville or Cleveland or Phoenix or Miami.”
State Rep. Chris Sinicki represents communities in Milwaukee’s southern reaches while also serving as chairwoman of the Democratic Party of Milwaukee County. She said a harsh reality set in after the city’s 2020 Democratic National Convention went virtual due to the pandemic.
“Our state party lobbied early on to have the DNC return to Milwaukee in 2024,” Sinicki explained in an interview. “When [Democrats] began seriously looking at Chicago, it became clear there would be an effort to bring in the Republican convention instead. A few of our local elected officials tried to fight it, stop it from happening.”
Sinicki admitted that the significant anger from many of her party members at the thought of welcoming Trump and his party had to give way to the realization of how the city would profit. However, Democrats also see the potential to serve up some mid-July resistance.
“I started to see a mood amongst party members of, ‘OK. Let’s make the most of this and see what we can do around the RNC,’” she said. “We support [the convention] partly for the city and partly to use it as a counterpoint. With thousands of MAGA Republicans coming into Milwaukee, we’ll have to decide how we want to handle it.”
A request for an interview with the county’s Republican chairperson drew no response.
Regardless of how Republicans run the convention or how Democrats like Sinicki scheme their counterprogramming, Milwaukee Police Chief Jeffrey Norman must work with all concerned parties to provide a safe event in a season already marked by nationwide protests on college campuses.
“The perspective I come from is not Democratic or Republican,” Norman said. “The police department’s responsibility is the safety of all. We established solid relationships with federal, state, and local authorities and organizations to make sure we have a safe and productive event —while leaving not one part of our city spared.”
Norman pointed to the Milwaukee Bucks’ 2021 NBA championship as a model for his department’s expected response. While tens of thousands of fans piled into downtown to watch and celebrate the games inside and outside Fiserv Forum, the Milwaukee Police Department looked to keep the peace.
“Our mission was, ‘If the Bucks win, no one tears up the city. … If they lose, no one tears up the city,’” he said.
While the chief acknowledged the preparation for the largely canceled 2020 Democratic National Convention offered a starting point for 2024 planning, he insisted preparing for the Republican National Convention requires new ideas and networking between multiple organizations with conflicting identities.
“We’re seeing a spirit of cooperation in the city,” Norman said. “We hope that inspiration becomes contagious, so the cooperation extends beyond this summer and the convention.”
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Sinicki isn’t at all optimistic. Though Republicans and Democrats currently coexist to pull off Milwaukee’s big moment on this summer’s national stage, she doesn’t see a possibility of that spirit of progress carrying over and forging more amicable state and local government in America’s Dairyland.
“No, I think we go back to business as usual as soon as this is over,” she said. “I expect no bipartisanship beyond the convention because —while the majority of my constituents realize if the city can pull off this size of a convention, it will bring more events of this size to the city —there are always the ones who still believe this is a bad idea and will be bad for Milwaukee moving forward.”
John Lewinski is a writer based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
