All is not lost
Win some, lose some. It’s Madison’s loss that Paul Skidmore was defeated on the far west side. It is about to get real for new police chief Shon Barnes. Paul’s successor, Nikki Conklin, is a social justice warrior.
Rebecca Kemble
It’s Madison’s gain that Rebecca Kemble went down on the northeast side. Describes herself as a anarcho-syndicalist, which is a form of Marxism. Kemble was not just defund the police but abolish them altogether. More than one alder describes Kemble as a “toxic” presence on the common council. Of course, The Capital Times endorsed her.
Her desk on the council could have remained empty and Madison would be better off but her replacement, Charles Myadze, has stardom in his future. A black man, single father of three and labor union iron worker who understands that public safety is a requisite to success. Took on as his campaign manager Democrat(ic) operative Melissa Mulliken, who has managed many higher profile races around town.
Charles Myadze
Ald. Skidmore has served since 2001; voters may have concluded 20 years is enough. The only one of the four advisory referenda to meet voter approval (by 71-29%) would limit terms to 12 years. Referenda calling for a full-time, professional council paid as much as $71,000 annually (from $13,700 currently) were defeated, bigly.
Then there was the political hit job orchestrated by the progressives to tar Paul with the C-word. That slander was repudiated by a forensic audio expert but the city attorney insisted that he be included among the possible culprits anyway and the news media bought in.
So where does Tuesday’s 04-06-21 election leave Madison’s 20-member council? The WI State Journal sees it moving more “progressive,” which used to be a good thing in Wisconsin but now means more Portland and Seattle chaotic than laboratory of democracy. More A.O.C. and the Squad, more Bernie redistributionist, more Hugo Chavez than Fighting Bob La Follette.
→ Complete Madison WI aldermanic results here.
→ County-wide municipal and school board results here.
The envelope, please
The Council could count on five alders out of 20 who were allies of Madison’s professional, enlightened policing. What happened to those five?
- Skidmore, defeated in District 9.
- In the 10th, Zach Henak retired and replaced by Yannette Figueroa Cole, another Progressive Dane soldier.
- Mike Tierney retired and replaced by Jael Currie in District 16 — a Freedom Inc. warrior.
- Barbara Harrington McKinney, unopposed this time around, will return, thankfully!
- And hooray for Sheri Carter on Madison’s south side! She turned back professional protestor Brandi Grayson, and convincingly by a 65-35% margin. But she tells the Werkes she will not seek re-election as council president. A year of pandemic restrictions and BLM unrest was enough.
So that’s 2 wins versus 3 defeats for our good gang of five. But add to Harrington-McKinney and Carter newly elected Charles Myadze and, on the southeast side of town, Gary Halverson, who was unopposed. And there is real hope for Nasra Wehelie in the 7th. Some people have all the luck: she was appointed to the council late last year and was unopposed Tuesday. That makes five. Add Syed Abbas and Christian Albouras, who received generally good marks from the police union, and you’ve got a good core. But still a minority of alders fighting an anti-cop mayor.
Consider Mayor Satya’s published statement, post-election:
“I … look forward to working with them on … expanding affordable housing, addressing homelessness, and building climate resilience and equity into all aspects of city planning during a tight budget year.”
Nothing on public safety after the most violent year in Madison’s history outside the Prohibition ‘20s and the anti-war ‘60s.
Blaska’s Bottom Line: Madison is going to miss Paul Skidmore.
Education
Blaska Policy Werkes 
I can’t believe the idiots on the far east side elected BLM, Freedom Inc, Urban Triage, Brandi Grayson honk Currie. You reap what you sow. Even Mad Max endorsed her, AND SHE THANKED HIM!
Same thing on the west side. Figueroa Cole (a true nut job) instead of Eisch?
How many cops on the fence will now leave the emerald city in a cloud of dust?
Madison will become Portland, Seattle, and Minneapolis in no time. I’ll get the popcorn.
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I saw Brandi blamed “anti-Blackness” for her landslide loss to….a Black woman.
Meanwhile Kemble is posting poems on social media about hypocrites and snake oil ‘salespeople’ while comforting Brandi that the city’s nefarious power structure is holding her down.
As sand thru the hourglass so are the days of our libs…..
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Almost spit out on my coffee with that last line, Adam.
Their reactions, blaming power structures & “anti-Blackness” are typical.
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Come to think of it…. shouldn’t Kemble and Grayson be hounded and roundly condemned for questioning election results???
Kemble and her supporters are whining about her loss and questioning Myadze’s identity and presence in this election as if he were some mysterious Russian agent who showed up out of nowhere — rather than the Northside working class father that he is. Isn’t it RAYCISM for them to undermine his brilliant civic campaign as a Northside resident to bounce the radical leftist incumbent from office, in part for her endless quest to ruin our city’s basic public safety?
As for Brandi…. whew! Of course total silence on her allegation last night of “anti-Blackness” being the reason for her loss. Again — I thought it was now completely unacceptable to undermine local election integrity?? It appears she did delete the social media post in which she said this, along with the typical disclaimer “I’ve been drinking tonight lol”.
But yeah keep whining about systemic racism and anti-Blackness while Myadze and Carter win impressively.
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Glad to see Kemble go. Relieved Carter was able to hold on to her seat. Bummed that Evers is still in.
Skidmore was truly the only ally that MPD could count on. Police lost their only true voice and public safety suffered a blow.
I think even more alarming is that only about 20% voted in this election.
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Rebecca Kemble’s chances for re-election went down the tubes when she turned her back on State Street Businesses. Brandi Grayson blocked me a year or so I ago after I said she was an Al Sharpton wanna be on this very blog. Prior to that her hate for this City and anyone who disagreed with her was all out there for everyone to see on her fb page. Doesn’t matter if it was the firing from her job at the YWCA, losing a staring role in a play produced in Madison or not being able to find a job in Madison. Never her fault. It was racist “Madison KKK”. She couldn’t wait to get out of the worst place to live in the United States. I wasn’t able to see if that was removed from her fb account but I imagine it was. I was genuinely worried that others would not see her for what she truly is. But in the end I had no need to worry as it was her own community that saw thru her. Some of those very same people are questioning the whole Urban Triage thing. But that’s another story.
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Yep, thanks fer the reminder, Nancy. I recall the Isthmus post Ms. Kemble made and how outta touch it was.
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“It’s just property.”
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One of the downtown restaurant owners actually encouraged the rioters. Said he didn’t mind if his restaurant was busted into. An example right there of the woke mental disorder and Stockholm Syndrome to boot. That’s one business owner I hope fails — in any event I won’t ever patronize his cutesy little overpriced bistro anyway.
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Ms. Grayson would benefit from a long walk and a long talk with Jesus.
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Yes Kemble was a total a-hole to State Street business owners who endured the pandemic plus violent destructive criminal riots of May, June, and August. She (and the mayor and others on the council) basically threw them under the bus. I don’t know if it was Kemble who told them to check their white privilege when all they are trying to do is make a living for their families, plus many of them are not white (not that that should matter anyway).
This kind of thing is why I am still giddily celebrating her stunning defeat.
And seriously…. Brandi was fired by the YWCA??? The antiracist YWCA? Now that takes some doing.
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…”building climate resilience and equity…” I sincerely hope Mayor Satya isn’t going to try for complete thermodynamic equilibrium in the entire atmosphere. We know how well that worked out in “Snowpiercer.”
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