Four vie for county executive job
Three others join incumbent Abele in Tuesday primary
Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele, who ran unopposed for re-election four years ago after one year in the office, faces a trio of challengers this spring.
State Sen. Chris Larson (DMilwaukee), the best known and best funded of the opponents, is joined by Joseph T. Klein and Steve Hogan.
The top two vote-getters in Tuesday’s primary will compete in the April 5 spring election. Abele said he is asking voters to hire him for another four-year term based on a record of accomplishment.
Last month, he made good on a pledge to end long-term institutional care of mental health patients at the troubled Mental Health Complex in Wauwatosa.
Abele, 49, said other measures of his success as executive include: reducing the county’s projected deficit by more than $70 million since he took office in 2011; proposing balanced budgets five consecutive years without raising taxes; and supporting bus
transit services by adding route miles without raising fares.
Lowering the deficit required fiscal discipline, he said.
Abele also has reminded voters that he boosted job training opportunities with new programs such as UpLift MKE and added150 acres of additional parkland.
Abele was first elected in 2011 in a special election to fill the final year in Scott Walker’s term after Walker was elected governor. Abele was re-elected to the executive post a year later.
Abele generally finances his own campaigns and has reported personal loans to his re-election bid of $2.75 million since July 1.
His campaign had a cash balance of $904,193 as of Feb. 4, according to a preprimary finance report. Between July 1, 2015, and Jan. 31 of this year, Abele spent $1.59 million on broadcast and print advertising and other media services, according to campaign finance reports.
Larson, a former county supervisor, was elected to the state Senate in November 2010.
A central theme in Larson’s bid to unseat Abele is his pledge to restore checks and balances in county government.
Larson, 35, has accused Abele of “power grabs,” with the support of a Republican-controlled Legislature, that eroded the authority of the County Board.
As a recent example, Larson reminds supporters of an amendment to the state budget law adopted in July — requested by Abele — that removed the board from oversight and a decision-making role in the sale and lease of county-owned land not zoned for park use.
Larson has proposed legislation to repeal the amendment.
At a forum inside the Washington Park Senior Center this month, Larson pledged not to sell Mitchell International Airport or the County Zoo if elected executive.
Larson’s campaign platform also includes a promise to boost maintenance of county parks.
He has criticized Abele for accepting authority from the Legislature to appoint a special commissioner who could take over a limited number of underperforming Milwaukee public schools each year.
Abele has said he does not intend to take control of any Milwaukee public school but will work with district leaders to provide additional services for students at underperforming schools.
As of Feb. 1, the Larson campaign reported a cash balance of $28,227. He reported total contributions of $90,882 between July 1 and Feb. 1.
Klein is unemployed after a career working in IT with a variety of companies, including a few computer technology start-ups. He is a member of the Communications Workers of America.
He is a veteran of the Wisconsin Army National Guard for more than 20 years and was deployed to Iraq for 12 months in 2006 and 2007.
Klein, 58, ran unsuccessfully for an Assembly seat in 2012 and for county executive in 2004.
His campaign website lists as core policies those of the Wisconsin Pirate Party. He is a member. Among those policies are: protecting civil rights and a right to privacy; asserting freedom of information; and a belief in open, transparent government.
When asked about the Legislature’s move to cut the board out of decisions on sales of non-park land, Klein said the law should be reversed and suggested Larson remain in the Legislature to help do that.
He is self-funding his campaign largely because contributions from others are not coming his way, Klein said.
From July 2015 through the end of January, Klein reported spending $764.46 and contributing the same amount. He had a cash balance of $145 as of Jan. 16, his pre-primary campaign finance report said.
Hogan is a carpenter, retired U.S. Navy officer and former commanding officer of the Milwaukee Naval Reserve Center.
He ran unsuccessfully for several Oak Creek and Franklin municipal offices in the early 1990s.
Hogan, 69, pledged not to sell any parks. He would place any proposed sale of non-park land on a referendum for citizens to decide, Hogan said.
In a discussion of funding bus transit services at the forum, Hogan said that after the five-county Brewers stadium tax sunsets in several years he would use the 0.1% sales tax to help pay for bus service in the region.
In self-funding his campaign, Hogan is not accepting contributions and has claimed he is exempt from reporting campaign finances.
His total spending will be much less than the $2,000 threshold that triggers reporting under state law, Hogan said. As of early February, Hogan said he had spent about $600.