<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\nIf you are planning on moving to Milwaukee, you may want to know whether or not you will fit in the political landscape there. In this article, I’ll let you know if and just how much Milwaukee is a liberal city.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Milwaukee is a significantly liberal city<\/strong> and has been for many decades. Even when the rest of Wisconsin has voted for Republican candidates, Milwaukee has consistently voted for Democrats in the case of almost every major and minor election in both recent and past years.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nThe specifics of Milwaukee’s political climate are interesting. If you want to get a more in-depth idea of where Milwaukee stands, read on to find out all about it!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Milwaukee’s Historical Political Landscape<\/h2>\n\n\n\n Milwaukee has had four major distinct political eras over the course of its history. These eras are as follows:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
First, a Democrat-controlled system from the 1840s to the 1870s. This was facilitated by the largely German population of the city, dubbed “48’ers”. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Second, a two-party system featuring intense Democrat and Republican rivalry. Though, the city largely supported Republicans for quite a long time, with relatively even elections. This system ended up being the most corrupt out of the 4, however, with an eventual reckoning in 1903 in which many grafts and other violations of public trust were discovered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The third era featured a mix of Progressives, Socialists, Democrats, and Republicans all competing for dominance. Funnily enough though, ever since 1912, Milwaukee has had non-partisan elections as the result of a combined effort from Republicans and Democrats to prevent recurrent socialist political victories in Milwaukee. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The fourth political era began in the 1960s and is composed largely of a two-party system. This being said, Democrats nearly completely control the city and have ever since 1960. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Milwaukee’s politics have always been relatively interesting, and even now there are several different democratic factions competing for power within the city. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
During the Civil War and Reconstruction Era, Milwaukee supported the Republican party, though this support ended with the New Deal. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Like many large cities, Milwaukee has suffered in the past from machine boss politics and corruption. This was ended by the election of a socialist mayor in 1910. Emil Seidel was the first socialist mayor in the U.S. ever. Not only was he elected, but the next two mayors were also socialists. This occurred in spite of the Democrats and Republicans of the city being so panicked about the socialist’s success that they formed a “fusion ticket” backed by both parties simultaneously. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Milwaukee was home to a movement called “sewer socialism” for quite a long time (of which the previously mentioned socialist mayors were a part of), one which de-emphasized the revolutionary aspect of socialism but emphasized public betterment through the development of better public works and such. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The main source of support for the party came from the working class, whereas the middle-class people living in Milwaukee supported more progressive policies but within the Republican and Democratic movements. The social democratic party lost power for many years leading up to the 1980s however, leading to the rise of the overwhelmingly predominant mainstream Democratic party. Milwaukee has also hosted a Communist convention in the more recent past, interestingly. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Notably, Milwaukee was also home to a chapter of the Black Panther party and served as a critical part of the civil rights movement. Many of the community organizations founded as far back as the 1970s such as the Hunger Task Force are still around today. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Although Milwaukee has technically non-partisan elections, everyone knows beforehand whether or not a candidate leans a certain way based on their previous political careers and previous and current party alignments. This has done nothing to really dissuade political strife within Milwaukee. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In fact, the entire purpose of the non-partisan election tickets was to prevent socialist candidates in Milwaukee from gaining traction, which clearly did not work given the unique success of these candidates in Milwaukee, when compared with the rest of the country. This being the case though, the non-partisan tickets have remained. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In more modern politics, one of the biggest challenges facing Milwaukee Democrats has been their struggle with the Democratic Party chapter in Madison for control of their party in their state. Madison is perhaps even more liberal than Milwaukee, and of course, harbors the advantage of being the state’s capital.<\/p>\n\n\n\n