NEWS ISSUE OF THE MONTH
Milwaukee Mayor
CAVALIER JOHNSON “EVERY DAY HAS BEEN A DAY OF SERVICE FOR ME.” BY TOM JENZ
A
fter serving 17 years, Mayor Tom Barrett resigned to become the Ambassador to Luxembourg. On Dec. 22, Common Council President Cavalier Johnson was sworn in as the new mayor. When I first met Johnson well over a year ago, I noticed he wore a green wristband. He said it was the YMCA wristband illustrating the YMCA’s core values: Caring, Honesty, Respect and Responsibility. He explained, “Keeps me grounded, reminds me of where I came from.” He was barely a teenager when he first did community service at the Downtown Y. He later met his wife at the YMCA, and she still works there. They have an 11-year-old son and twin 3-year-old daughters.
Photo by Tom Jenz.
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At only 35, he brings youth and optimism to the office; he also brings experience as an alderman since 2016 and common council president since 2020. Yet he still faces two political hurdles, a runoff primary election in February narrowing the field to two candidates and then the mayoral general election in April.
