Even with 280,000 Milwaukee citizens registered to vote, only between 61,000 and 62,000 people voted in the Milwaukee mayoral primary election yesterday.
This was a significant drop in votes compared to the last open primary in 2004 which brought in 136,000 votes. TMJ4’s Charles Benson told Wisconsin’s Morning News hosts this could be due to the lack of a presidential or gubernatorial candidate on the ballot, however, the numbers were still shocking. Benson said “I really thought for the moment that for the first time in eighteen years knowing there was an open seat in the mayor’s office, that somehow we would generate more than 61,000-62,000 votes.”
Given the situations the city is facing such as public safety issues and pension obligations, Benson expected more people to vote.
While he was surprised by the lack of voters, Benson said he was not shocked by the election results. Acting Mayor Cavalier “Chevy” Johnson and former Alderman Bob Donovan will advance to the Milwaukee mayoral general election. Johnson came out on top with 42% of votes while Donovan followed in second place appealing to the more conservative voters.
Another shocking factor of this election was despite still being in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, the majority of voters voted in-person despite the popularity of absentee ballots in previous elections. Out of the 61,000-62,000 votes in the mayoral primary, only 23,00 votes were via absentee ballots.