Genrich, Weininger race for Green Bay mayor intensifies as they appeal to traditional supporters in nonpartisan election
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GREEN BAY - Green Bay's mayoral candidates have spent the final days leading to the April 4 election on some campaign activities that seem more partisan than usual for a nonpartisan race.
Since the primary on Feb. 21, the intensity of the campaign has picked up, as has the partisanship.
Challenger Chad Weininger previously served in the state Assembly as a Republican; Mayor Eric Genrich as a Democrat. The Green Bay mayor's race is technically nonpartisan, though it's not difficult to see significant support coming from the party that each candidate had represented.
Genrich has held a series of news conferences in the last two weeks, speaking in favor of issues popular with Democrats. Genrich's headquarters hosted an event March 22 in which two physicians spoke about how the U.S. Supreme Court's ban on abortion limited their options in making decisions about health care. Though the mayor has virtually no influence on abortion policy; his appearance could be perceived as designed to attract people to the polls who are worried about the loss of abortion rights.
He also held events where he spoke on school funding on March 28 and labor unions on March 29.
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Weininger on March 28 delivered a campaign speech at an event hosted in Lawrence by the N.E.W. Patriots, a group that describes itself as "promoting conservative values of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."
Genrich supporters protested outside the event, billing Weininger as someone who supported the "Make America Great Again" views of failed 2020 presidential candidate Donald Trump:. "Hey, hey, ho, ho, MAGA Chad has got to go," the group of 15-20 protesters chanted.
The partisan feeling continued on March 29, when two Brown County Board members —one of whom ran for mayor in 2019 against Genrich — held a news conference to say they were trying to "hold Genrich accountable" because the city didn't join a national lawsuit against opioid manufacturers, losing out on at least $1 million. The county expects to receive $8 million in its share of the settlement.
Brown County Board Chairman Patrick Buckley of Green Bay and Public Safety Committee Chairman Keith Deneys of Pittsfield blamed Genrich for the city not being part of the lawsuit. "The mayor and the city had nine months to join" Brown and almost all other Wisconsin counties in the lawsuit after a federal appeals court dismissed the city's earlier lawsuit, Buckley said.
Buckley unsuccessfully run against Genrich in the 2019 mayor's race. Reporting on the issue prior to 2019 indicates the city was considering legal action against opioid manufacturers before Genrich was elected mayor.
Genrich campaign spokesman Amaad Rivera said the mayor had wanted the settlement money the city sued for to go directly to the city.
Meanwhile, mailers about the mayor's race have been filling city residents' mailboxes.
Mailers supporting Genrich have labeled Weininger as an "extremist": one pictures Weininger with a Trump-style "MAGA" hat on his head.
A pro-Weininger card shows a picture of Genrich and says Green Bay has gone "from a small-town feel to big-city problems," saying the mayor "invested in secret recording devices in City Hall" but "reduced the police department" — a charge Genrich has repeatedly disputed.
The state Senate and several Republicans filed suit in February seeking removal of the cameras and the audio recording devices, which Genrich said were installed for the safety of city employees and the public. The City Council voted in March to have them removed. The lawsuit has not been resolved.
Campaign spending and fundraising
In looking at all reporting periods, campaign donations to the two men show Genrich received more big political party donations while Weininger reported received bigger individual contributions from prominent people in the business community.
Genrich has gotten $110,000 from the Democratic Party of Wisconsin — $60,000 in the past month; $50,000 in December. He received $2,000 contributions from other committees: Green Bay PAC, SEIU Healthcare Wisconsin Political Action Fund of Madison, PFFW PAC of Green Bay and WI Laborers District Council of De Forest.
He reported six individual donations of at least $2,000 from Gabe Krambs of Madison, Bethany Ackeret of Madison, John Miller of Fox Point, Paul Greeney and Wendy Greeney, both of Traverse City, Michigan, and Lynde Uihlein of Milwaukee.
The Republican Party of Wisconsin is not listed as donating to Weininger this period, or in the donations report published on Feb. 14. He received only one contribution of more than $2,000 from a PAC, getting $2,410 from the RANW PAC of Appleton.
However, Weininger received 43 individual contributions of at least $2,000, including from frequent GOP donor Richard Uihlein. Green Bay-area business leaders and/or their spouses contributed at least $2,000 to Weininger, including Craig Dickman, Edward Martin, David Martin, Sharon Resch, Larry Weyers, Richard Chernick, William Kress, James Greene, John Calawerts, Karl Schmidt, Robert Atwell, Robert Toonen, Steve Van Lannen, Dan Madigan, Paul Welhouse.
He received lesser amounts from at least six Republican officials and three current office-holders.
Genrich outpaced Weininger in spending.
For the three reporting periods in 2023, Genrich spent $283,954 compared with $188,122 by Weininger for a combined $472,076. The bulk of that spending was reported in the last reporting period, Feb. 7-March 20, when $406,150 of that total was disbursed — $271,801 by Genrich and $134,349 by Weininger.
Home stretch
The race for mayor culminates on Tuesday, when Green Bay residents can vote in-person.
To view a sample ballot, locate your polling place or learn more about Tuesday's election, visit greenbaywi.gov/655/Voters or https://myvote.wi.gov/en-us.
Previous coverage
This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Campaigns for Green Bay mayor heat up in home stretch of race
