'It's about time': Milwaukee reacts to Cavalier Johnson's milestone as city's first elected Black mayor

Eight-year-old Michaeldavid Howell-Smith felt like crying happy tears as he watched a man who looks like him take the stage Tuesday night to celebrate his historic election as Milwaukee's first Black mayor.

His mother, Teresa Howell-Smith, could see the pride in her son's face as he and his sister Mackenzie, 11, watched Cavalier Johnson speak to a crowded ballroom of supporters.

"The kids really wanted to be here to see a Black mayor," their mother said as the family waited to take their picture with Johnson. "I think representation matters for my children, and I wanted them to be able to see that — that anything is possible growing up in the city."

Johnson on Tuesday beat former Ald. Bob Donovan, with 71.5% of the vote to Donovan's 28%, according to unofficial results from the city Election Commission.

About 31% of registered voters turned out to elect the first new mayor in 18 years.

And while mayoral terms last four years, Johnson will have half that time to convince voters he is the right person to lead Milwaukee into the future. He was elected to serve the remaining two years of the term of former Mayor Tom Barrett, who left the city in December to become U.S. ambassador to Luxembourg.

At 35 years old, Johnson not only became the first elected Black mayor of Milwaukee but also the first millennial to take the city's helm. He joins Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley and County Board Chairwoman Marcelia Nicholson, whose elections in 2020 along with Johnson's to the Common Council presidency, ushered in a generational shift in leadership.

Black leaders also hold other top posts in Milwaukee and Milwaukee County, including Police Chief Jeffrey Norman, Sheriff Earnell Lucas and Milwaukee Public Schools Superintendent Keith Posley.

On Wednesday, Johnson reflected on a moment when he and 9 year-old Juiliani Gibson stood chatting soon after the new mayor arrived at the election night event. The new mayor said he knew that Gibson was looking to him because of the history-making moment.

"I knew that my name being on the wall or around the room presented an opportunity for him to see his own name on the wall and around the room, where years ago that would have been unthinkable in this city for a kid that looked like him," he said.

Excitement for some, others await results

The excitement felt at Johnson's event was more muted at the polls earlier in the day.

Voters expressed a sense of civic duty in casting their ballots more so than a focus on the historic nature of Johnson's likely victory or the opportunity to elect the city's first new mayor in nearly two decades.

However, others like Ahard Byrd, 63, were excited at the possibilities a Johnson win presented.

"It's about time that we had our first Black mayor to see what he can do," Byrd said after voting Tuesday at Marshall High School, where Johnson had cast his ballot earlier in the day.

For Passion Terrell, 48, Johnson's election would mark an important moment for the city.

"For a city that's still considered one of the most highly segregated cities in the country, that would really make a big deal," she said after voting at Clinton Rose Senior Center on North King Drive.

Angela Lang, executive director of Black Leaders Organizing for Communities, or BLOC, said in the days before voters went to the polls that even as the city's election of its first Black mayor brings with it a sense of hope for some, there were also people with mixed feelings about the candidates in the race.

Some people reached out to the group saying their lack of interest in either candidate was the reason they were not going to vote Tuesday, she said.

Even so, she said, the significance of Milwaukee electing its first Black mayor cannot be understated.

Lang was feeling a mixture of curiosity and wonder and some anxiety about what it would mean for the city to have a young, Black man elected mayor alongside Crowley and Nicholson.

"We have these young Black leaders that are up and coming, that have a long career ahead of them," she said. "What does that look like to have all of these local levels that are represented by Black folks in a new way?"

She said she was curious how they would work together to bring their experiences to bear across the city and county.

Crowley at Tuesday's event said it was exciting to see Johnson make history as the first African American elected to the city's top political job — but also because of the possibilities for the city and county to work together. Crowley's own history-making election was just two years ago, as was Nicholson's.

Milwaukee historian Reggie Jackson said the election of the first Black mayor in the city where the majority of residents are people of color is significant.

"I think probably the most significant part of that is from a symbolic standpoint, it will be a turning point in Milwaukee's history," Jackson said.

Still, he said, while people often get excited about elections, the challenges facing the next mayor will be extreme. That's only exacerbated by the shorter term Johnson has won.

As for him, Jackson said he's focused on what happens after election day and what difference Johnson is able to make in the city.

Johnson lays out priorities for first term

The new mayor said his first order of business after his election was to call Wisconsin Assembly Speaker Robin Vos and Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu on Wednesday in an effort to rebuild the city's relationship with Madison.

He said when he reached them he would tell them that "it's a new day in Milwaukee."

"I'm the mayor now," he told reporters gathered in the Mayor's Office. "And I said throughout the entire course of this campaign that I want to rebuild the relationship with state government. I'm serious about that."

He and others have said those ties will be key to the city's future, given Milwaukee and Milwaukee County's dire financial straits. In particular, they have pushed for new or additional revenue as city leaders will have to contend with a significant expected spike in the annual pension contribution this fall.

Johnson also comes into office as residents are expressing fears about reckless driving and the city's third straight year of elevated homicides.

He said Wednesday he would be focused on implementing infrastructure changes to the roads and working with the Police Department to ensure the Traffic Safety Unit is combating reckless driving.

The new mayor also said that an improved relationship with the state was needed to change gun laws to keep weapons out of the hands of people who should not have them.

Johnson pointed to jobs that pay a family supporting wage and changes to the streets to make driving safer as two of the top priorities he'll be focused on during his first term.

He said he would be a mayor who expects accountability and will drop in on departments and their staffers to see how things are going.

Contact Alison Dirr at 414-224-2383 or adirr@jrn.com. Follow her on Twitter @AlisonDirr.

Our subscribers make this reporting possible. Please consider supporting local journalism by subscribing to the Journal Sentinel at jsonline.com/deal.

DOWNLOAD THE APP: Get the latest news, sports and more

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee reacts to first elected Black Mayor Cavalier Johnson