In a Milwaukee legislative primary, an incumbent Democratic socialist and critic of the Biden administration’s response to the war in Gaza faces a primary challenger who says Milwaukee needs “Democratic unity,” not “headline-chasing.”
The winner of the Aug. 13 primary between Rep. Ryan Clancy and Jarrod Anderson doesn’t have a Republican challenger in November’s general election in the heavily Democratic 19th Assembly District covering downtown Milwaukee and its Lake Michigan waterfront.
The race will test whether under new legislative maps a left-wing incumbent who bucks his own party can survive against a challenger who wants to fall in line with the Democratic Party.
“I don’t talk to a lot of voters who want to put somebody in office who is just going to toe the line and do what they’re told,” Clancy said.
Anderson says there is a “hunger” in the district for more “collaborative” leadership.
Clancy, a former Milwaukee Public Schools teacher, was one of the two lawmakers who helped reboot the Legislature’s socialist caucus in January 2023 for the first time since the 1930s.
In his latest term, Clancy authored bills to require that prisons provide recreational opportunities and structured programming, as well as a bill to protect tenants from housing discrimination based on whether they receive rental assistance. He also introduced legislation requiring law enforcement agencies to release footage to the public following officer-involved deaths. Like most Democratic-sponsored bills, they didn’t pass the Republican-controlled Legislature.
He’s been outspoken in support of Palestine and was one of a handful of Democratic lawmakers in Wisconsin to support a protest vote effort against President Joe Biden in April’s presidential primary, known as the “uninstructed” campaign.
“The folks that I’ve talked to that know about his involvement with the uninstructed movement — they felt betrayed. They felt so left behind,” Anderson told Wisconsin Watch. “If we’re not voting for Joe Biden at every opportunity, we are helping Donald Trump.”
Anderson is a lawyer and health policy advocate who calls himself a “pragmatic progressive.” He was endorsed by Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson — a Biden supporter who easily won reelection in April.
Clancy defended his support for the protest vote effort.
“There’s a fair amount of folks who are going to find it difficult to vote for Biden given his current position on Palestine,” Clancy told Wisconsin Watch. “I want to be able to go into that voting booth and be proud and secure in who I vote for, and I think that’s what I’m hearing from a lot of our constituents too.”
Yet Clancy was clear that he does not want another four years of Trump. He says his constituents want Biden to be “the best candidate he can be.” The best way for Biden to win is to change his policy on Palestine, Clancy said.
Shortly after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel, Clancy posted a chart on Facebook totaling the number of deaths in Palestine versus Israel from 2008 to 2023 during conflict. The graphic from Al Jazeera read, “Palestinian deaths: 6,407; Israeli deaths: 308.”
Ann Jacobs, chair of the Wisconsin Elections Commission and a leader in the Milwaukee Jewish Community, responded by posting:
“My state representative wants more dead Jews…What actual democrat will primary this SOB? Because I will max out. I will host fundraisers.”
Jacobs did not respond to Wisconsin Watch’s request for an interview.
In April, Jacobs hosted a fundraiser for Anderson’s campaign at her home in Milwaukee. According to Anderson, she is a friend who supported his decision to run.
Clancy said he’s not worried that his outspoken position on Palestine will cost him votes in the primary, and he wouldn’t make any “political calculations” if it meant compromising his beliefs.
“I would say it’s fair to characterize me as somebody who wants better, who is not happy with the status quo,” Clancy said. “I cannot imagine making decisions based on wanting to stay in power in a system that is often so unfair and so destructive.”
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