How Ironic – The MAGA-GOP in the Cradle of American Socialism

Although my hometown is Chicago where the Democratic National Convention will take place in late August (just as it did in the fateful summer of 1968 . . . my first experience with tear gas), I have long looked to Milwaukee as an adopted second hometown.  When my family was living near that city in the 1950s, I was a diehard Milwaukee Braves fan and I was in the stands in old County Stadium in September 1957 when Hank Aaron hit a two-run walk off homer in the bottom of the 11th inning to defeat the St. Louis Cardinals 4-2 and give the Braves the National League pennant.  They went on to beat the Yankees in seven games in the World Series that year.  The Braves won the pennant again in 1958, but this time around the Yankees bested them in the Series.  

Something I did not know at the time I lived in and around Milwaukee is the fact that during the latter half of the 19th century and in the early part of the 20th century, the city, the largest in Wisconsin, was the center of labor unrest and political corruption.  Milwaukee-based companies and public utilities were crumbling which led to the emergence of a strong socialist presence in the city with a promise to clearance of blighted areas with increased employment opportunities.  Known as "sewer socialists" sometimes called "constructive socialism," for improving utilities, they were a dominant political movement in Milwaukee from around 1892 to 1960. 

Three Socialists served as mayor: Emil Seidel in 1910-1912, Daniel Doan in 1916-1940, and Frank Zeidler in 1948-1960.  Seidel, was elected along with 21 Socialist aldermen, 10 county supervisors and two judges.  He was Eugene Debs’ vice-presidential running mate on the Socialist Party ticket in the 1912 presidential election when it received 6% of the popular vote, the highest ever for a Socialist candidate.  Doan created the country’s first public housing project and the first public transportation system, serving six terms as mayor.  Urban renewal efforts defined the bulk of Zeidler’s 7-term tenure in office.  He was instrumental in the resurgence of the Socialist Party on the national level in the 1970s and was the party’s presidential nominee in 1976.  Historians have long considered Milwaukee's Socialists to be a unique American form of democratic socialism, pragmatic rather than ideological.  Throughout its municipal history since 1846, Milwaukee has had 45 mayors – 31 have been or are Democrats.  Only ten were Republican, the last one leaving office in 1908.  There was also one who served from 1912 to 1916 as a “Republican-Democrat fusion” candidate to defeat Emil Seidel.  Since 1960 Milwaukee has been a predominantly Democratic city supporting progressive politicians and movements, yet the impact and legacy of Milwaukee's Socialist mayors can be found throughout the city.  

Given Milwaukee's status as a Democratic Party stronghold, all but three State Senate and three State Assembly districts in the city are represented by Democrats, with all six Republican seats found in three small districts on the very outer boundary of the city.  It is by far the deepest blue city in and otherwise mostly red Wisconsin.  Since 1988, however, Wisconsin has leaned most towards the Democratic Party in presidential elections, although the Republicans won the state by less 1% in 2016.  Biden won the state in 2020 by an equally slim margin.  In the other four 21st century presidential contests, the state was decided by less than 1% of the vote.

So why would the MAGA-GOP select the cradle of American socialism and a predominantly Democratic city for the site of the 2024 Republican National Convention this week?  Viewed as the largest city in a battleground state, Democrats planned to hold their 2020 convention in the city.  It was first postponed for a month due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, and then it was eventually greatly downsized and the city served only as a headquarters for the media broadcasts while most of the convention activities occurred remotely from sites throughout the country.  It makes sense then that the MAGA-GOP hopes to win the state again in November as Wisconsin is among the handful of swing states up for grabs.  The MAGA-GOP candidate has made gains with Wisconsin’s working class, but Joe Biden could still win there.

Still, it is safe to say that Milwaukee, despite the presence of the MAGA-GOP conclave, is hard fast in the Democratic camp.  Biden took 79% of the city’s vote in 2020 after which the MAGA-GOP candidate attempted to disqualify thousands of voters in Milwaukee, falsely portraying late-arriving returns driven by heavy absentee turnout as fraud.  He raised this specter again a month ago when on his first visit to Washington since the January 6, 2021 MAGA insurrection at the Capitol.  Meeting with MAGA-GOP House members in Congress, he referred to Milwaukee as a “horrible” city.  Nothing new, really, as he has long referred to the city as a hotbed of violent crime and voter fraud.

Greta Neubauer, the minority leader in the Wisconsin State Assembly, took umbrage at this remark, stating that “the people of Milwaukee were not surprised to hear this, adding that “Republicans have been vilifying and attacking the city of Milwaukee for years” as they have any state or city governed by the Democrats.  “The voters of Milwaukee and the voters of Wisconsin are not going to forget that [he] has repeatedly disrespected them, disrespected our state, and demonstrated no commitment to work on behalf of the people of Wisconsin, to improve our lives.” 

Of course, now the MAGA-GOP candidate claims “I was the one that picked it . . . We all know that.  You’ve got to make sure the election is honest, but I’m the one who picked Milwaukee.”  His nose grows longer every day.  In fact, the convention site was selected long before he was even the presumptive nominee.  Reince Priebus, Host Committee Chair for the 2024 RNC, stated early this year that even though the presumptive Republican nominee will probably be selected in mid-March, whoever it ends up being will not affect Milwaukee hosting the RNC.  “I seriously doubt the candidate had much say in the matter as the city was selected before he was confirmed as the likely candidate.”   Priebus made it clear that the main reasons for selecting Milwaukee was because Wisconsin will once again be a key swing state.  Priebus has also cited how politicians from both parties work together to get things done in the city and county and “to put benefits of the people of Milwaukee and Wisconsin ahead of politics.”   I wish they felt like that across the rest of the country.

In fact, it was Cavalier “Chevy” Johnson, Milwaukee’s current Democratic and first African American mayor, who played a key role in bringing the RNC to his city.  This did not sit well with many local Democratic leaders.  Even before the city was finally selected, Democrats urged Milwaukee to drop out of the running, as Nashville did after Democrats there objected to hosting the RNC.  Johnson persisted citing the economic benefits it would bring to the city.  As early as 2021, when the current MAGA-GOP candidate was complaining how the 2020 election had been stolen from him, Johnson was traveling to Washington, DC as acting mayor to make a final pitch for the RNC site selection committee.  He was elected mayor in his own right two weeks later.  He believes the RNC would help draw focus to his city and show what happens when the two parties work together to help people.  Yes, it may be the RNC rather than the DNC, but regardless such an event will showcase Milwaukee.  But will it be in a good or bad light?

When it is all said and done, regardless of the economic benefits brought to the city by Democratic Mayor Johnson, he and the good people of Milwaukee will have to listen as the MAGA-GOP belittles and chastises them for all that is wrong with this country.  I hope it was worth it.  On a personal note, as someone who spent delightful years in and around Milwaukee and southeastern Wisconsin, I take offense at this.  Milwaukee deserves better than it will get.