Blogging Blue

First of all, there’ll be no gnashing of teeth or whining here.

Am I disappointed in how things turned out last night? Hell yes, but such is politics. Sometimes your side wins and sometimes they lose; that’s just the reality of our political system.

While I’ve made no effort to hide my dislike for Scott Walker and the job he’s done as Milwaukee County Executive, I wasn’t terribly surprised he won, because Lena Taylor ran one of the worst campaigns I’ve witnessed since I became interested in politics. At times she seemed disinterested, and at others she seemed clueless, and I can’t help but wonder if she was really the best liberal candidate out there to run against Scott Walker.

And sure, I’m disappointed Louis Butler lost to Michael Gableman, but my disappointment has less to do with Gableman’s ideology - though I do disagree with his judicial philosophy, to the extent that he has one - and more to do with the kind of negative and unethical campaign he ran.

While last night had its share of disappointment, there were also some positives. The “Frankenveto” is no more, and that’s definitely a good thing. The “Frankenveto” allowed for tremendous abuses by Republican and Democratic governors alike, and I for one am glad to see it go. Besides, our governor will still have some of the broadest veto powers in the nation without the “Frankenveto.” Another high point was the re-election of Lisa Neubauer to a full term on Wisconsin’s Second District Court of Appeals, defeating newly conservative wannabe Bill Gleisner.

Closer to home, I’m glad to see Pat Jursik won a full four year term on the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors without any opposition, and I was happy to see Tom Zepecki elected to another term as South Milwaukee’s mayor. Pat and Tom have done well during their time in office, and they definitely deserved another term in office.

On the eve of Wisconsin’s spring election day, I’m going to make a few picks.

Wisconsin Supreme Court: This is a no brainer. Michael Gableman has run one of the most disgustingly vile and dishonest campaigns in as long as I can remember, and in doing so he’s exposed himself as supremely unqualified and unfit to sit on Wisconsin’s Supreme Court. Louis Butler has shown himself to be a more than capable jurist, and he deserves a full term on the Supreme Court.

Milwaukee County Executive: There’s no denying Lena Taylor has run a poor campaign, but putting aside the quality of her campaign, she’s the only reasonable choice for Milwaukee County Executive. Scott Walker’s had plenty of time to deliver on campaign promises past and present, and I daresay his tenure as Milwaukee County Executive will be remembered as one of broken promises and incompetence.

Milwaukee County Supervisor, District 8: Pat Jursik is running unopposed, and for good reason. She’s done a good job in her short tenure as Supervisor for the 8th District, and she deserves a full four year term.

Veto Referendum: I’m voting yes. Wisconsin’s “Frankenveto” has been abused by Democrats and Republicans alike, and even if the referendum passes, our governor will still have some of the broadest veto powers of any governor in the United States.

Milwaukee County Circuit Court: Both Rebecca Dallet and Jeffrey Norman seem qualified, but having met and spoken with Rebecca Dallet, I believe she has the temperment and smarts to be an asset to Milwaukee County on the Circuit Court.

In the 2006 elections, the Democratic Party of Wisconsin and the Assembly Democratic Campaign Committee were pretty proud of the fact that they had candidates in almost all of the 99 Assembly races, but I couldn’t help but notice one race that had an unopposed Republican incumbent. That race happened to be the race in Assembly District 21, a seat currently held by incumbent Republican Mark Honadel. Maybe I’m a cynic, or perhaps it’s because I’m a Democrat, but I’ve never really been impressed with the job Honadel’s done representing the people of this district. Now I know the district has typically voted a little more conservative since the days of the Milwaukee County pension scandal, but I’m hoping the recent election of Pat Jursik to the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors is a sign that the district is starting to trend a little more liberal. If that is in fact the case, I’m hoping the Democratic Party can find a solid candidate to run against Honadel, because he’s done little to distinguish himself during his time in office.

The only problem here in the 21st is the seeming lack of Democrats who have the qualifications and ambition to attempt to unseat Honadel. If not one single candidate could be bothered to run against Honadel in 2006 - a year that heavily favored Democrats - then I’m just not sure a candidate can be found. I hope I’m wrong and the Democrats can identify a good candidate, because I think Mark Honadel’s seat in the Assembly is ripe for the taking by the Democrats in 2008.

Could it be possible? Is the love affair between the MJS and Scott Walker slowly coming to an end? I’m not sure, but a recent article by Dan Bice doesn’t paint the rosiest re-election picture for Boy Wonder. Here’s the skinny from Bice’s article:

A new poll commissioned by Progressive Majority Wisconsin, a liberal interest group, finds that Walker’s re-election numbers have dropped dramatically in the past three years.

According to the survey, 43% of county residents say they are likely to vote for Walker in next spring’s election. That’s down from 64% in January 2004.

By contrast, nearly two out of five respondents said they would be inclined to vote for somebody besides Walker. That figure was only 22% back in early 2004.

Now obviously I don’t put a lot of stock in polls this early in the game, so I’m not ready to count Boy Wonder out, but this just underscores a trend I’ve been noticing since before Pat Jursik was elected to the 8th District Supervisor’s seat, beating a self-avowed Scott Walker crony in Chris Kujawa. If a more liberal candidate like Jursik can win in a district that leans towards conservative candidates, that can’t be a good sign for Walker’s county-wide popularity. I’m willing to bet this trend is only going to get worse for Walker as the field of opponents begins to flesh out, because if his popularity’s sagging without a viable opponent, I’d be curious to see what happens to his numbers once one (or more) opponents start to rally troops to their side.

I’ve made no secret of the fact that I’m a supporter of Pat Jursik for the 8th District’s County Supervisor seat, and I think I’ve made it abundantly clear I dislike Chris Kujawa’s brand of politics. Today was election day here in the 8th District, and I’m pleased that despite a barrage of user-submitted stories in favor of Kujawa on SouthMilwaukeeNOW.com, preliminary results of today’s election have Pat Jursik winning the County Board seat for the 8th District. The vote wasn’t nearly as close as I expected, with Jursik taking 3,104 votes to 2,622 for Kujawa.

Jursik can’t get too comfortable though, because her newly-won seat will be up for re-election in April of 2008. I anticipate we’ll see Chris Kujawa run again, since he doesn’t strike me as the type to take no for an answer, and I’ve already decided I’m going make the Jursik re-election campaign my first foray into the sordid world of campaign volunteering.

So according to an article on All Politics Watch, County Supervisor candidate Chris Kujawa, a personal favorite of mine (yeah right), said in an interview this week that KEI, his family’s landscaping and exterior design company, doesn’t do business with the county. Kujawa went on to say he resents suggestions he might have a business conflict of interest if he wins a vacant south suburban Milwaukee seat on the County Board. What’s really interesting about Chris Kujawa’s statements is the fact that records show his company’s been paid over $200,000 by Milwaukee County for products and services his landscape firm has provided the county since 2000. Of course, when asked to explain the discrepancy between his own statements and county records, Kujawa chalked it up to the fact that $200,000 worth of work his company did for the county “slipped his mind.”

This is yet another example of why Chris Kujawa simply isn’t fit to serve as a member of the County Board of Supervisors, and I personally hope Pat Jursik hands him his hind end on Tuesday.

On August 7, we here in Milwaukee County Supervisor District 8 will get to choose who will serve us as our next County Supervisor replacing Ryan McCue, who was elected Mayor of Cudahy. Two candidates emerged from the primary - Chris Kujawa and Patricia Jursik. While I wasn’t able to vote in the primary, I do have every intention of voting on August 7. I’ve been following this race closely, and I’ve decided to support Patricia Jursik. Unlike her opponent, who seems to want to do away with as much county government as possible, Patricia Jursik seems to have realistic objectives for improving the quality of life for residents of the Eighth District while maintaining the level of services folks have come to expect. While Jursik’s opponent Chris Kujawa has managed to rack up an impressive list of endorsements (impressive depending on who you talk to), I don’t see much on his website to warrant getting my vote. His website talks a lot about the endorsements he’s received and how members of his family have served in Cudahy’s city government, but in my opinion that’s not really what matters most when it comes to deciding who’s most qualified to serve as a County Supervisor. Sure, a long list of endorsements is impressive, but I’d rather know what a candidate stands for, and there’s not much information on Chris Kujawa’s website that tells me much about what he stands for - or what he’ll do as County Supervisor.

To be honest, I’m worried that if elected, Chris Kujawa will end up being nothing more than a “yes-man” for County Executive Scott Walker, which is the last thing the residents of the Eighth District need. We don’t need someone who’s going to continue to support Scott Walker’s mismanagement of Milwaukee County government - we need someone who’s going to work to change the status quo.