Voters in Waukesha, Wis., a Republican-leaning Milwaukee suburb, narrowly elected a Democrat as mayor on Tuesday, The Associated Press said.
Alicia Halvensleben, the Democratic president of the city’s Common Council, defeated State Representative Scott Allen, a Republican, a result that could signal a political shift in the suburbs and that continues a string of Trump-era mayoral wins for Democrats.
The election in Waukesha, population 71,000, was officially nonpartisan, and much of the campaign focused on local issues like budget challenges and housing prices.
But Ms. Halvensleben’s victory carried symbolic importance for her party as it looks ahead to competitive statewide races in November and seeks a political foothold in a Republican-dominated part of the state.
The city of Waukesha is the seat of Waukesha County, which has long been a center of conservative activism and has helped fuel statewide wins for Republicans in closely divided Wisconsin.
While Waukesha County continues to lean Republican, it has become more politically mixed over the last decade. President Trump’s margin of victory in Waukesha County has become smaller each time he has run, from 27 percentage points in 2016 to 20 points in 2024. The city of Waukesha’s current mayor, Shawn Reilly, left the Republican Party in 2021 and endorsed Kamala Harris for president in 2024. Mr. Reilly, an independent, did not seek re-election this year.
While the city of Waukesha also leans Republican, it is not as strongly conservative as the surrounding county. Mr. Trump carried the city by six percentage points in 2024.
Democrats have flipped several mayoral seats over the last year, including in Omaha, Miami and Boca Raton, Fla. They have also performed well in special legislative elections. But it remains to be seen whether the party’s strength in those races, which often have lower turnout and attract the most engaged voters, will translate to midterm general elections in November.
Ms. Halvensleben, a two-term Council member, and Mr. Allen, who served on the Council before being elected to the State Assembly, are both veterans of Waukesha politics who pitched their experience on the campaign trail.
“The advantage that I bring, having been in the Legislature, is I have the relationships and I know my way around,” Mr. Allen, 60, said in an interview with WTMJ-TV.
In an interview with The Freeman, a local newspaper, Ms. Halvensleben, 36, promoted her work on zoning changes, saying that “balancing the budget starts with growing our tax base responsibly so we don’t shift more costs on to residents.”
Wisconsin voters will select a new governor in November to replace Tony Evers, the Democratic incumbent who is not seeking a third term. Republicans, boosted by Mr. Trump’s win in the state in 2024, hope to flip that seat and other statewide offices.
Democrats are hopeful about winning state legislative majorities in November, and are also eyeing two Republican-held congressional seats.
Mitch Smith is a Chicago-based national correspondent for The Times, covering the Midwest and Great Plains.
The post Democrat Wins Mayoral Race in Republican-Leaning Waukesha, Wis. appeared first on New York Times.
