What you need to know about the Aug. 9 primary election in Milwaukee | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
O. Ricardo Pimentel
August 8, 2022
Residents will help choose their party’s nominees for such high-profile races as governor and the U.S. Senate on Tuesday with the Senate race in particular drawing national attention.
But voters will also determine which two candidates will advance to the November election to succeed Mayor Cavalier Johnson in Aldermanic District 2. This is a nonpartisan race.
And because no Republicans have filed to run for Milwaukee County sheriff, voters will choose among three candidates for that office.
Also on the ballot for local office: who will be the next Clerk of Circuit Court for Milwaukee County.
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The governor’s race and the U.S. Senate race have the highest profiles on the airwaves so far. Democrats have viewed GOP incumbent Ron Johnson as vulnerable and key to growing Democratic numbers in the Senate. Retired educator David Schroeder is also on the GOP ballot.
Voters in the Democratic primary will choose who will challenge Johnson in the general election. The candidates are Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes; Alex Lasry, senior vice president of the Milwaukee Bucks; Kou Lee, a restaurant owner; Sarah Godlewski, state treasurer; Peter Peckarsky, an attorney; Steven Olikara, entrepreneur and founder and former chief executive of the Millennial Action Project; Darrell Williams, administrator of the Division of Emergency Management in the Wisconsin Department of Military Affairs (on leave);  and Tom Nelson, Outagamie County Executive.
The general election will be Nov. 8.
The governor’s race features incumbent Tony Evers on the Democratic side. Former Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch; construction business co-owner Tim Michels; State Rep. Timothy Ramthun; and real estate business owner Adam Fischer are running for the GOP nomination. Businessman Kevin Nicholson recently dropped out of the race.
In other statewide races, there are primary candidates on the ballot for lieutenant governor, attorney general, secretary of state and treasurer.
In Milwaukee, there are also candidates on the ballot for Congressional District 4 and for state Assembly District 16.
The incumbent on the ballot in the congressional race is Democrat Gwen Moore. Tim Rogers and Travis Clark are the Republicans on the ballot for their party primary.
In Assembly District 16, Democratic incumbent Kalan Haywood is on the ballot. No one is on the ballot on the Republican side.
Jerel Ballard, 27; Mark Chambers Jr., 35; and Keyellia “Kiki” Morries, 52, are vying for the District 2 seat formerly held by Mayor Johnson, who was elected in April.
(Another council seat is vacant following the departure of District 3 Ald. Nik Kovac, who was appointed budget director by Johnson. Democratic state Rep. Jonathan Brostoff is the only candidate and he will be on the November ballot.)
Ballard is a Milwaukee native and former television journalist. He is a Riverside University High School and Columbia College Chicago graduate. He was the communications and marketing officer for the Milwaukee Police Department and is currently communications director for the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin. He founded the Milwaukee’s Finest Scholarship Foundation. Ballard did not respond to requests for an interview.
Chambers is also a Milwaukee native, growing up in the Westlawn Projects section of District 2. He graduated from Bay View High School and attended Milwaukee Area Technical College. He worked in the financial sector and is now a business consultant for Community Related Training in Milwaukee.
Chambers said the most important issues for the city are gun violence and reckless driving.
“We’re in a crisis,” he said. “What separates me from the others is that I’ve lived through it personally.”
He said he lost his father to gun violence and a friend to reckless driving, adding that holding people with guns accountable will be key in addressing gun violence.
Morries was born and raised in the 53212 ZIP code, which includes the Harambee neighborhood. She has a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from Mount Senario College  and a master’s degree in management from Cardinal Stritch University. She retired as a detective from the Milwaukee Police Department, having served 28 years, and now owns real estate companies.
Morries said the city’s most important issue is public safety.
“We have to first go to the core problem – working together with the police department to come up with those strategies,” she said. “They have things in place and we just need to implement them.”
According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, only Chambers currently lives in the district. Ballard and Morries will have to move into the district if elected.
But Morries said she has an apartment, where she gets her mail, and other properties in the district.
The Democratic candidates for county sheriff are Denita Ball, Brian Barkow and Thomas Beal. No Republican has filed for the office, which means the primary could effectively decide the next sheriff.
All the candidates work in the Sheriff’s Department: Ball as chief deputy; Barkow as inspector and commander of the Investigative Services Bureau; and Beal is a sheriff’s captain.
The race for the Clerk of Circuit Court pits current Milwaukee County Clerk George Christenson, the incumbent because he was previously appointed as interim clerk of the court, against Anna Maria Hodges, the retired chief deputy clerk of the Circuit Court.
To vote, you must register. If you haven’t registered, you can do so at your voting site on Election Day.
If you are uncertain of your registration status, name or address, you can go to My Vote Wisconsin to look up your record.
For a list of what constitutes proof of residence, go here.
To find your polling place to register on the day of the election, you can enter your address here.
Once your address and name are updated, go to MyVote to update your voter registration.
To find your polling place to register on the day of the election, you can enter your address here.
And to find a complete sample ballot, click here.