Just days after incumbent Ald. Tom Powell, District 5,
announced his intention to run for the seat again in the April 2002,
elections, UW-Madison student and active College Democrat Mike
Tate is considering running against him.
While the decision has not been made official, Tate, a UW
sophomore, has admitted that he is toying with the idea, mostly
out of his worries that students are not being adequately
represented on the Madison City Council.
“I’ve been talking to a lot of people, and a lot of students have
been talking to me about a lack of student voices on City Council,”
Tate said.
Tate said it is hard for Powell to adequately represent the
constituents of the district, which is one of the few made up
primarily of students.
He said he wants to run because there would finally be
“someone who can talk about the issues of residents of District 5.”
Powell said Tate’s assertion that District 5 constituents are
primarily interested in having an undergraduate student represent
them is “patently false.”
“People vote for who they think will represent them the best,”
Powell said.
Powell also said that the demographics of the district will soon
shift toward the traditional family since the redistricting spurred by
the 2000 census.
“The profile of District 5 is changing rapidly,” he said.
Tate insists that he is only “casually” looking at running
against Powell. Powell has never run for City Council in District 5.
He filled the vacancy when last year’s elected representative,
Jessy Tolkan, was found to have run an illegal election.
Tate said the he is qualified for the position because of his
political experiences.
He worked for the Democratic Party of Wisconsin for two years,
sat as the state chair of the College Democrats of Wisconsin and
stood as the vice chair of the College Democrats of America last
year.
“I absolutely think I have the credentials for this job,” he said.
“I’ve worked with student leaders across the nation and I know
what it takes to represent students on the City Council.”
Powell said he would not be fazed if Tate decided to run.
“I welcome any challengers,” Powell said.
