When Alder Tom Powell called last September to notify me that a man by the name of Dave Ches-la-something was announcing his candidacy for mayor that afternoon, I hesitated to cover the inauguration of what seemed like a novelty campaign in a race packed with strong candidates.
Nevertheless, with an opportunity to escape the Badger Herald office, if for only a few minutes, I grabbed a notebook and headed to MLK street to watch the beginning of what I figured to be a suicide charge through Madison’s political gauntlet.
“First, it’s time for new leadership in the mayor’s office,” Cieslewicz told the oddly enthusiastic crowd that had gathered on the steps of the City-County Building. “And second, it’s time for a mayor with more creatively positioned consonants in his last name.”
Standing amidst spectators consisting of several senior citizens and middle-aged environmental activists, I wouldn’t have given this stiff wearing a suit a chance in hell of reaching the student population. When Powell told me the mayor’s race would come down to Soglin and Cieslewicz, I chuckled to myself. I was not alone.
After all, his campaign had been doomed a month before it started when Paul Soglin, the man who began his public career in Madison as a student activist several decades ago, brazenly announced he would reclaim the throne he had discarded in 1997 to pursue a congressional seat. School Board president Ray Allen, incumbent mayor Sue Bauman, and, of course, Soglin, were expected to garner more support than Cieslewicz.
Longtime Madison activist Bert Zipperer, a Progressive Dane member along with Cieslewicz, received PD’s powerful endorsement, complete with campaign funds and logistical support. Progressive Dane’s vote to endorse Zipperer rather than Cieslewicz was a landslide, 70-1.
Cieslewicz never did gain favored status in the mayoral race. He was considered a fringe candidate up until the day of the primaries, when he soundly defeated both Bauman and Zipperer to earn a runoff with Soglin.
Soglin would defeat Cieslewicz as Madison residents came to their senses and voted for ‘the only real candidate,’ reasoned one of my colleagues.
“Cieslewicz will get his clock cleaned outside of the Isthmus,” said another.
In the weeks leading up to Tuesday’s elections, the establishment’s support for Paul Soglin solidified. Soglin’s biggest-name endorsement came from Wisconsin governor Jim Doyle. For Cieslewicz, it was Dane County Supervisor Kathleen Falk.
Fifteen alders endorsed Soglin; three endorsed Cieslewicz. Soglin received endorsements from the Capital Times, The Wisconsin State Journal, and both campus newspapers. Cieslewicz was written off by even the more progressive Madison papers as a one-dimensional candidate lacking experience and received no area newspaper endorsements.
Yet somehow, more Madison voters showed up to vote for Cieslewicz than Soglin on Apri 1, with every Isthmus ward, many with a residential majority of students, going his way.
His Progressive Dane ties severed after his endorsement of the wrong progressive candidate, Tom Powell can chuckle now.
