Ald. Scott Resnick will face off with incumbent Mayor Paul Soglin in April’s mayoral elections, after both moved on from Tuesday’s low-turnout spring primaries.
The two were the top vote-getters among the five candidates who sought the mayor’s spot on Tuesday. Resnick serves as alder of Madison’s student-dominated District 8, while Soglin has served seven terms as mayor since 1973.
Soglin won with 52.7 percent of the vote, while Resnick had 23.3 percent of the vote and former Ald. Bridget Maniaci had 14.8 percent of the vote, according to preliminary results from the Dane County clerk’s office.
During his election party at The Fountain, Resnick said he is ready to get to work and move “on to April.”
“We are tired of listless and reactionary leadership. … Our next mayor needs to be open to new and progressive ideas,” Resnick said. “I know I have the energy and the know-how.”
But Soglin said being a mayor is more than simply having ideas and that he is the candidate who can bring workable solutions to issues facing Madison.
“Very simply, here’s what it comes down to, it’s one thing to describe a problem in this community, it’s another thing to have a solution to that problem and it’s even more challenging to have a solution that works,” Soglin said at his election party.
Erik Brown/The Badger Herald
Tuesday’s elections drew a small turnout from city voters, with a total turnout of 12.19 percent, according to the Madison City Clerk’s office.
The turnout numbers were significantly lower on the University of Wisconsin campus. By 4 p.m., only 11 people had voted at the Memorial Union polling location while 14 had voted at Gordon Commons — giving each location a voter turnout below 1 percent by 4 p.m.
The other two candidates in the race, 25-year-old activist Christopher Daly and former Dane County Supervisor Richard Brown, had about 4.5 percent of the vote each.
Brown said the election results disappointed him but that he “ran a tough race” and will continue to help the Madison community.
Daly said he thought his grassroots campaign did well with what it had, with the work coming almost entirely from volunteers. He said he would support Soglin in the general election, charging Resnick with “trying to buy the mayor’s office.”
Soglin and Resnick have butted heads over issues in the past, such as proposals to bridge a “digital divide” within the Madison community and how to regulate the rideshare companies Uber and Lyft.
Soglin has run his current campaign focusing on the four main issues of creating family supporting jobs, creating equal and just communities, spurring neighborhood and economic development and solving issues of housing and homelessness.
Resnick, the chief operating officer of Hardin Design and Development, prides his campaign on its bold ideas and change for the city of Madison.
Resnick picked up endorsements from the UW College Democrats and various Madison city alders, while Soglin earned the endorsement of Madison Teachers, Inc. and various school board members.
College Dems endorse Resnick for mayor after candidate forum
The mayoral election will be held on April 7.
