Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway announced she will run for reelection in the April 2023 General Election. Former Deputy Mayor and Madison School Board President Gloria Reyes also announced her candidacy for mayor.
Rhodes-Conway has served as Madison’s mayor since 2019, when she beat then-incumbent Paul Soglin. She is the 58th mayor of Madison, the second woman mayor and the first mayor to be out as an LGBTQ person.
In an interview with The Badger Herald, Rhodes-Conway said she has focused on housing, affordable transportation and climate change during her term as mayor.
“I’ve been serving the people of Madison for four years,” Rhodes-Conway said. “And I’m committed to taking pragmatic and progressive steps, which I think is what the city needs.”
Rhodes-Conway said that she has made progress on many issues, but there is still more work to do — which is why she is running for reelection.
This will be a unique mayoral election for Madison, according to University of Wisconsin professor of Political Science and Public Affairs John Witte.
Mayoral elections are unique because they are not a partisan race. Instead, they are very issue-based, Witte said.
Madison is unique because it is a very high voting city, according to Witte. Many people will turn out for the election in April because Madison has many politically active residents, Witte said.
Gloria Reyes has lived in Madison for years. Her parents were migrant farm workers before they brought her family to Madison, and she has been here ever since. She went to Madison East High School, Madison College and the University of Wisconsin.
Reyes was part of the Madison Police Department for 13 years. She spent two years with the defender’s office and two years with the Department of Justice in Madison. She was the president of the school board. She also served as deputy mayor for five years.
Reyes said that people in the community encouraged her to run for mayor because of her wide experience and involvement in Madison.
“I consider myself not a typical candidate running against an incumbent,” Reyes said. “And I say that because I’ve been in this community for years. I have worked in many different capacities for this, for a public service, and have reached many people out in this community in different ways in my different roles.”
Reyes said she wants to move Madison forward together. She said she would listen to the people of the community because they know what Madison needs best.
There are a few key issues in Madison that will come up in the spring elections, and each candidate contributed thoughts on how to address these issues.
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A major issue that Madison residents, especially UW students, are thinking about is accessible and affordable housing — this issue will show itself on the ballot, according to Reyes.
Reyes said Madison is in a housing crisis, but this crisis did not happen overnight. She plans to look at trends that caused issues with housing and work with city officials and the university to come up with solutions.
“I think as Mayor, I want to listen to the voices of our business leaders in our community about what is best needed at this moment in time,” Reyes said.
Rhodes-Conway said the city has doubled their budget for housing since she has been in office, but it will take years for this funding to have a visible impact.
She plans to meet with UW Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin to discuss more options to help with campus housing. Rhodes-Conway said she understands that housing is difficult for students and wants to work with the campus to help with this issue.
“We’ve really been able to make progress on housing, on transportation and climate, but there’s more work to do,” Rhodes-Conway said.
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Another key issue that both candidates mentioned was public safety.
Rhodes-Conway said her office has been working on violence prevention.
“I’m proud we’re taking a public health approach, and using evidence-based prevention,” Rhodes-Conway said.
Reyes said that as a former member of the Madison Police Department, she is in a good position to address public safety. As deputy mayor, she also considered data-driven strategies to address public safety.
“I feel that people want and expect some strong strategies to intervene at this moment in time,” Reyes said.
Reyes mentioned that a future concern for downtown Madison may be economic development. She said there may be concerns in the future about small businesses closing due to workforce shortages.
Rhodes-Conway also said economic development may be a relevant issue because it is important to connect young people to employment in a city with such a big student population.
Spring elections for mayor will take place April 4, 2023.
