by | November 8, 2012 · 4:41 pm

Some South Milwaukee Election Math: Looking Across Districts At The Presidential Race

It was a clean sweep for Barack Obama and Joe Biden in South Milwaukee on Tuesday … but they didn’t see the same strong support across the city.

Check out the the results from each aldermanic district in Tuesday’s presidential election:

  • First District: Obama 54.1%, Romney 43.7%
  • Second District: Obama 54.3%, Romney 44.1%
  • Third District: Obama 49.9%, Romney 48.7%
  • Fourth District: Obama 54.4%, Romney 43.9%

The Third District also saw easily the closest margin in the U.S. Senate race in South Milwaukee, as Tammy Baldwin beat Tommy Thompson by only 14 votes there (1,448-1,434). The Third was also the only district that put their majority support behind Dan Sebring in the House race, and it produced the widest margin in the Mark Honadel-William Kurtz state Assembly race.

Here are the final overall numbers again.

What does your election math show you? Post your comments below!

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by | November 7, 2012 · 9:35 pm

Election Odds And Ends

Rounding up some other area election results and coverage …

  • Cudahy voters approved a $5.9 “Safe Warm Dry” facilities referendum by a margin of 65% to 35%. Learn more about the referendum here.
  • Democrat Christine Sinicki of Cudahy won her eighth term in the Wisconsin Assembly, easily beating Republican Molly McGartland, 58% to 42%.
  • Here is Oak Creek Patch coverage of the “strange day” at the Oak Creek polls.
  • Patch also took a deep dive into Oak Creek’s results … which, not surprisingly, leaned strongly Republican.
  • And then there’s this from NOW — a story about how other southern suburbs (including Oak Creek) went heavily Republican Tuesday. That wasn’t the case in South Milwaukee.

I’ll post more items when I see them.

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by | November 7, 2012 · 8:48 pm

Disturbing Story About Alleged Anti-Semetism In South Milwaukee And Other Headlines

Check out these South Shore headlines …

Also, NOW has published a new police blotter.

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by | November 7, 2012 · 6:21 pm

More On Mark Honadel’s Win

Check out the story in Oak Creek Patch, which had an interview with Rep. Honadel today. From it:

The 56-year-old welder and businessman said he looked at election results and found that, particularly in South Milwaukee, many people voted for both him and President Barack Obama.

He took those crossover votes as a tribute to his commitment to set politics aside and provide constituents good service.

“I’m a firm believer that if you don’t get caught up in all the fluff and politics, and you just do the job well, people will continue to reward you,” he said.

Honadel said mining legislation will be at the top of his agenda when the next session starts in January. He was a co-author of mining legislation proposed last session that was ultimately rejected. While opponents have voiced environmental and oversight concerns, a vibrant mining industry is important to help create jobs at local companies like Caterpillar, Honadel said.

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by | November 7, 2012 · 6:56 am

2012 South Milwaukee Election Results: What Happened Locally? Big Wins For Democrats, Honadel

The winners in South Milwaukee: Barack Obama, Tammy Baldwin, Gwen Moore and Mark Honadel.

Here’s a bit more detail from Tuesday …

  • President Barack Obama scored a big win over Mitt Romney locally, tallying 5,810 votes, or 53.1%, to Romney’s 4,956, or 45.2% — larger than the statewide margin.
  • Tammy Baldwin also defeated Tommy Thompson in the U.S. Senate race with 5,557 votes, or 51.9%, to 4,838, or 45.2%, also a bigger victory than across the state.
  • U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore also scored a surprising victory locally in the District 4 House race. After losing badly in 2010 to Republican challenger Mark Sebring, the Democrat had 4,760 votes, or 47.9%, to 4,711 votes, or 47.4%. That margin was much larger across the district, which includes a good portion of the City of Milwaukee.
  • Also, State Rep. Mark Honadel easily beat Democratic challenger William Kurtz, 5,827 votes to 4,525 votes. The 56.2% to 43.6% margin is a bit smaller than how the overall 21st Assembly District was trending, including Oak Creek.

Turnout was also extremely high, with 11,065 of 12,528 voters, or 88.3%, casting a ballot.

See the full election recap here.

Of course, I’d like to know what you think about this. Post your comments below … and be sure to vote in my new poll.

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by | November 7, 2012 · 6:26 am

Mark Honadel Rolls To Sixth Term

South Shore State Rep. Mark Honadel is returning to Madison for a fifth full term.

Honadel (R-South Milwaukee) easily defeated Democratic challenger William Kurtz on Tuesday. With 80% of the votes counted, Honadel had 16,098 votes, or 60%, to Kurtz’s 10,542 votes, or 40%, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Honadel was first elected to the Assembly in a special election in 2003 and has been re-elected since 2004.

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by | November 6, 2012 · 10:37 pm

AP: Gwen Moore Beats Dan Sebring In House Race

Update: Here is more detail.

U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore has won re-election to a fifth term, easily defeating Republican challenger Dan Sebring for the third straight time.

That’s according to The Associated Press.

With 30 percent of the vote in around 10:30 p.m., Moore — who represents the Fourth Congressional District (including South Milwaukee) in the House — had tallied 73% of the vote to Sebring’s 24% (62,195 to 20,834 overall).

I’ll keep you posted on how she fared in South Milwaukee. You’ll recall that Sebring handily beat Moore in South Milwaukee in 2010, with Moore scoring big wins in the City of Milwaukee and other areas.

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by | November 6, 2012 · 9:56 pm

Nicholson Avenue Reopens

It will now be a lot easier to get to and from South Milwaukee.

Nicholson Avenue has reopened as a four-lane road. I drove it home from work tonight.

Thanks for your patience during the four-plus month construction … and let me know what you think of the new road. Post your comments below!

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by | November 6, 2012 · 9:01 am

Open Thread: What Are You Seeing At The Polls?

Just wondering what you’re encountering out there …

Post your comments below!

(And check back here later for full local results.)

Update: The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel spoke with a poll worker at Divine Mercy School in this article …

At Divine Mercy School in South Milwaukee, chief Jean Ruka said there were many absentee ballots and an influx of new voters.

“Many new registrations, which is good,” Ruka said. “People who have never voted before, some of them over 40 (years old) which was impressive that they finally found a reason to vote.”

Ruka said she thought voters were better informed than usual this year and were coming in with the required documents.

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by | November 5, 2012 · 9:50 pm

It’s Election Day: Vote!

No reminder needed, but here it is anyway: Tuesday is election day, and I hope everyone reading this blog will do their democratic duty and vote.

Here are some particulars:

  • Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.
  • Not sure where to vote? Check out the district map here … and remember that all First District voters now vote at Divine Mercy School, 695 College Ave., and not the library.
  • Check out a sample ballot here.

Your patience is appreciated, as I’m betting there will be lines, even though the city clerk’s office has been proactive in adding staff to help with the expected large turnout: 80 poll workers in all, in addition to two coming in for lunch and supper breaks. Extra staff has also been added to the actual clerk’s office, and more than a dozen South Milwaukee High School students are volunteering to do their part.

Learn more on the city’s elections page, and be sure to check back to South Milwaukee Blog Tuesday night for local election returns.

See you at the polls!

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by | November 5, 2012 · 5:03 pm

More Headlines

Check out these headlines from around the South Shore …

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by | November 4, 2012 · 11:25 pm

Parks Update: Lakefront Parks Joint Meeting, Seven Bridges Repair

Milwaukee County Supervisor Pat Jursik’s eNews update has a couple of updates involving Grant Park, including word of joint meeting of lakefront park Friends groups set for 6 p.m. Thursday at the Grant Park clubhouse.

The goal: increased cooperation around common issues like erosion, beach health and safety.

There is also good news on Grant Park’s Seven Bridges:

The Parks Department plans to restore the large lakeside bridge at Seven Bridges soon. The contractors hope to begin construction in late November and complete work by the end of 2012.  While Seven Bridges shall remain open to the public, some areas will be obstructed to accommodate heavy machinery.  Reconstruction of the large lakeside bridge will be prioritized.   The crew will then repair the footbridge by Wil-O-Way.

To protect this sensitive area, we need to use the official paths.  Unfortunately, visitors have climbed down and eroded the ravine while the bridge has been out of service.

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by | November 4, 2012 · 3:33 pm

Downtown Apartment Fire Reported

Thankfully, no one was hurt, and damage doesn’t appear too major from the early-morning apartment fire Sunday at 1231 Milwaukee Avenue.

Here are details from Acting South Milwaukee Fire Chief Joe Knitter …

At 2:12 this morning, SMFD crews responded to a 9-1-1 call from a tenant at 1231 Milwaukee Avenue reporting the smell of smoke in his apartment on the second floor at that address. Crews arrived on the scene and found smoke issuing from the attic area and eaves of the building. Lt. Boschke upgraded the response to include our mutual aid neighbors due to the size of the building and number of apartments (10).  Crews accessed the attic via an exterior panel and found an area approximately 8’ in diameter burning away at the ceiling joists, wood ceiling lath and blown-in insulation.  SMPD personnel knocked on doors and evacuated residents as SMFD crews worked to extinguish the fire.  Damage to the ceiling area above the bedroom of this apartment was extensive with the ceiling joists being totally consumed and the lath-and-plaster weakening to the point of collapsing into the apartment.  This apartment was the only one affected by the fire and the tenant was assisted by SMFD in finding alternate living arrangements since crews turned off power to the entire apartment and damage prevented him from staying there.  The area of the fire origin was at the ceiling level concentrated around an electrical light fixture.  Closer examination by an electrical expert will be necessary to determine if the electrical system was involved in the cause of the fire.  No injuries were reported by tenants or fire/police personnel. Damage is estimated to be $15,000 to the structure and $5,000 to the contents. 

I’ll keep you posted if I learn more.

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by | November 4, 2012 · 10:07 am

Nicholson Avenue To Reopen Tuesday

A widened Nicholson/Pennsylvania Avenue is scheduled to reopen late Tuesday — in time for Wednesday morning commuter traffic.

I look forward to seeing the new road, even if it took a couple weeks longer than anticipated.

The reason for the delay: The Wisconsin Department of Transportation, which is administering the contract as part of its local improvement program, has granted the contractor extra time due to recent weather and additional work — work that the South Milwaukee, Oak Creek, the DOT and the contractor agreed a while back must be complete before it would reopen.

I’ll keep you posted if anything changes. Thanks for your continued patience.

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by | November 2, 2012 · 10:39 pm

More On The Assembly Race

Oak Creek Patch has a story previewing the race for the 21st Assembly District, which includes all of South Milwaukee and Oak Creek and a small part of Franklin.

See it here … and be sure to vote in my poll.

Mark Honadel or Bill Kurtz?

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