Democratic Assembly primary between Ryan Clancy, Jarrod Anderson attracts big money

In the Democratic primary for state Assembly's 19th District, despite the two candidates having little policy differences, the race has pulled in more than $130,000 in donations.

The district, which includes downtown Milwaukee and areas along the lakefront, leans heavily Democratic. No Republican is running in the district, so whoever wins the primary Tuesday will win the November election.

Jarrod Anderson, a lawyer for a local nonprofit group, has raised more than $70,000 in the primary contest. That includes $1,000 donations from Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson and $150 from County Board Chair Marcelia Nicholson.

Ryan Clancy, the district's incumbent, is not far behind. His campaign has taken in nearly $63,000. That figure includes $1,000 from the state teachers union and $500 from state Sen. Chris Larson, a Milwaukee Democrat.

For Milwaukee-area Assembly races, the total fundraising is an unusually high amount, according to David Julseth, a data analyst at the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign. Only one Assembly Democratic primary in 2022 was more expensive than this one; that contest had five candidates.

This is the first challenge for Clancy, 47, a Democratic socialist who ran unopposed in 2022 and has since become outspoken in his support for progressive causes and Palestinians during the Israel-Hamas war.

The race has proved contentious, and top Milwaukee Democrats have bucked the incumbent to endorse Anderson, 31, citing the main difference between the two candidates: approach to legislating.

Both District 19 candidates share liberal positions, differ in legislating style

Despite the competitive campaign, the two men share many liberal policy positions.

On Clancy's and Anderson's campaign websites, they both describe support for abortion access, tighter gun control and the legalization of cannabis, among other policies focused on increasing tenant protections, public school financing and support for undocumented immigrants.

The main difference between the two candidates may lie in their approach to legislating.

After Wisconsin’s maps were redrawn, Anderson said he believes progressives must build coalitions to pass policy, something he said Clancy has not done.

“We can be progressive and we can also be strategic,” Anderson said.

Clancy, on the other hand, said he believes in his votes and is steadfast in his progressive values. He has led the charge against policies other Democrats have supported and said he “won’t apologize” for his opposition.

“I have every faith that (Anderson) will compromise our values and that he will compromise what the folks in the 19th district believe in,” Clancy said.

Anderson said he started to think about running after Clancy caused controversy from his combative style, when Clancy said police officers’ jobs “have neither dignity nor value” in August 2023.

While Anderson supports police reforms, he said he would “never demean” police officers in that way and said it was "just not what leaders do."

Clancy has ruffled feathers in Madison and Milwaukee, like with his vote on Act 12, which allowed the city to create a 2% sales tax and the county to boost its sales tax by 0.4%. This is one of the few policy differences between the two candidates.

Clancy did not vote for the legislation, saying it was “Republican-written” and has clashed with Milwaukee Democrats, including the mayor, for supporting it. Anderson said he would’ve voted for the bill.

One of the other issues is the difference in approach to the war in Gaza. Clancy abstained from voting on an Assembly resolution denouncing Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack.

Following Clancy’s pro-Palestinian Facebook posts, he received calls for removal from state Elections Commission member and local Jewish leader Ann Jacobs, who vowed to oust him.

“Certainly the reason that my opponent is in the race to begin with is me having called for a ceasefire in Palestine,” Clancy said. “That is a surprisingly salient issue in the district.”

Clancy contends that Jacobs recruited Anderson for the race, which Anderson objects to. Anderson said he “self-selected” to run.

On the Middle East conflict, Anderson said his view is in more line with federal representatives, including Sen. Tammy Baldwin and Rep. Gwen Moore. He supports a ceasefire and humanitarian aid with the release of hostages. Last week, he said he didn't have a position on the issue.

However, Anderson emphasized that the state Legislature has no jurisdiction over foreign affairs and said he is more focused on Wisconsin issues.

Clancy said his advocacy for Palestinians doesn't take away from his work on other legislation.

Milwaukee Democrats line up behind Anderson

Clancy won the district in 2022 after former representative Jonathan Brostoff announced he would run for Milwaukee Common Council instead. Before then, Clancy was on the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors.

Now some of the same supporters from 2022 are backing his opponent.

“Representative Clancy has not been effective at building coalitions and at reaching across the aisle and at making the partnerships that are needed to pass progressive policy,” Anderson said.

Anderson said the reason the Milwaukee mayor and county executive endorsed him is Clancy’s “extreme stances” that make it hard to work together on policy.

Clancy, who has criticized Anderson for not voting in several elections since moving to the state in 2021, said he isn’t worried about the change in endorsements, saying Anderson has a “small handful of very conservative Dems” on his side and cited his own support from organizations like the Working Families Party.

“Those are not the folks that I want in my corner, and I think by and large, those aren't the folks that most voters want on their site either,” Clancy said.

Daniel Bice of the Journal Sentitnel staff contributed to this report.

Tristan Hernandez can be reached at [email protected].

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Ryan Clancy, Jarrod Anderson Assembly primary attracts big money