Milwaukee candidate for Assembly seat criticized for voting only twice in recent elections

A Democratic candidate for a state Assembly seat has voted only twice since moving to the state in 2021, according to city and state records.

Jarrod Anderson, who is challenging state Rep. Ryan Clancy (D-Milwaukee), voted twice this year but not in other previous years, records show. Officials with the state Elections Commission and the city Election Commission confirmed his voting history.

The records say he did not cast a ballot in the last gubernatorial, U.S. Senate and Supreme Court elections, among others. He also missed the 2022 special mayoral elections.

"I knocked on thousands of doors for Democratic and Supreme Court candidates during elections when Anderson seemed to have sat it out," said Clancy, a Democratic socialist serving his first term representing the 19th District covering Milwaukee's east side and Bay View.

But in an interview this week, Anderson disputed the information provided by city and state officials. Anderson has the backing of Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson and Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley.

He acknowledged that he didn't register to vote when he first moved to Milwaukee because he was dealing with his father's health issues. His father, who lives in Fargo, N.D., has a serious respiratory illness, and Anderson said there were concerns he might get COVID-19.

But Anderson, 31, a staff attorney for Common Ground Healthcare Cooperative, said he registered to vote in 2022 and has voted regularly since then.

"I have strong memories of voting with my wife, but I can't say with certainty that it's all of them (elections)," Anderson said. "I'm surprised to not see them on the rolls."

He said the records of his voting history are "confusing" and "frustrating."

Earlier, he said he was asked about his voting record during an endorsement interview with the Milwaukee Area Labor Council. But he said he assumed that the group was interested in why he had not registered and voted when he first moved here in 2021.

"I'm a health care attorney," Anderson said. "I know the value of voting. I'm a voter. … I know the importance of voting, and I want to spread that to folks as well."

Asked about Anderson's voting record, Clancy, 47, said he has voted throughout his life, noting that he even requested absentee ballots when he was in the Peace Corps.

Records show he did skip voting in at least one contest, the February primary election earlier this year. He said he was busy in Madison doing his job as a state lawmaker.

Clancy objected to Anderson's disputing the validity of state and city voting records.

"Questioning the validity of voting systems is not something that I think most Democrats do," he said.

Anderson dismissed the remarks by saying they were coming from a person who urged people not to vote for such Democrats as President Joe Biden, U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin and U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore.

Anderson is referring to a pro-Palestinian video posted late last year on X, formerly Twitter, critical of the Israel-Hamas war. Several of those on the video say they will not support Biden, who has since dropped out of the presidential election, and Baldwin, who is running against Republican businessman Eric Hovde, or Moore.

Clancy said in the video: "I will not vote for any candidate supporting the genocide of Palestinians in Gaza," without naming any specific candidates, and later, "Free Palestine."

Clancy has said he will continue to discuss the issue if re-elected. He said he plans to vote for Vice President Kamala Harris, Baldwin and Moore later this year.

Anderson, however, was reluctant to offer an opinion on the war in Gaza.

"I don't have a position," he said. "My focus of the campaign is focused entirely on Milwaukee.… We have no jurisdiction over foreign affairs. And the more time we spend on that is the less time we spend on the issues that actually affect Milwaukee."

The Democratic primary for the 19th Assembly District will decide the winner of the seat. No Republicans registered to run in the liberal district.

Contact Daniel Bice at (414) 313-6684 or [email protected]. Follow him on X at @DanielBice or on Facebook at fb.me/daniel.bice.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Assembly candidate criticized for voting only twice in recent elections