Deeply Democratic Milwaukee wrestles with hosting Trump, Republican National Convention

MILWAUKEE — Milwaukee loves its Miller beer, Brewers baseball And ” Bronze Fonz ” statue.

The deepest blue city in swing state wisconsinMilwaukee also loves Democrats.

So it can be hard for some to digest that Milwaukee is host to former President Donald Trump and the Republican National Convention next week, while rival Chicago, the larger city just 90 miles to the south, welcomes President Joe Biden and Democrats in August.

It didn’t help ease the situation with cautious Democrats after Trump used the word “terrible” if we’re talking about Milwaukee, just a month before the convention that starts on Monday.

Adding to the fear, Milwaukee was set to host the 2020 Democratic National Convention, but was canceled due to COVID. Local restaurant, bar and venue owners say they’re not getting the number of reservations promised during the RNC. And protesters complain that the city is trying to keep them too far from the convention site to have an impact.

“I wish I hadn’t been there,” said Jake Schneider, 29, as he walked past the statue of Fonzie, the character played by Henry Winkler on the 1970s Milwaukee sitcom “Happy Days.” “I’m not super excited about the Republican Party coming to town.”

Schneider, who lives in a downtown apartment, said Trump “sabotaged” himself with his comments about Milwaukee.

“I hope he is proven wrong and sees what a beautiful city it is,” Schneider said.

Ryan Clancy, a self-described democratic socialist who is a state representative and serves on the Milwaukee County Board of Governors, put it more bluntly: “It’s outrageous that we rolled out the red carpet for the RNC.”

Still, Democratic and Republican supporters of the convention point to the potential economic boon and the chance to showcase Milwaukee and Wisconsin during the convention that runs through Thursday.

“People are ready for the convention to be successful and take Milwaukee to the next level,” said Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson, a Democrat. “Donald Trump, no matter where it’s going to be, is going to be the Republican nominee. So it didn’t matter if it was in Milwaukee. It didn’t matter if it was in Mar-a-Lago.”

Milwaukee has come into the national spotlight in recent years, after the Bucks winning the national NBA championship in 2021 and the airing this spring of the latest season of “Top Chef,” a reality TV show filmed in the city and featuring a Milwaukee chef who made it to the finals.

And as Trump’s “terrible” comment showed, Milwaukee has also long been a target for conservative Republicans who have pointed out crime, schools with a low ranking And financial problems as an example of bad Democratic leadership.

“I hope this convention will showcase all the good things about Milwaukee,” said Brian Schimming, chairman of the Wisconsin Republican Party. “But it’s a city, like many other Democratic-run cities, that has extremely important problems.”

Democrats chose Milwaukee for the last party convention, but the 2020 DNC was a online event due to the pandemic.

The city’s successive selection by Democrats and Republicans speaks volumes about the The importance of the swing state.

Wisconsin is one of the handful of battlefield states will likely determine this year’s presidential election. It was one of the so-called “blue wall” states that Democrats once relied on, but Trump won it narrowly in 2016, setting the stage for his surprise victory. Biden won it back in 2020, and both campaigns are targeting it heavily this year.

But Milwaukee isn’t swinging. In 2020, it voted 79% for Biden. After his loss that year, Trump fought unsuccessfully to disqualify thousands of Milwaukee voters, falsely portraying late turnout due to a large absentee voter turnout as fraud.

Republicans say hosting the convention in Milwaukee will energize their base. While the city itself is Democratic, its suburbs are a battleground within a battleground state. Once deep red, Democrats have gained ground since 2016 as suburban women in particular turn away from Trump and the conservative agenda.

Even before the city was chosen to host the convention, Clancy and other Democrats urged Milwaukee to withdraw from the race, saying Nashville did after Democrats there objected to receiving Republicans.

But the biggest outcry came in June when Trump used the word “terrible” while talking about Milwaukee during a closed-door meeting with congressional Republicans. While attendees disagreed over whether Trump was talking about crime, election concerns or something else, he later said at a meeting in Wisconsin that he “loved” Milwaukee, it only confirmed for some Democrats earlier concerns about hosting Republicans.

Milwaukee brewery Mobcraft showcased the Midwestern city’s humor and love of beer by releasing a “(not so) terrible City IPA.”

As Congress approaches, some local business owners are questioning the estimated $200 million in revenue.

Only one of the six venues that the Pabst Theater Group operates in Milwaukee is booked for the week of the convention, said Gary Witt, the group’s president and CEO. Witt said he stands to lose more than $100,000 by not using venues, and he worries about the impact the convention will have on other Milwaukee businesses.

“If these people are all gone, we are worthless to them anyway,” Witt said of the convention attendees.

Protesters try dissemination of counterprogramming throughout the week, but feel they are held too far from the conference venues.

Omar Flores, chairman of the March on the RNC Coalition, said he is confident the protests will be peaceful and will take advantage of the national platform they will have. He said the coalition had to fight to get a march route that would be within sight and sound of the convention after Milwaukee’s Democratic leaders “completely sold us out, completely sold out the city and refused to listen to what the residents had to say.”

Clancy, the state’s Democratic representative, said he hoped the convention in the city where he was born and raised would motivate liberals.

“I hope that having a critical mass of people in our city who hate us will be enough to mobilize people for the primaries in August and November,” he said.