Thug Alderman Michael McGee, Jr.

This is an absolute disgrace.

The people of Milwaukee's 6th Aldermanic District voted to keep Michael McGee, Jr. in office.

A recall effort to unseat the controversial McGee failed.

In a field of eight candidates, he won more than 50% of the vote, allowing him to avoid a runoff election.

From The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

Although Milwaukee Ald. Michael McGee could not block the recall effort against him, he got a knockout win Tuesday where it matters most: at the ballot box.

The outspoken McGee, whose actions have infuriated critics and inspired supporters, got 64% of the votes in the eight-person race.

Because he received more than half of the votes cast, a runoff isn't needed.

McGee easily outdistanced the field. The two strongest opponents were former city development official Una Van Duvall (14%) and recall organizer ViAnna Jordan (13%).

The remaining five candidates split 9% of the vote, with several registering only a few dozen votes.

While the recall focused on what the challengers said were McGee's flaws, including a host of problems that have generated headlines, Tuesday's results left him politically strengthened and well-positioned to win a second term next year.

McGee is politically strengthened?

That may be, but the community isn't strengthened by having someone like McGee in office.

No one is perfect. No candidate is without flaws. You have to weigh the good and the bad.

...In office, McGee has worked to find a place for cruisers, which many other aldermen consider a summertime plague. He helped lead protests on behalf of Frank Jude Jr., who was beaten by a group of off-duty Milwaukee police officers. And he launched a gun buy-back program, as well as a "Rapid Response Team" to address crime in the district.

But McGee has also been at the center of controversy.

For instance, the Jude protests did not start immediately after the beating, but after a front-page story appeared in the Journal Sentinel months later. At one rally, he called then-Milwaukee County District Attorney E. Michael McCann a "dumb ass" and used the word "faggot" to label the officers involved.

When that drew complaints from gay leaders, McGee was confronted at City Hall by state Sen. Tim Carpenter (D-Milwaukee), who demanded an apology.

McGee walked away, but later allegedly bragged to students on a bus trip to Washington, D.C.: "Man, I should have kicked his ass."

There have been plenty of other incidents, including one with police outside a Blockbuster video store in Wauwatosa. Later, McGee was arrested on suspicion of threatening a woman pregnant with his unborn child who had just received a restraining order against him. No charges were filed in that case.

Most recently, a restraining order was issued against McGee ordering him to stay away from Leon Todd, campaign manager for Jordan. In a radio appearance, McGee had said Todd should be "hung" for his "betrayal of the community."

He later gave out Todd's phone number over the air, which Todd said led to harassing phone calls.

Read more detailed accounts of McGee's adventures here and here and here and here.

As I said, no one is all bad, but McGee seems to carry around an excess of negatives.


Does McGee seem fit to serve in elected office?


Lying in court, having an affair, impregnating a woman other than his wife, threatening people with violence, using gay slurs and other offensive language doesn't exactly make him a good role model.

I can't believe that the people in his district would settle for a leader like McGee. On Tuesday, they validated McGee's behavior. They rewarded him.

After securing his position as alderman, McGee said in a television interview on Milwaukee's ABC affiliate, "Praise God. Power to the people."

McGee went on to say, "Black people have to stop killing each other."

True. I have no argument with that.

Still, those are interesting words coming from a man who threatened the mother of his child in court.

He allegedly said to her, "If you drive by my house, I'm going to kill your ass."

This from the man who crushed his opponents in a recall election.

The results reveal just how incredibly dysfunctional Milwaukee has become.

What passes for leadership in the community is frightening.

I'm sure Michael McGee, Sr. will be gloating today. Will he celebrate his son's victory by threatening violence and spewing racist and anti-Semitic remarks on the radio?

That would be fitting.

McGee, Jr.'s victory was a victory for thug politics, another nail in Milwaukee's coffin.

"Praise God."