Molly Beck

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

MADISON - Paul Soglin, who was first elected mayor of Madison 45 years ago, lost an election in the twilight of his political career to a challenger who was not yet born when he first entered the public eye.

Once dubbed Madison's "Mayor for Life," Soglin lost what could be his last race — a competition that came less than a year after losing a bid for the governor's office.

Satya Rhodes-Conway, 47, who will be the city's first openly gay mayor, defeated Soglin by about 18,000 votes.

Soglin sought another four years as mayor after promising not to during the failed gubernatorial run. He changed his mind after being defeated in a primary election by Gov. Tony Evers, and went on to compete against a woman he once endorsed to replace him.

Now 73, Soglin first entered Madison city politics in 1968 when he was in college at the University of Wisconsin-Madison after gaining national notoriety as a student protesting the Vietnam War.

He was first elected mayor of the capital city in 1973 and has overseen major developments in Madison's landscape that define the city today — like a bike path hugging the banks of Lake Monona and a Frank Lloyd Wright-designed convention center that overlooks the same water.

Soglin left city politics in 1979 to work as a private attorney for about 10 years until he returned to the mayor's office. He left again in the mid-1990s for an unsuccessful bid for Congress. He was again elected mayor in 2011 and re-elected in 2015.