State Sen. Lena Taylor to square off against Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett in April election

Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett will face state Sen. Lena Taylor in the April 7 general election.

With 318 of 327 precincts reporting in Tuesday's primary election, Barrett had 28,953 votes to Taylor's 18,021, according to unofficial totals.

South side Ald. Tony Zielinski was in third place with 9,266 votes.

Barrett said Tuesday night that he was pleased with the results.

"I think people recognized that I’m someone committed to the success of every single part of this city," he said.

Barrett is running for a fifth term in office.

Taylor said Tuesday night that the results show Milwaukee residents want change.

"At the very least, this grassroots effort of people was not beat by money, it was the power of the people and the audacity of faith that brought us this far," Taylor told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Asked about the funds Barrett has available — nearly $900,000 cash on hand at last check — Taylor said, "The money can't go vote."

Zielinski, who is not running again for his aldermanic seat, said on Tuesday that it had been a "great honor" to spend more than three decades in public service.

And while the election didn't turn out the way he wanted, Zielinski said, "The city is not going in the right direction with Mayor Barrett and I had to run against him to try and get the city on the right track."

Paul Rasky — a fourth candidate who also submitted enough signatures to qualify for races in the city's 14th Aldermanic District and Milwaukee County Board Supervisory District 4 — had fewer than 2,000 votes.

Barrett struck a unifying tone as he announced in November that he would seek another term, saying at the time that he wanted to bring more jobs, housing and early education to the city that first elected him mayor in 2004.

He was re-elected in 2008, 2012 and 2016 with 70% or more of the vote and far outpaced Taylor and Zielinski in fundraising, campaign finance records show.

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Taylor, a fourth-term Democratic state senator, announced her mayoral bid in September following years of speculation that she might be interested in the seat.

She has criticized Barrett for what she said was a lack of action by his administration that prevents equal access and opportunity and has called him "disconnected" from voters on issues including race, job creation and policing.

She was first elected to the state Assembly in a special election in April 2003 and was elected to the state Senate the next year.

Zielinski announced his run against Barrett in 2017.

First elected to the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors in 1988, he became the city's District 14 alderman in 2004.

He has criticized Barrett's advocacy for the city's streetcar, dubbed "The Hop," calling it a waste of money in a financially strapped city and an example of Barrett's misplaced priorities.

He also has highlighted the city's challenges, including racial disparities, child poverty, violent crime, infrastructure and lead.

Contact Alison Dirr at 414-224-2383 or adirr@jrn.com. Follow her on Twitter @AlisonDirr.