Cavalier Johnson

Johnson's father worked as a custodian for more than 30 years, and his mother worked as a certified nursing assistant. He is one of 10 siblings. He grew up in Milwaukee's 53206 ZIP code, known for having the highest incarceration rate for African-American males out of any ZIP code in the country.^[4]

At 14 years old, he was selected by the YMCA to participate in a pre-college program, Sponsor-A-Scholar, for low-income students in Milwaukee Public Schools. Johnson credits this for his commitment to community service.^[5]

In 2005, Johnson graduated from Bay View High School.^[6] As a junior, he was a cameraman for the Youth in Government press corps.^[7] He continued his education after high school, attending the University of Wisconsin–Madison, where he earned his bachelor's degree in political science in 2009.^[5]

Johnson has served on boards at the Milwaukee YMCA, ACLU of Wisconsin, and Milwaukee Community Brainstorming.^[5]

After college, Johnson worked with the Milwaukee Area Workforce Investment Board assisting at-risk youth, youth entering the workforce for the first time, and adults retooling to enter the workforce.^[5] Johnson worked as a community outreach liaison for the government of Milwaukee, where he interacted with community and faith leaders.^[5]

Johnson ran for a seat on the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors in a five-way special election in 2011. He finished fifth, with 171 votes.^[8] In 2012, Johnson ran for a different seat on the County Board, finishing sixth out of seven candidates, with 106 votes.^[8]

In 2016, Johnson ran for 2nd District Alderman on the Milwaukee Common Council, winning a five-way primary with 38 percent of the vote and winning the general election with 4,307 votes (52 percent).^[8] In 2018, Johnson was the lead sponsor to ban fee-based conversion therapy of minors in Milwaukee.^[9]

Johnson was re-elected without opposition in 2020,^[8] and he was also elected by his peers, in an 8–7 vote, to serve as the Milwaukee Common Council President.^[4][10]

Johnson became acting mayor of Milwaukee upon the resignation of Tom Barrett—who was set to become Ambassador to Luxembourg—on December 22, 2021.^[11] He served as acting mayor until the 2022 Milwaukee mayoral special election,^[12] a race in which Johnson was a candidate.^[13] The day before assuming the role, Johnson announced that his top priority would be combating reckless driving to create safe streets.^[14][6] On April 5, 2022, Johnson won the special election, becoming the first elected African-American mayor of Milwaukee.^[2] While Johnson is the first elected black mayor of Milwaukee, he is the city's second black mayor, after Marvin Pratt, who served as acting mayor in 2004.^[15][3]

Johnson lives in Milwaukee's Concordia neighborhood.^[16] He is married and has three children.^[8]