Satya Rhodes-Conway
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Satya Rhodes-Conway | |
|---|---|
_(1).jpg) Rhodes-Conway in 2024 | |
| 57th Mayor of Madison | |
| Assumed office April 16, 2019 | |
| Preceded by | Paul Soglin |
| Member of the Madison Common Council from the 12th district | |
| In office April 2007 – April 2013 | |
| Preceded by | Brian Benford |
| Succeeded by | Larry Palm |
| Personal details | |
| Born | November 3, 1971 Española, New Mexico, U.S. |
| Party | Democratic |
| Other political affiliations | Progressive Dane |
| Education | Smith College (BS) University of California, Irvine (MS) |
| Website | City website |
Satya Rhodes-Conway (born November 3, 1971) is an American politician and the mayor of Madison, Wisconsin. She was first elected in 2019 and was re-elected in 2023. She previously served on the Madison Common Council between 2007 and 2013. She is the first out lesbian elected as a mayor in Wisconsin, and only the second woman to become mayor of Madison.[1][2]
Satya Rhodes-Conway was born in 1971, in Española, New Mexico, and raised in Ithaca, New York.[3][4] She attended Smith College and earned a master’s degree from the University of California, Irvine.[5] Rhodes-Conway moved to Madison, Wisconsin, around 2000.[6] She worked at the State Environmental Resource Center, as a senior associate with the University of Wisconsin's Center on Wisconsin Strategy, and served on several municipal committees, as chair of the Long Range Metro Transit Ad Hoc Planning Committee, and a subcommittee member of the Commission on the Environment.[6] Rhodes-Conway became managing director of the University of Wisconsin–Madison Mayors Innovation Project in 2005.[7]
Madison City Council
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From 2007 through 2013, Rhodes-Conway served two terms as an alder (city councilor) on the Madison Common Council. Her campaigns for alder saw Rhodes-Conway receive endorsements from the Green Party of the United States,[8][9] the Progressive Dane party and the Democratic Party in bids for political office.[6][10][11] She began campaigning for Brian Benford's open seat on the Madison Common Council in December 2006,[12] and was one of nine new alders elected to the Madison Common Council in 2007.[13] Rhodes-Conway announced in November 2012 that she would not run for reelection,[14] and stepped down from the position upon the end of her third term in April 2013.[14] She was succeeded in office by Larry Palm.[15]
2019 mayoral campaign
Rhodes-Conway announced that she would run for the mayorship in May 2018.[16] She and incumbent mayor Paul Soglin were the top two finishers in a primary held on February 19, 2019.[17] The 2019 mayoral primary was Madison's most expensive,[18] as six candidates raised a total of $453,365; $83,331 of that total was raised by Rhodes-Conway's campaign.[19][20] Rhodes-Conway finished second, 323 votes behind Soglin, to advance to the general election.[21][22]
Rhodes-Conway's campaign focused on a short list of issues, including bringing bus rapid transit to Madison, increasing the supply of affordable housing, combatting climate change, and promoting racial equity.[23] During the primary, Rhodes-Conway's support came largely from the Isthmus and neighboring wards.[24][25] Debates between Rhodes-Conway and Soglin covered a number of topics,[26][27] including affordable housing,[28] the municipal economy,[29] public safety, and policing.[30] Rhodes-Conway won support from Wisconsin State Assemblywoman Terese Berceau and Dane County Executive Joe Parisi.[31][32] She was subsequently endorsed by the Wisconsin State Journal editorial board,[33] The Capital Times,[34] and The Daily Cardinal.[35] Throughout the campaign, Rhodes-Conway raised more money than Soglin,[36] and spent more on expenditures.[37][38] Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele spent $47,000 on mailings supportive of Rhodes-Conway's mayoral bid, an amount described by the Wisconsin State Journal as "unusual, if not unprecedented," due to its origin outside of Dane County.[39]
Rhodes-Conway defeated Soglin in the April 2, 2019 election, earning victory with over 61 percent of the vote.[40] Voter turnout was approximately 36 percent.[41] Rhodes-Conway's electoral victory was driven by large margins in the Isthmus, Near East Side, and West Side. She managed to flip wards in the Far East Side and West Side, parts of the city that previously voted for Soglin. In a ward near Capitol Square, Rhodes-Conway won by a 68.5-point margin.[42][43] She is the second woman to be elected mayor of Madison and the first openly gay person elected to the office.[44][1] Lori Lightfoot was elected Mayor of Chicago on the same day Rhodes-Conway won Madison's mayoral election.[2] Former Mayor of Houston Annise Parker stated that both victories "leave us well-positioned to make 2019 the year of the lesbian mayor."[10]
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