The Fall of Marvin Pratt: It Wasn't About Race
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
THE FALL OF MARVIN PRATT IT WASN’T ABOUT RACE IT WAS ABOUT TAKING THE HEAT MARK KASS arvin Pratt Some Pratt sup- was on top porters were even M of the quietly urging him Milwaukee political to drop out of the world on the evening mayor’s race and of February 16. run for re-election in his safe aldermanic The acting mayor district, which of the city of would likely have Milwaukee and long- allowed him to hold time alderman had on to the Common surprised almost Council president’s everyone by coming position. in first in a ten person mayoral primary, But as quickly as beating the two front- he surged to the runners — Milwaukee front-runner status, County Sheriff David Pratt fell and fell hard Clarke and former in the six weeks Congressman Thomas between the primary Barrett. and the general election on April 6. His quick descent has been compared to Howard Dean’s As he sang “Ain’t no stopping us now” to sudden national tumble after his rambling a room full of supporters at his election night speech on the evening he lost the Iowa caucuses. party at the Park East Hotel in downtown Milwaukee, Pratt had all the momentum of the Pratt’s campaign stumbled time and time frontrunner to become the first elected African again as it was wracked by: allegations of a American mayor of the city of Milwaukee. $116,000 gap in his campaign account that led to a John Doe investigation by the Milwaukee He had surged to the front of the crowded County district attorney’s office; the filing of mayoral field just six months after most politi- five civil charges regarding campaign finance cal observers had written off his campaign, errors; and comments from District Attorney concluding the race for the first open seat in Michael McCann that Pratt may have double- the mayor’s office in 16 years would be a battle billed the city for six trips during the past between Barrett and Clarke. Pratt was in the decade. second tier of candidates that included Alderman Thomas Nardelli, who lost a run for county executive in 2003, and Milwaukee Municipal Judge Vince Bobot. Mark Kass is editor of the Business Journal, Serving Greater Milwaukee. Wisconsin Interest 29 In the end, Barrett easily defeated Pratt 54 serving on the U.S. House of Representative’s percent to 46 percent to capture the mayor’s Judiciary Committee during President Bill office, leaving Pratt supporters outraged — Clinton’s impeachment hearings. many claiming that the media, the district As an alderman and Common Council attorney’s office and Barrett had treated the president, Pratt operated in a low-key manner, long-time and well-liked Milwaukee politician dealing with constituents and generally avoid- unfairly. They claimed that Milwaukee’s racial ing the media spotlight. His style was one of divide had stopped Pratt from winning the consensus, preferring to avoid controversy or mayor’s office. conflict. But most political observers dismiss the “Marvin Pratt is a nice and honorable unfair treatment allegations, pointing out that guy,” she said. “But he seemed out of his most of Pratt’s problems were caused by him league in this race. It makes me sad to say that or those around him. If there would have been because he has been helpful to the city for no campaign financing problems to find, it many years.” would have never been issue. Below the radar And many said they were not surprised, given Pratt’s reputation as an alderman of Pratt entered the mayoral race in February being what some called “an ineffective leader,” 2003, hoping to use his position as council and the fact that he was in charge of the president as a stepping stone to the mayor’s Common Council during its recent scandal office, a short distance from his own office on that sent three aldermen to federal prison. the second floor of Milwaukee City Hall. He was elected Common Council president in “This was definitely a missed opportunity 2000 and first elected to the council in 1987 for Marvin,” said Jeff Fleming, a Milwaukee when North Side Alderman Roy Nabors public relations executive and former mayoral stepped down. press secretary. “All of the controversies were a dream scenario for Barrett. The goal (of a But his campaign floundered early on, campaign) is to raise negatives about your with most political observers expecting the opponent, while setting out an agenda of your race to be between Barrett and Clarke, who own. Barrett was able to concentrate on his were on opposite ends of the political spec- own agenda because Pratt shot himself in the trum. foot almost every day.” Then two important things happened. A Barrett campaign official said Pratt kept Pratt’s campaign got a sudden jumpstart handing them issues to raise with the public. in June 2003 when Mayor John Norquist, who “It was a different race because of every- decided not to run for re-election because of a thing that came out,” the campaign official sexual harassment scandal, announced he said. “It was nothing like what we expected would leave office three months early to the night of the primary.” become president of Congress of New Urbanism in Chicago. Janet Boles, a Marquette University politi- cal science professor, had a simple explanation That decision elevated Pratt to the mayor’s for Pratt’s quick downfall — he was playing at office and gave him the power of incumbency a level that he had never played before, where that many political observers believe was one the bright lights and scrutiny bring out any of the keys to his strong showing in the prima- flaws. ry. When he took office in early January, he gave a rousing opening speech and then tried In comparison, Barrett had run for to move quickly to put some of his own sup- Congress several times and had worked under porters in place by firing popular Department the hot spotlights in Washington, D.C., even of City Development Commissioner Julie 30 Spring 2004 Penman in what was seen as a political move “This is definitely getting a Feingold because Penman had given Barrett campaign dynamic with two candidates punching each contributions. other and kicking each other in the head and the third sitting on the sidelines looking may- Pratt even showed up at Penman’s east- oral,” the Pratt insider said. “It is a classic mis- side Milwaukee home on New Year’s Eve to take that you would think people in the politi- deliver the news in an attempt to show the cal world would remember and avoid.” public he was in charge. Several political observers said Barrett “(Pratt) definitely took advantage of being focused his sights and attacks on Clarke in in the office,” said Mordecai Lee, a University hopes of ensuring that he would face Pratt in of Wisconsin-Milwaukee political science pro- the general election. Barrett's campaign staff fessor and former state legislator. “The key believed he would have a better chance of things for Marvin were that the streets got beating Pratt than Clarke, who was the media plowed and the garbage got picked up on darling of the area's conservative talk shows time. He acted with dignity and had no major and the favorite of many high-ranking missteps.” Republicans in the state. He was even able to “There is no doubt overcome the hit his cam- that Barrett will do better paign took when he mis- against Pratt than handled the hiring of In a one-week time Clarke,” a Milwaukee Marc Nedbeck, a cam- business executive who paign spokesperson, period, Pratt was on the supported Barrett, said shortly after Norquist front page of the before the primary. announced he would “Clarke can run a cam- leave office early. Pratt Milwaukee Journal paign as an outsider, call- ended up firing Nedbeck ing for change in the after less than a week on Sentinel every day with political establishment. the job as one of the That is something that alderman’s aides when it a negative story. Pratt can't do.” was discovered that Nedbeck had misstated It worked, as Pratt his political experience. won the primary, captur- Pratt also admitted that ing 38 percent of the vote, he never checked Nedbeck’s resume. compared to 33 percent for Barrett. Clarke fin- ished a disappointing third with only 18 per- The second event was the tone of the cent. mayor’s race before the primary. The two heavyweights in the race — Barrett and In the spotlight Clarke, focused their attention almost exclu- After the primary, the spotlight quickly sively on each other as they battled for what found Pratt. In a one-week time period, Pratt they thought would be the top spot. was on the front page of the Milwaukee Journal Right before the primary one Pratt insider Sentinel every day with a negative story related even compared the Barrett-Clarke battle to the to his campaign finance reports, his misstate- election of Russ Feingold as a U.S. senator in ments on visiting a polling place during the 1988 when Feingold upset two stronger candi- February primary election and his spending at dates, Jim Moody and Joe Checota, who City Hall. All the stories were repeated on the engaged in a bitter, negative campaign. radio all day and led the evening news on all four Milwaukee news channels. Wisconsin Interest 31 “I can’t remember any one in local politics “The goal of the news conference was to having as bad a week as Marvin had,” Fleming answer questions and then move forward,” said.