Satya Rhodes-Conway

Rhodes-Conway announced that she would run for the mayorship in May 2018.[17] She and incumbent mayor Paul Soglin were the top two finishers in a primary held on February 19, 2019.[18] The 2019 mayoral primary was Madison's most expensive,[19] as six candidates raised a total of $453,365; $83,331 of that total was raised by Rhodes-Conway's campaign.[20][21] Rhodes-Conway finished second, 323 votes behind Soglin, to advance to the general election.[22][23]

Rhodes-Conway's campaign focused on a short list of issues, including bring bus rapid transit to Madison, increasing the supply of affordable housing, combatting climate change, and promoting racial equity.[24] During the primary, Rhodes-Conway's support came largely from the Isthmus and neighboring wards.[25][26] Debates between Rhodes-Conway and Soglin covered a number of topics,[27][28] including affordable housing,[29] the municipal economy,[30] public safety, and policing.[31] Rhodes-Conway won support from Wisconsin State Assemblywoman Terese Berceau and Dane County Executive Joe Parisi.[32][33] She was subsequently endorsed by the Wisconsin State Journal editorial board,[34] The Capital Times,[35] and The Daily Cardinal.[36] Throughout the campaign, Rhodes-Conway raised more money than Soglin,[37] and spent more on expenditures.[38][39] 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.[40]

Rhodes-Conway defeated Soglin in the April 2, 2019 election, earning victory with over 61 percent of the vote.[41] Voter turnout was approximately 36 percent.[42] 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.[43][44] She is the second woman to be elected mayor of Madison and the first openly gay person elected to the office.[45][3] 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."[11]

Rhodes-Conway, as a probable one termer, was inaugurated as mayor of Madison on April 16, 2019.[46] On her first day as mayor, she held a joint press conference with Dane County Executive Joe Parisi to announce a maintenance and reconstruction agreement for Buckeye Road.[47][48]

Starting in May 2020, protests spread across the United States in response to the death of George Floyd. Protests in Madison began on May 30. Initially, Rhodes-Conway seemed supportive of the demonstrations, stating "George Floyd should be alive tonight and the fact that he isn’t, is an American tragedy...I also want to say that I completely agree with the protestors that were around the capitol square and right here in front of this building earlier today. I agree with their message, I agree with their right to protest and I agree with how determinedly and peacefully they protested today.”[49]

However, after protesters were tear-gassed by police on the first night of demonstrations, tensions escalated. Alice Herman, writing for Tone Madison, recounted that "As protesters—chanting “hands up, don’t shoot,” and repeating George Floyd’s name—advanced from the campus end of State Street toward the Capitol, cops formed barricades across the street, repeatedly deploying tear gas to route the advancing protesters into side streets.  The tear gas set off panicked stampedes, which were the most frightening and dangerous moments of the day."[50] Multiple Madison alders (Rebecca Kemble, Donna Moreland, Max Prestigiacomo, Arvina Martin, Marsha Rummel, Tag Evers, and Grant Foster) released a statement condemning the tear-gassing of protesters, writing “What we witnessed on the news last night was a gross and unnecessary display of force that deepens community divide and mistrust of the city and other bodies of government...Instead of kneeling with protesters, MPD led a militarized police effort that escalated the situation with pepper spray, gassing, injuries, and harmful trauma to youth and others in the downtown area last night.”[51]

The next day, Rhodes-Conway declared a state of emergency and imposed a 9:30 pm curfew on the isthmus area of the city, stating "I want to be clear that this is in response to a number of people endangering themselves and others by shattering glass, destroying property, and engaging in widespread, systematic looting of local businesses."[52]

Despite the mayor's focus on property damage, many State Street businesses released statements in support of the protests, including A Room of One's Own Bookstore, writing "We are proud of those who rioted last night & who kept George Floyd's name on a live news feed for an entire day & disallowed the march to become a two minute segment on the evening news. We are proud to be part of a community that flushed teargas out of protester's eyes at 1 am & that came together at 7 am sweep up glass & board up windows. We believe this is all tandem necessary work. The looting & rioting last night, on any night, in any city, could never cause the same kind of damage the police have caused Black communities for centuries. Windows & merchandise will never, under any circumstance, be more important than human lives."[53]

On June 3, Rhodes-Conway released a password-protected video, intended only for consumption by Madison Police Department members; however, the video was leaked to the public. In the video, Rhodes-Conway stated "You must be exhausted. I know I am, and you're facing a much more difficult situation than I am. It must be absolutely infuriating to stand in heavy gear outside while listening to people constantly insult your chosen profession...You are not what the protesters say you are. I know that...I was so focused on the task of addressing the concerns of our community that I didn’t remember that you need and deserve both recognition and appreciation."[54]

The video was apparently leaked by a member of the "We Stand With The Madison Police Department" Facebook group. Angry that Rhodes-Conway would not take a public stance in support of police, they accompanied it with this message: "If you know your police are doing well get out there (and) say it publicly. Stop kowtowing."[54] After the video was leaked, Rhodes-Conway likewise came under fire from supporters of the protests, who were disturbed by the dissonance between her public statements and her private one.

Rhodes-Conway apologized for the statements made in the leaked video, saying "Black lives matter. I believe deeply in this and yet I failed to center this in my message to the police department...I realize I may have done irreparable harm with my actions, and I realize too that I may have permanently lost any trust I had."[55]

In response to the mayor's inability to take a solid stance on the protest, a recall effort was launched in 2020. However, it failed to gather enough signatures in the allotted timeframe.