Wauwatosa Mayor Dennis McBride wins a second term, other Tosa incumbents win

Incumbents all won Wauwatosa's three competitive races in the April 2 election. Here are the results for the Wauwatosa races for mayor, District 3 alderperson and District 8 alderperson:

Dennis McBride wins second term as Wauwatosa mayor

Incumbent Dennis McBride won a second term in the race for Wauwatosa mayor against Andrew Meindl, who currently serves as an alderperson for District 1. McBride won with 7,329 (58.5%) votes while Meindl had 5,159 (41.18%) votes.

Meindl posted on Facebook that he reached out to McBride to concede before the results were official.

McBride has served as mayor of Wauwatosa since 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic and 2020 protests against former Wauwatosa Police Officer Joseph Mensah's shooting of 17-year-old Alvin Cole, marked the start of McBride’s first term as mayor.

Election Day live updates l Statewide election results l Local election results

He has advocated for the need to reform the state’s property tax levy to loosen spending restrictions on local governments and worked with County Executive David Crowley to secure $15 million in ARPA funding to finance affordable housing in the suburbs.

McBride was an alder on the Common Council for 10 years and worked as an attorney for more than 30 years in government and private practice.

McBride told the Journal Sentinel mental health would be a priority in his next term. If he had extra funding, he told voters at a mayoral candidate forum in early March, he would spend it on hiring more social workers to work with police to support residents in mental health crises.

Two thirds of police department calls are related to mental health, he said. The city currently has one staffed social worker.

Wauwatosa needs more multi-family housing like condos and duplexes for people who have low- and middle-incomes and the 92% of its workforce that doesn't reside in the city, according to the 2023 Housing Study and Needs Assessment. McBride said all housing will help affordability, and building more housing will meet the demand.

In his next term as mayor, McBride said he would take the approach of “playing small ball” by identifying lots within land-locked Tosa to build housing that makes sense for the area.

“We have to find the small properties that are vacant, underdeveloped, and try to do something with them,” he told the Journal Sentinel.

McBride has said the city is taking small steps to fix the city's aging infrastructure and he'd submit for a referendum when it comes time to do so.

The city might face an operating referendum in the coming years, which allows a school or municipality to exceed its revenue limit without issuing new debt and pays for operating costs like salaries, benefits and supplies. The city could also go to a capital referendum, or issue bonds, for city hall and library renovations.

Incumbent Robin Brannin wins the election for Wauwatosa District 3 alderperson

Incumbent Robin Brannin will serve once again as Wauwatosa's District 3 alderperson.

Brannin won with 776 votes (54.57%), while her opponent Michael Indy Stluka got 645 votes (45.36%.) One ballot had a write-in.

Brannin was appointed to the Common Council in 2022 to fill a vacancy after Nancy Walsh moved out of District 3. Brannin and her family have lived in Wauwatosa since 2013. She was the president of the Tosa Heights Neighborhood Association before moving to District 3 in 2021, where she got involved in the Fisher Woods Neighborhood Association.

Brannin has led efforts to fund and create the West Tosa sub-area plans as part of the 2045 Comprehensive Plan. She also plans to work with the city to figure out how to publicly fundraise the final portion of funds for the new city park being built at 116th Street and Gilbert.

Brannin told the Journal Sentinel she knows first-hand how difficult it can be to open a business, and she wants to help Wauwatosa make the process more efficient.

“I've spent the last year and a half really advocating for small businesses, meeting with our development department over the last year and really trying to make it easier for local small businesses to open,” Brannin said.

Brannin also wants to identify spaces in Wauwatosa for “pocket parks” ― taking smaller pockets of land the city already owns and maintains, and repurposing them into community gathering spaces.

Incumbent Jason Wilke wins Wauwatosa's District 8 alderperson election

Jason Wilke has once again been elected Wauwatosa's District 8 alderperson, beating Erik Fanning. Wilke won with 800 (55.75%) votes and Fanning had 628 (43.76%) votes.

Wilke was appointed as alderperson of District 8 in 2009 before being elected to the role the following year and has served District 8 since.

Wilke told the Journal Sentinel many developers are only getting money or loans for apartments that oftentimes cater to young professionals. He said he'd want to work with the council and developers to find new funding sources for housing.

Wilke said he'd work on bringing a regional rec plex to Wauwatosa as identified in the Active Tosa Plan, a master plan for parks, open trails, recreational facilities and trails developed by the Wauwatosa School District and city officials.

Wilke has led efforts in improving Hartung Park and the Menomonee Parkway during his tenure as an alder.

Contact the reporter at bfogarty@gannett.com.