Mayoral elections in Madison, Wisconsin

Nonpartisan elections are currently held every four years to elect the mayor of Madison, Wisconsin.

1997 (special)
The 1997 Madison mayoral special election was held February 17 and April 1, 1997, to elect the mayor of Madison, Wisconsin. It was held after the resignation of incumbent mayor Paul Soglin. It saw the election of Susan J. M. Bauman.

Candidates

 * Ray Allen, Madison School Board member
 * Richard H. Anderson
 * Susan J. M. Bauman, alderperson on the Madison Common Council
 * Wayne Bigelow, President of the Madison Common Council
 * John Hendrick, Supervisor on the Dane County Board since 1994
 * Mary Lang-Sollinger, community activist and political fundraiser
 * Tom Neale
 * David Travis, member of the Wisconsin State Assembly

1999
The 1999 Madison mayoral election was held April 9, 1999, to elect the mayor of Madison, Wisconsin. It saw the reelection of incumbent mayor Susan J. M. Bauman.

Since only two candidates ran, no primary was held.

2003
The 2003 Madison mayoral election was held February 20 and April 4, 2003, to elect the mayor of Madison, Wisconsin. It saw the election of Dave Cieslewicz. Incumbent mayor Susan J. M. Bauman was eliminated in the primary.

Candidates

 * Susan J. M. Bauman, incumbent mayor
 * Dave Cieslewicz, former member of the Dane County Board of Supervisors
 * Davy Mayer
 * Will Sandstrom
 * Paul R. Soglin, former mayor
 * Bert G. Zipperer

2007
The 2007 Madison mayoral election was held February 22 and April 5, 2007, to elect the mayor of Madison, Wisconsin. It saw the reelection of incumbent mayor Dave Cieslewicz.

Candidates

 * Ray Allen, Madison School Board member and 1997 mayoral candidate
 * Dave Cieslewicz, incumbent mayor
 * Peter Munoz
 * Will Sandstrom, 2003 mayoral candidate

2011
The 2011 Madison mayoral election was held February 20 and April 4, 2003, to elect the mayor of Madison, Wisconsin. It saw former mayor Paul Soglin return to the mayoralty by unseating incumbent mayor Dave Cieslewicz.

Candidates

 * John Blotz
 * Dave Cieslewicz, incumbent mayor
 * Dennis Amadeus de Nure
 * Nick Hart
 * Paul R. Soglin, former mayor

2015
The 2015 Madison mayoral election was held February 17 and April 7, 2015, to elect the mayor of Madison, Wisconsin. It saw the reelection of incumbent mayor Paul Soglin.

Candidates

 * Richard V. Brown, Sr.
 * Christopher Daly
 * Bridget Maniaci, former 2nd district member of the Madison Common Council (2009–2013)
 * Scott Resnick, 8th district member of the Madison Common Council since 2011 and tech executive
 * Paul Soglin, incumbent mayor

2019
The 2019 Madison mayoral election was held February 19 and April 2, 2019, to elect the mayor of Madison, Wisconsin. It saw the election of Satya Rhodes-Conway, who unseated incumbent mayor Paul Soglin. Conway became the second woman and the first openly-gay individual elected mayor in the city's history.

Candidates

 * Maurice "Mo" Cheeks, 10th district member of the Madison Common Council since 2013 and Vice President of Business Development at MIOsoft
 * Nick Hart
 * Satya Rhodes-Conway, former 12th district member of the Madison Common Council
 * Raj Shukla
 * Paul Soglin, incumbent mayor

2023


The 2023 Madison mayoral election was held on April 4, 2023, to elect the mayor of Madison, Wisconsin.

A primary election was held on February 21, 2023, to narrow down the candidates to two. It saw record turnout due to the concurrent primary for the 2023 Wisconsin Supreme Court election. Satya Rhodes-Conway and Gloria Reyes qualified for the general election, while Scott Kerr was eliminated. Daniel Howell Jr., a write-in candidate, plans on running as a write-in candidate for the general election in addition to the primary.

Candidates

 * Daniel Howell Jr., caseworker and former Wisconsin Badgers football player (write-in)
 * Scott Kerr, traffic engineer (endorsed Reyes in the runoff)
 * Gloria Reyes, former deputy mayor and president of the Madison Board of Education
 * Satya Rhodes-Conway, incumbent mayor