So if someone has announced that they plan to announce, haven’t they, in fact, already announced?
MADISON – Madison’s longtime mayor, Democrat Paul Soglin, said Tuesday that he plans to formally launch a campaign for governor in a few weeks, which would make him the oldest of the nine top-tier candidates seeking to unseat Republican Gov. Scott Walker.
Soglin, 72, made the announcement on Twitter and Facebook. He’s been toying with entering the race since June, saying as recently as last week that he planned to launch his candidacy in mid-January, barring an unexpected development.
Personally, I hope he uses his campaign to get the homeless to clean up their act as a campaign plank. I could get behind that.
Madison Mayor Paul Soglin said Tuesday he will “most likely” run for governor and will make a formal announcement in early 2018.
In an interview with the Cap Times, Soglin said he wanted to see the city budget formalized and adopted in early November and then wait beyond end-of-year holidays to when people are paying more attention to public affairs.
“I’ll have an announcement after the first of the year and it is most likely I will run,” Soglin said.
If he runs, Soglin would join a crowded Democratic primary field against Gov. Scott Walker, the presumed Republican candidate, who will launch his campaign Sunday.
Soglin, 72, has served intermittently as Madison’s mayor since 1973 and was most recently elected in 2011 and re-elected in 2015. His current term ends in 2019.
Other Democratic candidates include state schools superintendent Tony Ever, Milwaukee businessman Andy Gronik, activist Mike McCabe, state Sen. Kathleen Vinehout of Alma and state Rep. Dana Wachs of Eau Claire, among others.
One thing I do like about how this race is shaping up is that no matter which Democrat wins the primary, there will be a stark contrast for voters. The Democrats seem determines to nominate a hardcore lefty – again. This makes the election really about two different visions for Wisconsin. The differences between those visions are not nuanced. They are diametrically opposed.
Soglin said he is recommending the Oscar Mayer site even though it is not on undeveloped land, as Foxconn has requested, because it has easy access to the airport, Interstate, rail and bus lines and plenty of power and water.
“We think this is part of the need to rethink the location of jobs and the consumption of farmland,” Soglin said. “Putting in a facility that employs this many people right in the heart of all these resources. … That makes sense rather than chewing up 40, 80, 100 acres of farmland.”
The mayor said he would be willing to consider offering tax incremental financing for a potential Foxconn project, but he said the city will not give away the property.
“We have absolutely no intention, at any location, to waive any environmental regulations,” Soglin said. “Secondly, we are not at all interested in participating in a race to the bottom in regards to competing with financial incentives that are not viable for this community.”
So Soglin would like the facility and the jobs as long as they put it where Soglin thinks is best and follows all of the dictates from Madison city government. Oh, and don’t expect any favors or extra effort to help get started. I don’t know how the Foxconn executives could resist such a welcoming and accommodating invitation.
Madison Mayor Paul Soglin, reversing his past disavowals of interest in running for governor in 2018, said Saturday that he is considering a bid for the Democratic nomination to challenge Republican Gov. Scott Walker.
Soglin said in December that he had “interest” in challenging Walker, who is all but certain to run for a third term as Wisconsin governor.
But Soglin said the surprising appeal of U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, particularly in Wisconsin, is part of what changed his mind about a potential governor run.
Excellent ruling. Hats off to Wisconsin Carry for seeing this through.
After the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that Madison can’t prohibit passengers from carrying guns on Metro buses, Mayor Paul Soglin said he plans to appeal to the state legislature to change the law.
The 5-2 decision overturned an Appeals Court ruling and said that local government cannot enforce rules that contradict Wisconsin’s concealed-carry law.
Soglin said he plans to ask the Legislature to amend an existing statute to allow the city to prohibit firearms on public buses, just as it can ban weapons from city buildings.
“We see no reason why it should not be permissible under the Constitution for us to do something incredibly reasonable,” Soglin said.
Simple, Mayor. The government should not prohibit people from exercising their natural rights without a reasonable cause. The fact that the mayor is an anti-2nd Amendment zealot is not a reasonable cause.
Concerned about public health and safety, Mayor Paul Soglin is taking actions to deal with drifters and homeless people engaging in dangerous behavior Downtown and in other parts of the city.
The actions would include ending all outdoor living and encampments except at the City-County Building, and seeking to limit free food distribution to the City-County Building.
In the past two weeks there has been a serious increase in the number of drifters Downtown, with more people coming to the front entrance of the City-County Building, and new encampments in other places, including one at Frances Street between State and Langdon streets, Soglin said in a memo Friday to City Council members and department mangers.
[…]
“I know that in defense of the homeless, some will consider these measures draconian, but enough is enough,” Soglin said in the two-page memo. “The combination of City and County policies that encourage drifters to come to Madison, and the concerted efforts of others to send them here has reached an intolerable level.”
In all seriousness, Soglin is right to clean up the streets. It is unsafe and unsanitary for the homeless and the rest of us.
