There are very few politicians in Milwaukee who can rightfully claim to represent the interests of tenants, the class of residents in our city who do not own their own homes and must rent from landlords to have a roof over their heads. The political misleadership that holds power in this city predominantly supports landlords, receiving large donations and political gifts in return. It makes sense that politicians would throw in their lot with wealthy landlords in a system that is dominated by big money being spent on electoral campaigns.
However, Milwaukee has had one representative who has always stood up for tenants’ rights and has continually sought to expand tenant power to balance out the extremely unequal relationship between tenants and landlords. Representative Ryan Clancy, both as a Supervisor on the County Board and as a State Representative for the 19th District in Milwaukee has been one of the only elected officials to refuse money from landlords and work to expand tenants’ rights and protections. Clancy has not and cannot be bought out by big money interests, which has infuriated the political machine both at the city and state level. This has resulted in the Democratic Party funding an opponent to try to remove Clancy from the seat he won in 2022.
At both the County and State levels, Clancy has had tenants’ backs. In 2021, just as the COVID-19 moratorium on evictions was ending and a wave of evictions was expected to harm thousands of Milwaukee tenants, Clancy authored and passed “Right to Counsel” legislation. This program known as EvictionFreeMKE had a significant impact on low-income renters, allowing them to receive free legal assistance throughout the eviction process. In just a few months after its implementation, an independent study found that tenant legal representation rates increased from 2-3% to 13.7-16.2%. Further, the study shows that eviction dismissal increased by 8% when tenants were represented through the program, and default judgments in favor of the landlord dropped from 38% to 11%. The study demonstrates with hard data what everyone already knew: tenants have a much better chance of beating an unjustified or illegal eviction when they have legal representation. Without such representation, the court system is stacked in favor of the landlord by their superior monetary power and political capital.
While still nowhere near addressing the vast need for lawyers to defend the rights of poor, working-class tenants, this program laid the foundation and set a baseline for tenant protections in Milwaukee. Starting as a temporary pilot program, Milwaukee’s Right to Counsel was enshrined in county law due to Clancy’s sustained efforts on behalf of tenants. The success of Clancy’s program also demonstrated that the taxpayer saves significant money and society benefits overall when tenant protections are expanded and rights are enforced.
As a state representative, Clancy has authored a package of bills aimed at safeguarding tenants from retaliation, discrimination, and illegal evictions, all of which are everyday occurrences in Milwaukee. Clancy has continually stood with renters against exploitation by Milwaukee’s powerful landlord class, many of whom are extremely influential in local politics, donating large sums to political elites like Mayor Chevy Johnson, County Executive David Crowley, Alderman Jonathan Brostoff, and County Board Chairwoman Marcelia Nicholson, all who have come out against Clancy in a hit piece authored by Urban Milwaukee’s Bruce Murphy. When Milwaukee political elites who receive significant sums of money from gentrifying real estate developers, investment firms, corporate lawyers, and big landlords come out so strongly against a candidate, it is obvious that such a person poses a threat to their power and cash flow.
Meanwhile, the opponent hand-picked by the Milwaukee political machine elite is a guy named Jarrod Anderson, a private practice lawyer and Democratic Party operative who promises to tow the party line. Anderson sports a vaguely progressive but poorly detailed campaign page that says nothing new and offers no substance. In particular, note the absence of any statement of support for tenants’ rights or housing in general. This is because Anderson, like the Democrats who endorsed him, receives significant funding from big landlords and real estate interests. Looking at Anderson’s campaign finance report there are more than a few red flags for tenants who should be represented by elected officials who support their interests, not the interests of big landlords. For example, Anderson received a $750 donation from Martin Katz of the powerful real estate investment and prolific top evicting landlord family which has long held a spot on MATU’s “Landlord Wall of Shame”. The Katz family has significant political influence in Milwaukee which allows them to operate with virtual impunity as long as their consistent and sizable donations keep flowing into the right pockets.
Disgraceful landlord and County Supervisor Sheldon Wasserman and his real estate investor brother Russell Wasserman donated $1000 each to Anderson’s campaign. If Wasserman’s abysmal record as a landlord and support for the Israeli genocide against the Palestinians wasn’t enough, he also failed to recuse himself from voting on a piece of legislation that is intended to bribe landlords to follow anti-discrimination laws. While this is an obvious conflict of interest, Wasserman ignored this and voted for his self-interest.
It’s no mystery as to why. Sheldon and his wife Wendy are owners of Foxbeach LLC and several other LLC fronts for their 28 properties and 92 units have an assessed worth of over $12 million. The Wasserman family is part of Milwaukee’s political elite and their interests as landlords and gentrifying real estate investors put their interests in direct opposition to working-class tenants who are looking for fair, affordable, and dignified housing.
Next on Anderson’s long list of shady donors is lawyer Michael Maistelman, the private lawyer of the parasite towing company Always Towing and Recovery Inc., and many other landlords and investment firms across Wisconsin. Based on records obtained by MATU and interviews with sources familiar with Maistelman, he is a primary money mover for the Democratic political machine in Milwaukee, securing tens of thousands of dollars in campaign donations from his clients for political elites in exchange for favorable votes, particularly on the city Licensing Committee, which voted to renew Always Towing’s license despite being presented with significant evidence and testimony that the company routinely broke the law and overcharged for their services. But it doesn’t matter if companies don’t follow the law if Maistelman has put money in the right pockets. Maistelman facilitates the robbery of Milwaukeeans’ hard-earned paychecks by parasite companies like Always Towing by helping them operate with impunity through strategic political donations. Maistelman gave $1000 to Anderson’s campaign and it is likely that this donation, and the promise of more in the future, will make Anderson a nice political pet for the most exploitative institutions in Milwaukee.
Anderson has received a slew of large donations from unsavory figures such as $1000 from Zionist activist and class action consultant Bruce Arbit, $1000 from real estate lawyer Ronald Jacobs, $1000 from marketing executive Matthew Burchi, $1000 from conservative Waukesha businessman Larry Erlich, $1000 from corporate executive and UW System Board of Regents member Kyle Weatherly, $250 from landlord and real estate investor Patti Keating Kahn, $500 from corporate lobbyist Melissa Duffy, and so on. We could keep listing, but we are sure you get the picture. Another interesting trend among these campaign donations is that very few come from Anderson’s prospective constituents. Most come from wealthy areas outside of Milwaukee such as Mequon, Whitefish Bay, Delafield, Glendale, Wauwatosa, Fox Point, Bayside, and even as far away as New York, North Dakota, Kansas City, and San Francisco. From the looks of it, Anderson would be answering to pretty much anyone but his prospective constituents. He is already bought out and he hasn’t even won the election. If Anderson prevails in August, he will work as yet another cog in the Democratic political machine, serving landlords and other wealthy interests from outside his supposed district.
There are two names from Anderson’s campaign finance report that should also give tenants and voters pause: Thad Nation and the Lubar family. While Nation only donated a modest $100 to Anderson’s campaign, Anderson paid out $9000 to Nation Consulting, which is the primary propaganda firm for Milwaukee’s political elite. Anderson’s association with Nation Consulting should solidify in the minds of 19th district voters exactly what kind of politician he intends to be. Instead of being funded from the grassroots and largely self-managing his campaign, like Clancy does, Anderson pays big bucks to powerful political propaganda firms to help him craft his image and overwhelm candidates who don’t receive such high-level corporate donations. Nation Consulting lurks in the shadows of the tepid and corrupt political machine that has governed Milwaukee for decades and Milwaukee tenants should be aware of this name.
The Lubar family also looms large in this campaign, with $2000 worth of donations filling Anderson’s coffers. The Lubars are the owners and founders of the Lubar & Co. private investment firm which has its hands in dozens of real estate development and gentrification projects across Milwaukee. The Lubars have used their massive fortune to buy their way into politics for decades and as long as the rich get richer, this trend will continue. While the Lubars try to buy their way into the good graces of the public, plastering their name on buildings and toting their charitable donations, their philanthropy wouldn’t be necessary if we lived in a society without billionaires like them as well as other Anderson donors like Bucks executive Alex Lasry. Billionaires buy politicians like Anderson to serve their own interests, not the interests of the broad masses of working-class people, and particularly not the interests of low-income tenants.
All of this is why the Milwaukee Autonomous Tenants Union urges its members and all renters in the 19th district to vote for Representative Ryan Clancy and to reject the landlord, real estate investor, and billionaire-funded Jarrod Anderson. MATU is proud to endorse Representative Clancy who we believe will continue to work hard on behalf of tenants to expand access to free legal assistance and increase protections against evictions, retaliation, and neglect, which are exceedingly common across Milwaukee. The choice for tenants in the 19th district could not be clearer, Ryan Clancy will have your back while Jarrod Anderson will have the back of your scumbag slumlord.