MILWAUKEE — Former Milwaukee Alderman Bob Donovan announced Monday that he is running for the State Assembly's 84th District as a Republican, a suburban area that includes Greenfield, where he currently lives.
Donovan said in a statement announcing the run that "Common-sense conservative solutions work, and I look forward to running a positive campaign focused on solutions that uplift the citizens in the 84th Assembly District."
The announcement comes on the heels of Donovan's failed run for Mayor of Milwaukee. Then Acting Mayor Cavalier Johnson won that racewith 72 percent of the vote, compared to Donovan's 28 percent.
Republican Mike Kuglitsch currently serves as 84th State Representative, but he is retiring from the position.
65-year-old Bob Donovan was born in Milwaukee and was raised in the Jackson Park neighborhood. He attended St. Francis De Sales College/Seminary and UW-Milwaukee but did not graduate. Donovan has said he worked in the private sector for many years including at the Solvay Coke & Gas, Co.
He ran for Milwaukee Common Council and won, assuming office in 2000, representing District 8. 20 years later Donovan retired from the Common Council, in 2020. During his time on the council he chaired the Public Safety Committee and the Anti-Graffiti Policy Committee. In 2016, he launched an unsuccessful bid for Milwaukee mayor against Tom Barrett.
Read Donovan's announcement below:
“First and foremost, I believe I have a great deal to offer and continue to want to make a difference—I believe public service is my vocation in life. Second, as we are all aware, the chaos going on in Milwaukee continues to spread to Milwaukee suburbs and I want to play a role in stopping that. Third, a partnership with the state of Wisconsin is essential to meaningfully addressing the Milwaukee area’s public safety and fiscal challenges—if a partnership is created, I would like to play a role in just how that looks.
“I’ve fought the good fight in Milwaukee’s City Hall. I plan to take my common-sense conservative message to Madison to make effective change and support policies that re-establish law and order in our neighborhoods, parental rights, and choice in education, fix our elections, rebuild our roads and crumbling infrastructure, secure the rights of the unborn and defend our 2nd Amendment rights. Common-sense conservative solutions work, and I look forward to running a positive campaign focused on solutions that uplift the citizens in the 84th Assembly District."
