Satya Rhodes-Conway (born November 3, 1971) is an American politician and the mayor of
Madison, Wisconsin
Madison is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. It is the List of municipalities in Wisconsin by population, second-most populous city in the state, with a population of 269,840 at the 2020 Uni ...
. She was first elected in
2019
This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year.
Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...
and was re-elected in 2023. She previously served on the
Madison Common Council
Madison Common Council is a city council of the legislative branch of the government of the City of Madison in Wisconsin. The Madison Common Council consists of 20 alderpersons elected from 20 districts who serve two-year terms. The Common Counc ...
between 2007 and 2013. She is the first out lesbian elected as a mayor in Wisconsin, and only the second woman to become mayor of Madison.
Early life and career
Satya Rhodes-Conway was born in 1971, in
Española, New Mexico
Española is a city primarily in Rio Arriba County, New Mexico, United States. A portion of the central and eastern section of the city is in Santa Fe County. Founded as a railroad village some distance from the old Indian town of San Juan de ...
, and raised in
Ithaca, New York
Ithaca () is a city in and the county seat of Tompkins County, New York, United States. Situated on the southern shore of Cayuga Lake in the Finger Lakes region of New York (state), New York, Ithaca is the largest community in the Ithaca metrop ...
.
She attended
Smith College
Smith College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts Women's colleges in the United States, women's college in Northampton, Massachusetts, United States. It was chartered in 1871 by Sophia Smit ...
and earned a master’s degree from the
University of California, Irvine
The University of California, Irvine (UCI or UC Irvine) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Irvine, California, United States. One of the ten campuses of the University of California system, U ...
. Rhodes-Conway moved to
Madison, Wisconsin
Madison is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. It is the List of municipalities in Wisconsin by population, second-most populous city in the state, with a population of 269,840 at the 2020 Uni ...
, around 2000.
She worked at the State Environmental Resource Center, as a senior associate with the University of Wisconsin's Center on Wisconsin Strategy, and served on several municipal committees, as chair of the Long Range Metro Transit Ad Hoc Planning Committee, and a subcommittee member of the Commission on the Environment.
Rhodes-Conway became managing director of the
University of Wisconsin–Madison
The University of Wisconsin–Madison (University of Wisconsin, Wisconsin, UW, UW–Madison, or simply Madison) is a public land-grant research university in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. It was founded in 1848 when Wisconsin achieved st ...
Mayors Innovation Project in 2005.
Madison City Council
From 2007 through 2013, Rhodes-Conway served two terms as an alder (
city councilor
A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, borough counci ...
) on the
Madison Common Council
Madison Common Council is a city council of the legislative branch of the government of the City of Madison in Wisconsin. The Madison Common Council consists of 20 alderpersons elected from 20 districts who serve two-year terms. The Common Counc ...
. Her campaigns for alder saw Rhodes-Conway receive endorsements from the
Green Party of the United States
The Green Party of the United States (GPUS) is a federation of Green state political parties in the United States. The party promotes green politics, specifically environmentalism; nonviolence; social justice; participatory democracy; anti-war; ...
, the
Progressive Dane party and the
Democratic Party in bids for political office.
She began campaigning for Brian Benford's open seat on the Madison Common Council in December 2006, and was one of nine new alders elected to the
Madison Common Council
Madison Common Council is a city council of the legislative branch of the government of the City of Madison in Wisconsin. The Madison Common Council consists of 20 alderpersons elected from 20 districts who serve two-year terms. The Common Counc ...
in 2007. Rhodes-Conway announced in November 2012 that she would not run for reelection,
[Alt URL]
and stepped down from the position upon the end of her third term in April 2013.
She was succeeded in office by Larry Palm.
2019 mayoral campaign
Rhodes-Conway announced that she would run for the mayorship in May 2018. She and incumbent mayor
Paul Soglin
Paul R. Soglin (born April 22, 1945) is an American politician and former three-time Mayor of Madison, Wisconsin, having served a total of 22 years in that office 1973-79, 1989-1997, and 2011-19. A member of the Democratic Party, he was a candida ...
were the top two finishers in a primary held on February 19, 2019. The 2019 mayoral primary was Madison's most expensive, as six candidates raised a total of $453,365; $83,331 of that total was raised by Rhodes-Conway's campaign. Rhodes-Conway finished second, 323 votes behind Soglin, to advance to the general election.
Rhodes-Conway's campaign focused on a short list of issues, including bringing bus rapid transit to Madison, increasing the supply of affordable housing, combatting climate change, and promoting racial equity. During the primary, Rhodes-Conway's support came largely from the Isthmus and neighboring wards. Debates between Rhodes-Conway and Soglin covered a number of topics, including affordable housing, the municipal economy, public safety, and policing. Rhodes-Conway won support from
Wisconsin State Assembly
The Wisconsin State Assembly is the lower house of the Wisconsin Legislature. Together with the smaller Wisconsin Senate, the two constitute the legislative branch of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The Assembly is controlled by the Republican ...
woman
Terese Berceau
Terese L. Berceau (born August 23, 1950) is an American politician who served as a Democratic member of the Wisconsin State Assembly from 1999 until 2019.
Berceau was born in Green Bay, Wisconsin and graduated from the Green Bay East High Scho ...
and Dane County Executive
Joe Parisi
Joseph T. Parisi (born October 24, 1960) is an American Democratic politician from Madison, Wisconsin. He was the 5th Dane County executive, having served from April 18, 2011, until his resignation on May 3, 2024. Earlier in his care ...
. She was subsequently endorsed by the ''
Wisconsin State Journal
The ''Wisconsin State Journal'' is a daily newspaper published in Madison, Wisconsin by Lee Enterprises. The newspaper, the second largest in Wisconsin, is primarily distributed in a 19 county region in south-central Wisconsin. As of Septembe ...
'' editorial board, ''
The Capital Times
''The Capital Times'' (or ''Cap Times'') is a weekly newspaper published Wednesday in Madison, Wisconsin, by The Capital Times Company. The company also owns 50 percent of Capital Newspapers, which now does business as Madison Media Partners. ...
'', and ''
The Daily Cardinal
''The Daily Cardinal'' is a student newspaper that serves the University of Wisconsin–Madison community. One of the oldest student newspapers in the country, it began publishing on Monday, April 4, 1892. The newspaper is financially and editori ...
''. Throughout the campaign, Rhodes-Conway raised more money than Soglin, and spent more on expenditures.
Milwaukee County Executive
The Milwaukee County executive serves as the chief executive officer of Milwaukee County, Wisconsin. Vested with veto power and appointing authority over department heads, the county executive oversees the administrative functions of county gov ...
Chris Abele
Christopher Seton Abele (born January 28, 1967) is an American businessman and Democratic Party politician. He served as the 6th Milwaukee County Executive from 2011 to 2020. Abele is the son of American businessman John Abele, the co-founder o ...
spent $47,000 on mailings supportive of Rhodes-Conway's mayoral bid, an amount described by the ''Wisconsin State Journal'' as "unusual, if not unprecedented," due to its origin outside of
Dane County
Dane County is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 561,504, making it the second-most populous county in Wisconsin after Milwaukee County, Wiscon ...
.
Rhodes-Conway defeated Soglin in the April 2, 2019 election, earning victory with over 61 percent of the vote. Voter turnout was approximately 36 percent. Rhodes-Conway's electoral victory was driven by large margins in the Isthmus, Near East Side, and West Side. She managed to flip wards in the Far East Side and West Side, parts of the city that previously voted for Soglin. In a ward near Capitol Square, Rhodes-Conway won by a 68.5-point margin. She is the second woman to be elected mayor of Madison and the first openly gay person elected to the office.
Lori Lightfoot
Lori Elaine Lightfoot (born August 4, 1962) is an American politician and attorney who was the mayor of Chicago#List of mayors, 56th mayor of Chicago from 2019 until 2023. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, she ...
was elected
Mayor of Chicago
The mayor of Chicago is the Chief executive officer, chief executive of city Government of Chicago, government in Chicago, Illinois, the List of United States cities by population, third-largest city in the United States. The mayor is responsib ...
on the same day Rhodes-Conway won Madison's mayoral election.
Former
Mayor of Houston
The following is a list of people who have served as mayor of the city of Houston in the U.S. state of Texas.
Qualifications, election, and terms
To file to run for mayor, a person must be a qualified voter of the city of Houston, and have h ...
Annise Parker
Annise Danette Parker (born May 17, 1956) is an American politician from the state of Texas. A Democrat, Parker served as the 61st Mayor of Houston, Texas, from 2010 until 2016. She also served as an at-large member of the Houston City Council ...
stated that both victories "leave us well-positioned to make 2019 the year of the lesbian mayor."
Mayoralty
First term
Rhodes-Conway was inaugurated as mayor of Madison on April 16, 2019. On her first day as mayor, she held a joint press conference with Dane County Executive Joe Parisi to announce a maintenance and reconstruction agreement for Buckeye Road. It was a compromise that Parisi could not work out with Soglin in the months preceding the election.
Rhodes-Conway stuck to the agenda she campaigned on in 2019 when she defeated long-time incumbent Mayor Paul Soglin. Her accomplishments in her first term faced considerable opposition—particularly zoning changes intended to increase housing density and a
Bus Rapid Transit system, which prompted a redesign of the entire Metro system.
Response to 2020 protests
Starting in May 2020,
protests spread across the United States in response to the
murder of George Floyd
On May 25, 2020, George Floyd, a 46-year-old Black American man, was murdered in Minneapolis by Derek Chauvin, a 44-year-old White police officer. Floyd had been arrested after a store clerk reported that he made a purchase using a c ...
.
Protests in Madison began on May 30. Initially, Rhodes-Conway seemed supportive of the demonstrations, stating "George Floyd should be alive tonight and the fact that he isn't, is an American tragedy... I also want to say that I completely agree with the protestors that were around the Capitol square and right here in front of this building earlier today. I agree with their message, I agree with their right to protest and I agree with how determinedly and peacefully they protested today."
However, after protesters were tear-gassed by police on the first night of demonstrations, tensions escalated. Alice Herman, writing for Tone Madison, recounted that "As protesters—chanting 'hands up, don't shoot,' and repeating George Floyd's name—advanced from the campus end of State Street toward the Capitol, cops formed barricades across the street, repeatedly deploying tear gas to route the advancing protesters into side streets. The tear gas set off panicked stampedes, which were the most frightening and dangerous moments of the day." Multiple Madison alders (Rebecca Kemble, Donna Moreland, Max Prestigiacomo, Arvina Martin, Marsha Rummel, Tag Evers, and Grant Foster) released a statement condemning the tear-gassing of protesters. The next day, Rhodes-Conway declared a state of emergency and imposed a 9:30 pm curfew on the isthmus area of the city, stating "I want to be clear that this is in response to a number of people endangering themselves and others by shattering glass, destroying property, and engaging in widespread, systematic looting of local businesses."
On June 3, Rhodes-Conway released a password-protected video, intended only for consumption by Madison Police Department members; however, the video was leaked to the public. In the video, Rhodes-Conway stated "You must be exhausted. I know I am, and you're facing a much more difficult situation than I am. It must be absolutely infuriating to stand in heavy gear outside while listening to people constantly insult your chosen profession... You are not what the protesters say you are. I know that... I was so focused on the task of addressing the concerns of our community that I didn’t remember that you need and deserve both recognition and appreciation."
The video was apparently leaked by a member of the "We Stand With The Madison Police Department" Facebook group. Angry that Rhodes-Conway would not take a public stance in support of police, they accompanied it with this message: "If you know your police are doing well get out there (and) say it publicly. Stop kowtowing."
After the video was leaked, Rhodes-Conway likewise came under fire from supporters of the protests, who were upset by the dissonance between her public statements and her private one.
Rhodes-Conway apologized for the statements made in the leaked video, saying "Black lives matter. I believe deeply in this and yet I failed to center this in my message to the police department... I realize I may have done irreparable harm with my actions, and I realize too that I may have permanently lost any trust I had." In response to the mayor's inability to take a solid stance on the protest, a
recall
Recall may refer to:
* Recall (baseball), a baseball term
* Recall (bugle call), a signal to stop
* Recall (information retrieval), a statistical measure
* ReCALL (journal), ''ReCALL'' (journal), an academic journal about computer-assisted langua ...
effort was launched in July 2020. However, it failed to gather enough signatures in the allotted timeframe.
Second term
Rhodes-Conway was re-elected
in 2023.
Personal life
Satya Rhodes-Conway's mother, Anne Rhodes, is an artist.
Her father, Bob Conway, is a manager of art collections.
Her parents divorced when she was five years old, and her mother subsequently came out as a lesbian.
Satya Rhodes-Conway and Amy Klusmeier have been partners since 2009.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rhodes-Conway, Satya
1971 births
21st-century American women politicians
American lesbian politicians
LGBTQ mayors of places in the United States
American LGBTQ city council members
LGBTQ people from New Mexico
LGBTQ people from New York (state)
LGBTQ people from Wisconsin
Living people
Mayors of Madison, Wisconsin
People from Española, New Mexico
Politicians from Ithaca, New York
Smith College alumni
University of Wisconsin–Madison staff
Wisconsin city council members
Wisconsin Democrats
Women city councillors in Wisconsin
Women mayors of places in Wisconsin
University of California, Irvine alumni
21st-century mayors of places in Wisconsin