Milwaukee is the largest city in the State of Wisconsin and the fifth-largest city in the Midwestern United States. Milwaukee is the 31st largest city in the United States and is the main cultural and economic center of the Milwaukee metropolitan area. Milwaukee has a mayor-council form of government. In 2021, Cavalier Johnson assumed office as Mayor of the City of Milwaukee. A Common Council of 15 elected members, called Alderman, represent one of the 15 districts in the City and is the lawmaking body of the City of Milwaukee. The Common Council exercises policy-making and legislative powers of the City, including adoption of ordinances and resolutions, approval of the City’s annual budget, and the enactment of appropriation and tax levy ordinances. For additional information, please visit here.
Port Milwaukee is a Department within the City of Milwaukee government.
Mayor Cavalier Johnson took office as Mayor of the City of Milwaukee in late 2021, and he set out immediately to build a safer city. He has prioritized violence reduction and roadway safety. Before taking on his role as Mayor, Cavalier served as Common Council President while representing the city’s 2nd Aldermanic District.
Cavalier’s commitment to his city began at an early age when he was selected by the YMCA to participate in a pre-college program for low-income MPS students. That very same program, Sponsor-A-Scholar, solidified his life commitment to community service and making Milwaukee better for future generations.
Growing up, his family moved frequently, and until middle school Cavalier attended a different Milwaukee Public School almost every year. He has faced violence, evictions, food insecurity — all the challenges attendant to urban poverty. After graduating Bay View High School, Cavalier earned a bachelor’s degree from UW-Madison and then returned home to work for the Milwaukee Area Workforce Investment Board (MAWIB), now Employ Milwaukee. His focus area there included working with at-risk youth, youth entering the workforce for the first time, and adults retooling to enter the workforce.
Before being elected Alderman, he also served Milwaukee in the Mayor’s Office, where he worked diligently with community and faith leaders to find creative solutions to some of Milwaukee’s most pressing issues facing families from all walks of life. Cavalier remains deeply committed to the community, having served on the boards of the Milwaukee YMCA, ACLU-Wisconsin and Milwaukee Community Brainstorming Conference.
Cavalier and his wife, Dominique, have one son and twin daughters and live on Milwaukee’s north side. For additional information, please click here.