Democratic socialist Ryan Clancy has once again turned back a moderate primary challenger in Milwaukee's 19th Assembly District, defeating Bridget Maniaci with 54.3% of the vote to her 45.5%, according to unofficial county results. It is the second consecutive election cycle in which Clancy has beaten a more establishment-aligned Democrat, following his 2024 primary win over Jarrod Anderson.
Clancy received 8,257 votes to Maniaci's 6,914, per those unofficial county tallies reported by Urban Milwaukee. Maniaci, a Milwaukee native who owns and operates Goodland Home & Goods on the city's east side, previously served as a Madison alderwoman from 2009 to 2013. She picked up endorsements from Sheldon Wasserman and Liz Sumner, but neither Mayor Cavalier Johnson nor County Executive David Crowley publicly backed her campaign this time, a notable departure from 2024, when both men endorsed Anderson alongside Marcelia Nicholson-Bovell.
A District That Keeps Choosing the Insurgent
Assembly District 19 runs along Milwaukee's lakefront from the east side through the northern half of Bay View, and covers the eastern half of downtown Milwaukee along with a small slice of Riverwest. It is one of Wisconsin's most Democratic-leaning districts and one of its highest-turnout districts, according to Urban Milwaukee, which makes the August primary — not the November general — the real contest for the seat.
Clancy first won the seat in 2022, running unopposed to replace Jonathan Brostoff, who went on to be elected to the Milwaukee Common Council. He continued to hold his nonpartisan seat on the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors, where he had served since 2020, even after joining the Assembly. In the 2024 primary, Clancy topped Anderson 54.8% to 45.0% — 6,641 votes to 5,460 — before cruising to a 97.6% general-election win with 30,112 votes against only minor write-in opposition, per Ballotpedia.
Act 12 and the Establishment's Case Against Clancy
Much of the friction between Clancy and party leadership traces back to Act 12, the 2023 sales tax law that Wisconsin enacted to address Milwaukee's pension underfunding. The measure let the city implement a 2% local sales tax and allowed Milwaukee County to raise its sales tax from 0.5% to 0.9% starting in January 2024, while also imposing mandatory police staffing thresholds, according to the Wisconsin Legislative Fiscal Bureau. Anderson's 2024 endorsements were partly rooted in Clancy's opposition to that law, according to Urban Milwaukee's reporting.
Clancy is a member of the Democratic Socialists of America and, in January 2023, he and Representative Darrin Madison co-founded the Wisconsin Legislature's first Socialist Caucus since 1931. That caucus has since grown to four members with the addition of Representatives Francesca Hong and Christian Phelps, per WisPolitics. He has also drawn criticism for his focus on global issues and public disagreements with Democratic colleagues, including his endorsement of the “Uninstructed” protest movement during Wisconsin's April 2024 presidential primary, a push against federal Gaza policy that helped drive more than 48,000 uninstructed votes statewide, as reported by The Guardian. Earlier this year, Hoodline reported on Clancy's Assembly floor opposition to a bill restricting soda and sweets purchases under FoodShare, which he argued punished low-income families.
Endorsements, Per Diems and a Family Tie to the Governor's Race
This cycle, Clancy pulled in a long list of progressive endorsements, including state Senator Chris Larson, Hong, Supreme Moore Omokunde, Madison, Phelps, Angelina Cruz, Angelito Tenorio, Marina Dimitrijevic, Justin Bielinski, Juan Miguel Martinez, Steven Shea, Caroline Gómez-Tom and several labor unions. His wife, Becky Cooper-Clancy, serves as campaign manager for Hong's gubernatorial campaign, a connection Hoodline detailed in its coverage of the governor's race between Hong and Crowley.
Clancy's legislative expense record has also drawn scrutiny. During the 2025 legislative year, he claimed $18,468 across 140 days in per diem allowances for travel between Milwaukee and Madison, placing him among the top five claimants in the Wisconsin State Assembly, according to The Badger Project. Wisconsin's August 2024 primary, the last comparable statewide primary, drew more than 1.2 million voters and a 26% voting-age turnout rate — the state's highest primary turnout in a presidential election year in 60 years, per Hamilton Consulting Group.
What Comes Next
Clancy now advances to face Republican Yasmine B. Outlaw in the November 3 general election. Outlaw, a public administration professional and former North Dakota Legislative Assembly policy analyst, has earned the endorsement of the Milwaukee Police Association, according to WUWM, setting up a general-election contrast with Clancy's public-safety platform. Given the district's overwhelming Democratic lean and Clancy's 97.6% showing in the 2024 general, few expect that contest to be close.
Before entering politics, Clancy co-owned the family entertainment venue Bounce Milwaukee and set a Guinness World Record in November 2019 by playing pinball for 32 consecutive hours, raising more than $2,400 for Children's Wisconsin hospital. Whether Milwaukee's moderate Democratic establishment continues fielding primary challengers against him in future cycles, or eventually adapts to the district's preference for insurgent, left-wing representation, remains an open question for party strategists watching District 19.
