Bob Donovan To Run For Milwaukee Suburban State Assembly District

GREENFIELD, WI — Former Milwaukee Alderman Bob Donovan announced Monday he is running for a seat in the Wisconsin State Assembly.

He is running as a Republican for the 84th District, he said in a news release. The district includes parts of New Berlin, Hales Corners, Greenfield and a piece of far southwest Milwaukee. The announcement comes after Donovan's loss in Milwaukee's April mayoral election, in which Mayor Cavalier Johnson emerged with nearly 70 percent of the vote.

Donovan told Patch he believes it's his experience in elected office and his familiarity with the political players that sets him apart in the race. He said he could on "day one be an asset."

A partnership between Wisconsin's state government and the Milwaukee area would be important, Donovan told Patch. If local leaders act on bringing a plan forward he would want to play a role in it, he said.

Donovan now lives in Greenfield, according to a statement posted to his mayoral campaign Facebook profile on Friday. He told Patch his Greenfield condo was an inheritance from his mother, asserting he lived in Milwaukee when he was running for mayor.

Madison draws Donovan to work on "law and order in our neighborhoods, parental rights, and choice in education," he said in the news release. He also noted a desire to defend Second Amendment rights, rebuild "crumbling" infrastructure, "fix elections" and "secure the rights of the unborn."

The seat is currently held by Mike Kuglitsch, who announced in February he won't be running again.

In his post to Facebook Friday, Donovan says he was considering the run because he believes "public service is my vocation."