The Milwaukee Committee supports the Election Commission’s new executive director

Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson’s nominee to lead the city’s Board of Elections through the critical fall presidential election won the recommendation of a key Common Council committee Monday.

Johnson announced on May 6 that he is replacing executive director Claire Woodall with her deputy, Paulina Gutiérrez.

Her appointment is subject to confirmation by the Common Council, and Monday’s hearing before the Judiciary and Legislation Committee was the first step in that process. The Common Council meets on June 11.

“I’m focused on the future,” Gutiérrez told the commission. “We have a lot of work ahead of us to get ready for November. I am committed to Milwaukee and our mission, which is to ensure that elections are administered in a fair, transparent, fair and accessible manner to instill voter confidence in the democratic process.”

All eyes will once again be on Wisconsin’s largest city and its vote-counting operation in the Nov. 5 election, which is expected to pit former President Donald Trump against President Joe Biden again.

Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee, has continued to falsely claim that Milwaukee voters cast “illegal ballots” in 2020. That year, Trump lost the swing state to Biden by about 21,000 votes after the state elected Trump by a similar margin just four years earlier.

Gutiérrez was appointed deputy director of the city’s Election Commission in early 2023. She previously worked for the state Department of Corrections as legislative and city counsel in various roles.

During the meeting, Ald. Scott Spiker asked Gutiérrez if she was “too green for such an important election,” saying her predecessor served a long time and led the commission through presidential elections during the coronavirus pandemic.

In response, Gutiérrez said that not only was he second in command at the Electoral Commission for a year and a half, but that former and current election officials are “just a phone call away.”

In recent weeks, Woodall and the city reached a separation agreement in which Woodall will remain with the city in an advisory position until early August, but will work out of the office and not communicate with staff other than Gutiérrez , about electoral processes.

As part of the settlement, Woodall agreed to release any legal claims against the city and both sides agreed not to disparage each other for two years.

The separation agreement notes “the importance of a smooth transition of leadership before the upcoming presidential election in 2024.”

Gutiérrez said that in order to prepare for the election, she will be running and hopes to appoint a deputy director soon. She also said that after the change in leadership at the commission, she is working with the city’s Employee Assistance Program to “develop the synergy and cadence” needed to run the election.

“Elections are not run by one person, but by a group of people,” Gutiérrez said. “I’m very fortunate for the staff that I have that are committed to running elections … So I’m confident in their abilities and where I need assistance, I know where to go to get those resources. “

Gutiérrez told the Journal Sentinel that he spoke with election professionals, both in Wisconsin and nationally, who provided him with information, tools and examples.

Spiker did not ask Gutiérrez about the mayor’s decision to change the leadership of the Electoral Commission.

Spiker asked Gutiérrez about her “activism,” saying she’s “very passionate about issues that affect our community” and pressing her on whether she has any concerns that some might see that as a problem while she administers elections.

Gutiérrez said her activism focused on community peacemaking and stemmed from growing up in Milwaukee in an area of ​​”extreme violence” in the 1990s.

“A peacebuilder builds peace through bureaucracy, through systems, giving everyone a fair shot at something — that’s activism to me,” she said.

That’s especially important to her as a child of immigrants, and leading the Election Commission will allow her to put that philosophy to work, she said.

Afterward, Gutiérrez told the Journal Sentinel that growing up around gang violence on the South Side helped guide her career, much of which was spent in criminal justice.

She described herself as an advocate for helping people make their voices heard. That included previous positions helping residents determine who to call when they encountered crime problems, whether it was law enforcement or another entity.

Gutiérrez listed the July 30 election and July 2 primary for the 4th Senate District seat vacated by former state Sen. Lena Taylor, who resigned to become a Milwaukee County Circuit Court judge, among her biggest challenges.

She also emphasized the recruitment of workers for the November elections, saying about 1,300 people need to be recruited and trained. She said she feels good about recruiting for the November election, when many people are motivated to work at the polls.

“One of my priorities is to make sure that we have written procedures and that we create a model and a sustainable system in elections where people can pick up a textbook and get to work,” she said.

Alison Dirr can be reached at [email protected]. Tristan Hernandez can be reached at [email protected].