There will be no major shake-up in the Milwaukee County Treasurer’s Office this election cycle after incumbent David Cullen won a landslide victory over political newcomer Ted Chisholm on Tuesday.
With 92.7% of the vote, Cullen, who has served as treasurer since 2014, won by a 2-1 margin over Chisholm, the 26-year-old son of Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm, who ran as a reform candidate.
In a statement on Facebook, Chisholm conceded defeat before all mail-in votes were counted.
In an unexpectedly heated race, Chisholm and Cullen questioned each other’s ability to run the normally quiet office, which is responsible for managing county funds, investment funds and delinquent property taxes.
Cullen will soon benefit from a recent 11.5% raise that will increase the salaries of three of the county’s top elected officials – treasurer, county clerk and recorder of deeds – to $102,000 in 2025.
Cullen previously served as a Democratic state representative and member of the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors, where he was co-chair of the county’s finance, personnel and audit committee. Cullen is also an attorney and passed the Wisconsin bar exam in 1984.
In the run-up to the primaries, he recently came under criticism after he sent out around 40,000 taxpayer-funded advertising mailings in April that featured a handful of pictures of him with his grandchildren.
The Journal Sentinel denied that the emails were campaign-related, but later learned that his wife spent more than $1,000 on a list of county voters who voted in the 2020, 2022 and 2023 party primaries. Cullen later claimed the cost as an expense and was reimbursed by his campaign committee. When asked if he would repay the money, Cullen never responded.
Since none of the Republicans entered the race, the Democratic primary decided who would take office.
Contact Vanessa Swales at 414-308-5881 or [email protected]. Follow her on X @Vanessa_Swales.
