Julian Bradley (politician)

Last updated
Julian Bradley
Member of the Wisconsin Senate
from the 28th district
Incumbent
Assumed office
January 4, 2021

Marc Julian Bradley (born February 11, 1981) is an American businessman and Republican politician from Milwaukee County, Wisconsin. He is a member of the Wisconsin Senate, representing the 28th Senate district since 2021. He is the first black Republican to serve in the Wisconsin Senate and only the second black Republican to serve in the Wisconsin Legislature. [1] [2]

Contents

Early life and career

Julian Bradley was born in Baltimore, Maryland, and moved with his mother to La Crosse, Wisconsin, in 1992, when he was 11 years old. He was interested in politics from an early age. [3] Upon graduating from La Crosse Central High School in 1999, with his mother in failing health and finding himself unable to afford college, he leaned on his other childhood passion—for professional wrestling —and enrolled in "wrestling school" in Philadelphia, intending to earn money to support his family. He made his professional wrestling debut August 28, 1999, under the pseudonym Kris Krude. [3]

After several years living in Philadelphia he entered Temple University, but only remained in school for one year. In 2007 he left professional wrestling behind and returned to Wisconsin to complete his bachelor's degree at the University of Wisconsin–La Crosse. [3] [4] While attending UW–La Crosse, he began working as an area repair supervisor for telecommunications company CenturyLink. He graduated with a degree in political science and economics in 2014 and worked his way up to manager at CenturyLink by 2017. In 2019 he was hired as a manager at Northwestern Mutual, requiring him to relocate to Franklin, Wisconsin, in Milwaukee County. [4]

Political career

In 2002, after a conversation with his mother over the subject of abortion, Bradley came to the conclusion that he was a Republican. His campaign website and press releases acknowledged this as a pivotal moment in his life. [4]

He made his first attempt at elected office in 2010 when he ran for Wisconsin State Assembly in the 95th assembly district, but was defeated in the Republican primary. [5] Despite his primary defeat, he continued working as an organizer and volunteer with the Republican Party of Wisconsin through the general election and became acquainted with Bill Feehan. Feehan planned to seek election as chairman of the La Crosse County Republican Party in 2011 and asked Bradley to join his ticket as vice chair. [3] Bradley agreed and they were elected together. Less than a year later, Feehan stepped down to run for State Senate and Bradley was chosen as his successor. [3] Bradley was chairman of the La Crosse County Republican Party from 2011 through 2014, when he stepped down to make another attempt at elected office. [1] In 2013, he was elected vice chair of the state Republican Party for the 3rd congressional district and was ex officio a member of the state party's executive committee. Also in 2013, he was named Charlie Sykes's Right Wisconsin grassroots activist of the year. [4]

In 2014 he made another run for elected office when he launched a challenge against 32-year incumbent Wisconsin Secretary of State Doug La Follette. This time he prevailed in the Republican primary, but he fell 86,000 votes short of Doug La Follette in the general election in a year when Republicans won every other statewide office. [6] [7]

Following his move to Franklin in 2019, Bradley resumed his political activities and, in 2020, he announced he would be a candidate to replace State Senator Dave Craig, who was not seeking re-election. [1] Four other candidates ultimately also joined the Republican primary contest for the safely-Republican senate seat, but Bradley distinguished himself with strong endorsements from established Republicans in the state party, including two of the three assemblymembers whose districts were contained within the boundaries of the 28th senate district— Ken Skowronski and Chuck Wichgers —as well as former Republican governor Scott Walker. [8] [9] Bradley prevailed with 40% of the vote in the crowded five-person Republican primary. [10] He went on to defeat Democrat Adam Murphy in the general election, taking nearly 60% of the vote. [11]

The 2024 redistricting act drew Bradley out of the 28th Senate district, but Bradley has signaled that he intends to relocate in order to maintain residency and run for re-election in 2024. [12]

Controversies

In July 2020, while running in the Republican primary for Wisconsin State Senate, the conservative opinion newspaper RightWisconsin alleged that Bradley and his campaign lied when he said that the online publication refused to publish an op-ed that he had submitted. [13] Rather, the newspaper stated, they had suggested corrections to the Bradley op-ed, as they do with every op-ed that they publish. The original Bradley article made claims and assertions such as:

"It's no coincidence that Planned Parenthood surgical clinics continue to be located primarily in overwhelmingly black neighborhoods."
"Sincere black lives matter allies should eliminate the Sanger shrine to racism embodied in every Planned Parenthood today."

When RightWisconsin offered corrections and substitutions for these largely speculative and unfounded claims and assertions, the Bradley campaign rejected the newspaper's suggestions, later falsely claiming that RightWisconsin rejected the op-ed outright. [13]

Personal life and family

Julian Bradley is the youngest of three children. He lives in Franklin, Milwaukee County, Wisconsin. [8]

Electoral history

Wisconsin Assembly (2010)

Wisconsin Assembly, 95th District Election, 2010 [5]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Republican Primary, September 14, 2010
Republican Nick Charles 1,431 54.14%
Republican Julian Bradley1,20945.74%
Scattering30.11%
Plurality2228.40%
Total votes2,643 100.0%

Wisconsin Secretary of State (2014)

Wisconsin Secretary of State Election, 2014 [6] [7]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Republican Primary, August 12, 2014
Republican Julian Bradley 138,569 64.68%
Republican Garey Bies75,37935.18%
Scattering3010.14%
Plurality63,19029.49%
Total votes214,249 100.0%
General Election, November 4, 2014
Democratic Doug La Follette (incumbent) 1,161,113 50.00% −1.61%
Republican Julian Bradley1,074,83546.29%−2.01%
Independent Andy Craig58,9962.54%
Constitution Jerry Broitzman25,7441.11%
Scattering1,3470.06%
Plurality86,2783.72%+0.40%
Total votes2,322,035 100.0% +11.57%
Democratic hold

Wisconsin Senate (2020)

Wisconsin Senate, 28th District Election, 2020 [10] [11]
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Republican Primary, August 11, 2020
Republican Julian Bradley 8,263 40.69%
Republican Steve Bobowski4,69223.10%
Republican Dan Griffin4,17720.57%
Republican Marina Croft1,6237.99%
Republican Jim Engstrand1,5437.60%
Scattering110.05%
Plurality3,57117.58%
Total votes20,309 100.0%
General Election, November 3, 2020
Republican Julian Bradley 64,179 59.62% −38.48%
Democratic Adam Murphy43,39140.31%
Scattering800.07%
Plurality20,78819.31%-76.89%
Total votes107,650 100.0% +50.28%
Republican hold

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References

  1. 1 2 3 Rogan, Adam (November 4, 2020). "Meet Julian Bradley, the first-ever Black Republican elected to the Wisconsin State Senate". La Crosse Tribune . Retrieved December 16, 2020.
  2. ↑ Elbow, Steven (November 4, 2020). "The Wisconsin Legislature just got a little more diverse". The Capital Times . Retrieved December 16, 2020.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Hubbuch, Christ (April 22, 2013). "Monday profile: A former wrestler and Democrat, Julian Bradley emerges as GOP leader". La Crosse Tribune . Retrieved December 16, 2020.
  4. 1 2 3 4 "Meet Julian". Julian Bradley State Senate. Retrieved December 16, 2020.
  5. 1 2 FINAL Sept. 14, 2010 Fall Partisan Primary Results Summary (includes recount) (PDF) (Report). Wisconsin Government Accountability Board. October 4, 2010. p. 67. Retrieved December 16, 2020.
  6. 1 2 Canvass Results for 2014 Fall Partisan Primary - 8/12/2014 (PDF) (Report). Wisconsin Government Accountability Board. August 29, 2014. p. 2. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 2, 2020. Retrieved December 16, 2020.
  7. 1 2 Canvass Results for 2014 General Election - 11/4/2014 (PDF) (Report). Wisconsin Government Accountability Board. November 26, 2014. p. 2. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 13, 2021. Retrieved December 16, 2020.
  8. 1 2 "Former GOP Chairman and Businessman Julian Bradley Runs For 28th Senate District". Julian Bradley for State Senate (Press release). May 20, 2020. Retrieved December 16, 2020– via Urban Milwaukee.
  9. ↑ "Scott Walker Endorses Julian Bradley for 28th Senate". Julian Bradley for State Senate (Press release). May 22, 2020. Retrieved December 16, 2020– via Urban Milwaukee.
  10. 1 2 Canvass Results for 2020 Partisan Primary - 8/11/2020 (PDF) (Report). Wisconsin Elections Commission. August 26, 2020. pp. 10–11. Retrieved December 16, 2020.
  11. 1 2 Canvass Results for 2020 General Election - 11/3/2020 (PDF) (Report). Wisconsin Elections Commission. November 18, 2020. p. 7. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 15, 2021. Retrieved December 16, 2020.
  12. ↑ Shur, Alexander (February 20, 2024). "Paired incumbents weigh political futures under Gov. Tony Evers' maps". Wisconsin State Journal . Retrieved March 16, 2024.
  13. 1 2 Wigderson, James (July 17, 2020). "Can You Trust Julian Bradley?". RightWisconsin. Retrieved December 24, 2020.
Party political offices
Preceded by
David D. King
 Republican nominee for Secretary of State of Wisconsin
2014 		Succeeded by
Jay Schroeder
Wisconsin Senate
Preceded by Member of the Wisconsin Senate from the 28th district
January 4, 2021 –present		Incumbent
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