Stuart D. Levitan (born November 29, 1953) is an American journalist, lawyer, politician, historian, and author.
Levitan grew up in Long Island, New York, the son of David M. Levitan [1] and Judith Morley Levitan. [2] Levitan graduated from New College of Florida [3]
Levitan was hired by the Capital Times as a part-time Washington correspondent in 1975, [4] after a visit to Madison while following presidential candidate Fred Harris. In 1976, Levitan joined the Capital Times fulltime in Madison. [5] In 1977, Levitan left the Capital Times due to the strike by the Printer's Union (which would last for 5 years [6] ) and joined the Madison Press Connection, a paper formed by striking workers. Levitan later left the paper and enrolled in law school, afterwards joining the Wisconsin Employment Relations Commission as a staff attorney, where he served until retiring in early 2015. [7]
Levitan was elected to the Dane County Board of Supervisors in 1982 from the Fourth District, serving five years.
Beginning in 1983, Levitan served on a number of boards, committees, and commissions in local government, including the Civic Center Commission, the Madison Zoning Board of Appeals, the State Street Oversight Committee, the Madison Plan Commission, and the Community Development Authority.
Levtian was appointed to the Madison Landmarks Commission in 2007, and served until 2019, much of it as Chair of the commission. [8] While Levitan served on the commission, major issues that came before the commission included the Edgewater Hotel Redevelopment [9] and the removal of the cenotaph at the Confederate Rest section of Forest Hill Cemetery. [10]
Levitan ran for Secretary of State in 1990, and for State Senate against incumbent Fred Risser in 1996. [11]
Levitan hosted ”Books And Beats” on The Mic 92.1 which was described as a show of "‘long form’ interviews with performers and especially authors.". [12] Since 2006, he has hosted “Access: City Hall”, a television show on the Madison City Channel that interviews local officials and newsmakers in Madison. [13] Levitan is the Vice President of the Board of Directors of WORT-FM, a community radio station in Madison. [14]
Levitan Lane, on Madison's far east side, is named for him.
Levitan is the author of Madison: The Illustrated Sesquicentennial History, Volume 1: 1856-1931 (University of Wisconsin Press, 2006, ISBN 9780299216740, OCLC 70775651
Levitan is also the author of Madison in the Sixties (Wisconsin Historical Society Press, 2018) ISBN 9780870208836, OCLC 1035821343. In developing the book, Levitan read every published issue of the Wisconsin State Journal, the Capital Times, and The Daily Cardinal during the 1960s.
Madison is the county seat of Dane County and the capital city of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census the population was 269,840, making it the second-largest city in Wisconsin by population, after Milwaukee, and the 80th-largest in the U.S. The city forms the core of the Madison Metropolitan Area which includes Dane County and neighboring Iowa, Green, and Columbia counties for a population of 680,796. Madison is also the principal city of the Madison-Janesville-Beloit Combined Statistical Area which as of 2020 had a population of 910,246. Madison is named for American Founding Father and President James Madison.
Vel Phillips Memorial High School is a public high school in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. It was established in 1966 and is part of the Madison Metropolitan School District.
Breese Stevens Municipal Athletic Field is a multi-purpose stadium in Madison, Wisconsin. Located eight blocks northeast of the Wisconsin State Capitol on the Madison Isthmus, it is the oldest extant masonry grandstand in Wisconsin.
Paul R. Soglin is an American politician and former three-time Mayor of Madison, Wisconsin, having served a total of 22 years in that office between 1973 and 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, he was a candidate for Governor of Wisconsin in the 2018 Democratic primary.
WXXM is a commercial radio station licensed to Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, and serving the Madison metropolitan area. The station is owned and operated by iHeartMedia, and broadcasts an adult hits radio format, switching to Christmas music for much of November and December. The station is noted for its runs as an alternative rock station during the 1980s and 1990s and as a progressive talk station in the 2000s and 2010s.
Charlie Mohr was a middleweight college boxer for the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Mohr, from New York City, died of a brain hemorrhage following an NCAA Tournament bout eight days earlier with Stu Bartell of San Jose State University. Twenty-two days after Mohr's death, the University of Wisconsin–Madison abolished the sport at UW–Madison. The NCAA soon followed Wisconsin's lead, officially ending their support of the national boxing tournament in late 1960 and unofficially terminating the sport.
Forest Hill Cemetery is located in Madison, Wisconsin, and was one of the first U.S. National Cemeteries established in Wisconsin.
Elina Fuhrman is an American journalist, author, and wellness activist. She is the founder and CEO of Soupelina, a vegan soup company and a chef with the company.
Isthmus is a free alternative newspaper based in Madison, Wisconsin (US). Founded by Vince O'Hern and Fred Milverstedt in 1976, the paper is published monthly on the first Thursday, with a circulation of 35,000. In 2020 the newspaper became a nonprofit, joining a growing number of local news outlets turning to community support to fund operations. Isthmus offers local news, opinion, sports and coverage of the arts, dining and music scenes.
Kelda Helen Roys is an American tech entrepreneur, business owner, attorney, and Democratic politician. She currently serves in the Wisconsin State Senate, representing the 26th senatorial district. She succeeded Fred Risser in 2021, who was the longest-serving state legislator in American history. She previously served two terms in the Wisconsin State Assembly, was a candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives in 2012 and for Governor of Wisconsin in 2018.
Marjorie "Midge" Miller was an American politician and activist for peace, nuclear non-proliferation, and women's rights. She was a member of the Wisconsin State Assembly for 14 years, from 1971 until 1985, and ran the Wisconsin primary campaign of U.S. Senator Eugene McCarthy in his 1968 anti-Vietnam War bid against incumbent President Lyndon B. Johnson.
John Harrison Nichols is a liberal and progressive American journalist and author. He is the National Affairs correspondent for The Nation and associate editor of The Capital Times. Books authored or co-authored by Nichols include The Genius of Impeachment and The Death and Life of American Journalism.
Lisa B. Subeck is an American political organizer and Democratic politician. She is a member of the Wisconsin State Assembly, representing the west side of Madison, Wisconsin, since January 2015.
Scott Resnick is a tech business executive and former alderman of the Common Council in City of Madison, Wisconsin, representing the 8th District from 2011-2015. The 8th District incorporates areas including: State Street, the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus, and Spring Street neighborhood.
Melissa Kristen Agard is an American small business owner and politician from Madison, Wisconsin. A Democrat, she is a member of the Wisconsin State Senate and minority leader since November 2022. She previously served four terms in the Wisconsin State Assembly, when she was primarily known as Melissa Sargent.
Broom Street Theater is an experimental black box theater located in the heart of Madison's isthmus. As one of the oldest and most prolific experimental theater companies in the United States, it has produced over 350 original works. Productions are most frequently written and directed by local playwrights and artists, who are able to realize their vision without censorship of content or presentation. Broom Street Theater is a 501(c)(3) member-run non-profit which currently produces nine to ten plays per year.
Shelia R. Stubbs is an American politician, pastor, and former probation and parole agent. She is a Democratic member of the Wisconsin State Assembly, elected in 2018, representing the south and west parts of Madison, Wisconsin. She is also a member of the Dane County Board of Supervisors since 2006 and she is Dane County's first African American representative in the Wisconsin Legislature. From 2006 to 2020, Stubbs was the only African American to serve on the Board of Supervisors, however African American representation on the Board is increasing. Beginning in 2020, the Dane County Board of Supervisors installed four other African American supervisors in Anthony Gray, Teran Peterson, April Kigeya, and Dana Pellebon.
Satya Rhodes-Conway is an American politician and the mayor of Madison, Wisconsin. She was first elected in 2019 and was re-elected in 2023. She previously served on the Madison Common Council between 2007 and 2013. She is the first out lesbian elected as a mayor in Wisconsin, and only the second woman to become mayor of Madison.
Francesca Hong is an American chef, community organizer, and politician from the U.S. state of Wisconsin. A Democrat, she is the representative of the 76th district of the Wisconsin State Assembly, based in the Madison Isthmus. Elected in November 2020, she is the first Asian American member of the Wisconsin Legislature.
Nonpartisan elections are currently held every four years to elect the mayor of Madison, Wisconsin.