Voters in only two of Wauwatosa’s eight aldermanic districts had a choice in the 2024 elections. That year, there were only two contested Common Council races. In the other six districts, the winning candidates ran unopposed.
In 2026, Wauwatosa voters will elect 12 members from 12 brand new districts, based on a new council structure that is being phased in starting with the April election. Whether more of those districts' seats will be decided in contested elections remains to be seen. Candidates have until a Jan. 6 deadline to file their nominating papers.
An initial look at the council’s new district configuration suggests some of those elections could pit sitting incumbents against each other, while several other districts will have no incumbents on the ballot, because of where the geographic boundaries were drawn for the new districts and because some current council members already have decided not to run.
More candidates could come forward in the next two weeks. Will you be one? Essentially anyone who lives in the City of Wauwatosa can run, as long as they are legal voters.
To preview those races as they currently stand, Tosa Forward News reached out to each of the current 16 members of the Common Council to inquire whether they planned to run for one of the new seats when the 12-member council takes effect in April. Their responses indicate most district races remain wide open — either with only one incumbent or with no one yet announcing candidacies at all.
Tosa Forward News takes no position on any of the races or candidates but supports an engaged electorate and civic participation. To that end, this is the first of three articles providing an overview of the coming council election, the nominating period, the council’s structural changes and the latest status of the 16 incumbents. This first installment looks at the new Districts 2, 4, 8 and 12. The other two articles on the remaining eight districts will be published Dec. 22 and 23.
First some basics.
A smaller council: The city is currently divided into eight districts, each with two council members representing the same geographic area. Under the changes endorsed by voters in 2022, the Common Council will shrink in April 2026 from 16 to 12 seats, and each of those 12 members will begin representing a unique new geographic district — so, no more council member tag teams.
The transition phase: To make this change, all of the current 16 members of the council will end their terms this spring and must decide now whether to run for one of the 12 new seats. Odd-numbered districts will elect members to shortened two-year terms, and even-numbered districts’ members will serve four-year terms, establishing staggered four-year terms going forward.
Responsibilities: Council members are expected to attend and participate in meetings of the full council, which take place about once a month on Tuesday evenings, and are assigned to committees of the council that also meet once or twice a month on Tuesday evenings. Members also receive and respond to inquiries from the public. More on the council's role in city government can be found here.
Salaries: With the reduction of the council from 16 to 12 members, the pay for each of the new members will increase from $5,400 to $7,200 a year, starting when the new council is seated in April.
How to run: Dec. 1 was the first day prospective candidates could begin circulating nomination papers. Candidates must obtain 20 to 40 signatures to get their names on the ballot. Those nomination papers are due at 5 p.m. Jan. 6, 2026. Full documentation is available on the city’s website here.
Preview: Four districts, zero incumbents
District 2 — This east-side district includes much of the Pabst Park neighborhood, Washington Highlands and Quarry Heights. Its eastern edge borders the Milwaukee city line. It starts at North Avenue and continues south to State Street.
The neighborhoods, all east of 68th Street, range from the densely packed residential grid of Pabst Park through the historic, stately houses of the Highlands and then the single-family homes and apartment complexes south of Milwaukee Avenue and Vliet Street. The district also includes Metcalfe’s and the commercial sites east along State Street.
Andrew Meindl, the current council member from the city’s existing District 1, is the only incumbent who lives in this new District 2, but he has decided not to run for council again in 2026. He told Tosa Forward News he’d prefer to focus more time on his family, faith and job.
District 4 — This is one of the more unusual-shaped districts in the new configuration. It spans what you might call the heart of “old” Wauwatosa, particularly Tosa Village and the Olde Hillcrest neighborhood just east of Wauwatosa East High School and south of Hillcrest Drive. The Wauwatosa Historical Society’s Kneeland-Walker House is part of this district.
Its eastern edge is 68th Street, and it extends south across State Street through Hart Park and part of the neighborhoods of Jacobus Park and Wellauer Heights. It also extends west along the north side of Watertown Plank Road to Interstate 41, including much of the Glenview Heights neighborhood and the Harwood Place senior residences.
Margaret Arney is the incumbent who lives within the new boundaries of District 4, though Arney is not running for council in April. Arney also serves as state assemblywoman representing Assembly District 18, and she told Tosa Forward News that she decided to focus on the Assembly rather than continue trying to juggle the two roles.
This week, after this story published, Amanda Saso, who serves as executive director of the Wauwatosa Historical Society, announced she was running for the new District 4 seat. "Wauwatosa is my home, and I’ve spent years serving this community in meaningful, hands-on ways," she said. "I would be honored to represent District 4 on the Wauwatosa Common Council."
District 8 — This district on the city’s south side extends from Glenview Avenue west along the south side of Watertown Plank Road to 115th Street. Most of the residential portion of the district is within a few blocks north and south of Wisconsin Avenue.
It includes the Milwaukee Regional Medical Center as well as Ravenswood, the neighborhood tucked south of the medical center pointing toward West Allis. And it extends along the north side of Bluemound Road across the Mayfair Road commercial strip into the Underwood residential neighborhood.
District 8 is one of only two new districts with no incumbents on the council, and no one was reported to have filed nomination papers to run for this new seat as of Dec. 19, according to the city’s website, which says it was last updated Dec. 16.
District 12 — On Wauwatosa’s far north end, this is the other new district without any incumbent council members, though it does have a candidate. These neighborhoods have been part of the current District 8, but the two incumbents, Jason Wilke and Melissa Dolan, live in the neighborhood just south of the new District 12's Capitol Drive boundary.
From Capitol north almost to Hampton Avenue, the new district spans from its eastern edge at 92nd Street and the Milwaukee city line its west edge at 124th Street and the Waukesha County line. It includes the commercial and industrial zone from Home Depot north along either side of the railroad tracks west of Interstate 41. Other significant properties include the Luther Manor senior residences on 92nd Street, Webster Park and Pinelawn cemetery on Mayfair Road and Madison Park and Madison Elementary in the district’s northeast corner.
On Dec. 2, a resident in the new District 12, Scott Small, announced he was running for the seat. Although Small, 29, had not yet filed his nominating papers as of Dec. 16, he said in a news release that he was a candidate and identified himself a partner and owner of a small law firm who lives in the Tosa Heights neighborhood with his wife and dog.
“I am thrilled to hear from the residents of the 12th District and to be a voice for the norht side of Wauwatosa,” Small said.
- David Paulsen, a Tosa East Towne resident and editor of Tosa Forward News, has more than 25 years of experience as a professional journalist. He can be reached at editor@tosanews.com.
