Tom Barrett

Thomas Mark Barrett (born December 8, 1953) is an American diplomat and politician who served as the United States ambassador to Luxembourg from 2022 to 2025. He previously served as the 44th mayor of Milwaukee, Wisconsin from 2004 until 2021.

A member of the Democratic Party, he was previously elected to the Wisconsin State Assembly (1984–1989), Wisconsin Senate (1989–1993) and U.S. House of Representatives (1993–2003). Barrett was elected mayor in April 2004 and won further terms in 2008, 2012, 2016 and 2020. After having unsuccessfully sought the Democratic nomination for governor of Wisconsin in 2002, Barrett was the party's nominee for governor in both 2010 and 2012, losing both elections to Scott Walker. When he left office as mayor, Barrett was the longest-serving current mayor of one of the 50 largest cities in the United States.

Early life, education and early career Barrett is the oldest son of Gertrude Virginia (of German and English descent) and Thomas J. Barrett (of Irish descent). His father was a World War II veteran who was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross in 1944 for 30 missions over Germany as a navigator. His mother was a war widow when she met his father at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. They married and moved to Milwaukee, where Barrett was born. He grew up on the city's west side.

Barrett graduated from Marquette University High School; he went on to earn his Bachelor of Arts in economics from the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 1976 and his Juris Doctor from the University of Wisconsin Law School in 1980. He helped put himself through college and law school by working on the Harley-Davidson assembly line. After law school, Barrett served as a law clerk for Judge Robert W. Warren on the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin from 1980 to 1982. He later entered into private practice and served as a bank examiner for the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.

State Assembly and Senate Barrett made his first run for office at the age of 28 for the Wisconsin State Assembly in 1982, but was unsuccessful. He ran again in 1984, this time successfully; Barrett sponsored 37 bills and co-sponsored 1345 bills between January 5, 1993, and October 10, 2002. In 2016, Barrett was reelected with 70% of the vote over conservative 8th district alderman Robert Donovan. In 2020, Barrett was reelected to a fifth term with over 62% of the vote against Lena Taylor.

Development During Barrett's tenure, the city has seen billions of dollars' worth of new downtown developments. Barrett made great use of subsidies and tax incremental financing for developments. Barrett focused heavily on downtown development. In the later period of his mayoralty, the city saw its largest construction boom since the 1960s. The city's downtown experienced a major construction boom that included several new skyscrapers, such as the Northwestern Mutual Tower and Commons.

In 2018, Barrett announced a plan to construct 10,000 units of affordable housing in the city. The plan included an expansion of the use of tax-incremental financing districts.

Barrett made an effort to revive struggling areas of the city by encouraging businesses to relocate to areas near lower-income neighborhoods. Barrett served as chair of the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative, a group of American and Canadian local officials concerned with the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence River.

Response to the COVID-19 pandemic During the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, Barrett took a number of actions. On March 23, 2020, citing concerns of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, Mayor Barrett sent a letter to Governor Tony Evers, State Senate Majority Leader Scott L. Fitzgerald and Speaker of the State House Robin Vos, requesting that the April 7 elections (including the mayoral election, as well as Wisconsin's presidential primaries and others races) be conducted using mail-in ballots only. Barrett lent his backing to a proposal authored by the Department of City Development under which business improvement districts would be allowed to spend money on assisting companies and property owners hurt by the pandemic without needing Common Council approval. Barrett lobbied the United States Army Corps of Engineers to establish a care facility at the Wisconsin State Fair Park.

Other matters In April 2009, Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle and Mayor Tom Barrett, joined by Superintendent of Public Instruction of Wisconsin Elizabeth Burmaster, announced a broad effort improve the Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS). The announcement followed the completion of a comprehensive independent review of the finances and non-instructional operations of MPS commissioned by the governor and mayor in October 2008.

In 2013, he was one of nine mayors who established July 15 as Social Media Giving Day, encouraging citizens to support charities via social media.

Barrett was an advocate for the construction of The Hop streetcar system.

Mayor Barrett was involved in Milwaukee's successful bid to host the 2020 Democratic National Convention. Before he left the mayor's office, Barrett started the city's bid for the 2024 Republican National Convention. Milwaukee's bid was successful.

U.S. Ambassador to Luxembourg On August 25, 2021, President Joe Biden announced his intent to nominate Barrett to serve as the United States Ambassador to Luxembourg. Hearings on his nomination were held before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on November 2, 2021. The committee favorably reported the nomination on December 15, 2021. The United States Senate confirmed him on December 16, 2021, by voice vote. He was sworn in by Judge Lynn Adelman in Milwaukee on December 23, 2021, and arrived in Luxembourg on January 28, 2022. On February 10, 2022, he presented his credentials to the Grand Duke of Luxembourg at the Grand Ducal Palace in Luxembourg City.

Gubernatorial bids 2002

Barrett decided to run for governor in 2002 when he decided to leave Washington D.C. after nearly a decade of service in the U.S. House of Representatives. He did so as a means spend more time in Milwaukee and Wisconsin with his family. Additionally, Wisconsin had lost a seat after the 2000 Census, and the new map resulted in Barrett's district being merged with the 4th district on the other side of Milwaukee, represented by fellow Democrat Jerry Kleczka. While the merged district retained Kleczka's district number, it was geographically and demographically more Barrett's district. However, Barrett announced his candidacy for governor in 2001, effectively handing the merged 4th to Kleczka.

In a heated Democratic primary, Barrett came in a close second to then-Attorney General Jim Doyle, who went on to win the general election.

2010

In August 2009, Doyle announced his decision to not seek reelection to a third term in 2010, leading many to believe Barrett would run for governor.

2012 recall election

After the contentious collective bargaining dispute, Walker's disapproval ratings varied between 50 and 51%, while his approval ratings varied between 47 and 49% in 2011. In a survey of 768 Wisconsin voters conducted between February 24–27, 2011, during the 2011 Wisconsin budget protests, a poll by Public Policy Polling found that 52% of respondents said they would vote for Barrett if the election had been held then, while 45% said they would vote for Walker. The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees and the Wisconsin Education Association Council, which already supported another Democrat who had announced, had met with Barrett in late December 2011 and tried unsuccessfully to keep him from entering the race. On May 8, Barrett won the Democratic primary for the recall election.

A Marquette Law School Poll released on May 30 (mirroring other polling outlets) had Barrett trailing Walker 52% to 45% among likely voters. The results represent a six-point increase for Walker over Barrett since Marquette's earlier poll in late April. The poll's margin of error for likely voters was plus or minus 4.1 percentage points. Odysseas, a contributor to the progressive blog Daily Kos, had questioned if the Marquette University Law school poll oversampled "right wingers." For example, a poll by Public Policy Polling conducted May 11–13 gave Republicans a 7% edge over Democrats in terms of likely voters, unlikely given Wisconsin voter registration patterns. However, in retrospect the Marquette poll accurately reflected the Wisconsin electorate's vote. However, the same poll showed President Obama holding a lead over Mitt Romney 51–43. On May 21, the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel endorsed Scott Walker over Barrett arguing "[there is] no reason to remove Walker from office." The Journal-Sentinel had previously endorsed Walker over Barrett in 2010. Walker defeated Barrett in the June 5 recall election by garnering 53.2%-46.3%, a similar margin to the 2010 election. Walker thus became the first governor in US history to survive a recall election.

Personal life Barrett and his wife still live in Milwaukee's Washington Heights neighborhood, blocks away from his childhood home, where they raised their four, now adult, children Tommy, Annie, Erin and Kate, who all attended Milwaukee German Immersion School.

Electoral history

U.S. House of Representatives

Mayor of Milwaukee

Gubernatorial bids