Mayor Cavalier Johnson took office as Acting Mayor of the City of Milwaukee in late 2021, and he set out immediately to build a safer city. He has prioritized violence reduction, economic development, and roadway safety. Before taking on his role as Acting Mayor, Johnson served as Common Council President while representing the city’s 2nd Aldermanic District.

In April of 2022, Mayor Johnson was elected as the forty-fifth chief executive of the City of Milwaukee winning with more than seventy percent of the vote. He is the first Black Mayor elected in the city, and only the fourth elected mayor in the past sixty-two years.

Mayor Johnson’s commitment to public service began at an early age when he was selected by the YMCA to participate in a pre-college program for low-income Milwaukee Public School students. That program, Sponsor-A-Scholar, instilled in him a passion to make Milwaukee better for future generations.

Growing up, his family moved frequently, and until middle school Mayor Johnson attended a different Milwaukee Public School almost every year. He has seen violence, evictions, food insecurity — challenges common in urban poverty. He brings that lived experience to his work as Mayor.

After graduating Bay View High School, Mayor Johnson earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and returned home to work for the Milwaukee Area Workforce Investment Board (MAWIB), now Employ Milwaukee. His focus included working with at-risk youth, youth entering the workforce for the first time, and adults retooling to enter the workforce.

Before his election as Alderman, he served as a staff assistant in the Mayor’s Office, where he worked with community and faith leaders to find creative solutions to pressing issues facing families.

Mayor Johnson remains deeply committed to the community, having served on the boards of the Milwaukee YMCA, ACLU-Wisconsin and Milwaukee Community Brainstorming Conference.

He and his wife, Dominique, have one son and twin daughters and live on Milwaukee’s north side.