Green Bay mayoral candidates make final campaign push

GREEN BAY, Wis. (WBAY) - On Monday, Green Bay mayoral candidates Eric Genrich and Chad Weininger made their final push ahead of the polls opening on Tuesday.

Incumbent Mayor Genrich was out all day on Monday knocking on doors and encouraging the public to go out and vote.

“There’s always a little bit of anxiousness as we get closer to the finish line, but we’re really confident in the race that we’ve run and just kind of being reinforced by the conversations that we’re having today (Monday) and that we’ve had over the last weekend, so I’m feeling good,” Mayor Genrich said.

In a news release Monday afternoon, Governor Evers announced his endorsement of Mayor Genrich, who said he was honored to receive the endorsement.

“We’ve worked closely on a number of city projects including the effort to relocate our coal piles out of our downtown waterfront as well as $5,000,000 for a housing development on the southeast side of town,” Mayor Genrich said. “He was just in town recently to provide some money for violence prevention within the community. We’ve developed a really strong working relationship over the last couple of years and I think incredibly highly of him as a person as well so to have that endorsement really means a lot.”

“From fixing 22 miles of City streets and 11 bridge projects to hiring more police officers and firefighters to make Green Bay safer, Mayor Genrich has a proven track record of progress,” said Governor Evers in a news release. “Green Bay deserves a mayor, like Eric Genrich, that focuses on getting things done for the city.”

Former Brown County Executive and Sheriff Tom Hinz also announced his endorsement of Mayor Genrich.

“I have known Eric and his family for years, and I know how deeply he cares about this City,” Hinz said in a news release. “He has worked hard to make our community safer by adding more first responders to the police and fire departments. As Mayor, I know he will keep progress going for Green Bay.”

On the other side of the aisle, on Monday local leaders gathered at the Brown County Courthouse to endorse Chad Weininger for Mayor. The guest list included Brown County Executive Troy Streckenbach, former Green Bay Mayor Paul Jadin, 17 members of the Brown County Board Supervisors, and nine members of the Green Bay City Council.

”I wanted to set the record straight about what Mr. Weininger represents and the fact that I am not endorsing Mayor Genrich, I am endorsing Mr. Weininger’s work ethic and the things that he can accomplish and the things he has done while the Director of Administration for Brown County,” Streckenbach said.

Melinda Eck, District 11 Alderperson, said the council wanted to send a message that they would like a change in leadership style that includes communicating and engaging with them.

”We as a council crave leadership, we crave transparency, we crave communication, we crave non-partisanship, and most importantly, we crave change and we believe Chad is the one that will bring us all together and create a team that will work together to move Green Bay forward,” Eck said.

In response to 75 percent of the council’s endorsement in Weininger, Mayor Genrich said the important thing for him is to focus on the vote and the voices of the people within the community.

”Really the only endorsements that matter are those of the voters within the city so that’s what we’ve been focused on,” Mayor Genrich said.

The polls are open from 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Tuesday, April 4. If you are in line by 8:00 p.m., you will be allowed to vote.

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