MILWAUKEE— Kevin Junior has been running Junior’s Smoked Barbeque for nearly 10 years; he opened his location in the Sherman Phoenix building in December of 2021. 

“As a business owner, being over here and being able to service the community over here in certain ways most people haven’t been able to has been really good to us," Junior said. 

In those years, Junior said he's seen the rise in crime, both in his neighborhood, and near his business. 

“A lot of the car car thefts, a lot of kids stealing cars and running red lights, causing accidents," Junior noted. 

It’s something he hopes Milwaukee's newly elected mayor, Cavalier Johnson, can address. 

What You Need To Know

  • Cavalier Johnson won Milwaukee's mayoral race with nearly 72% of the vote

  • He is the first Black elected mayor of Milwaukee in the city's history

  • Kevin Junior, owner of Junior's Smoked Barbeque, believes the win is significant for the city and Black community alike

Johnson was elected by nearly 72% of voters in Milwaukee Tuesday Night — becoming the first elected Black mayor in the city’s history. 

Junior said that’s big for the city and for the Black community. 

“Other cities that have never had a Black mayor or a female mayor, lets them know in the aspect of, ‘It can happen,'" Junior said. "It’s not a bad thing. It’s something overall that’s going to be good for the city and for all communities.”

While celebrating his win with supporters Tuesday night, Johnson said the significance of his election win wasn’t lost on him. 

“One of the first people that I talked to in this room tonight was a little Black boy. I saw him in church on Sunday and he was here tonight. He asked his grandmother to bring him down here. It sends that message to those same kids who grew up in the neighborhoods I grew up in, those challenged, depressed neighborhoods; it says 'You, too, have a place in Milwaukee,'" Johnson said. 

Junior agreed, saying that his historical election is just as important as a lot of the governing work that is ahead for Johnson. 

“They’ve seen it with [President Barack] Obama in the past. Now young, Black males can see within my city, within my community, that I can come from, where I’m at, to get to where he is," Junior said. 

He knows there’s a lot of work to be done, but Junior is looking forward to seeing where Johnson can take the Cream City.  

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