City of Brookfield Mayor Steve Ponto won a fourth term, defeating liberal challenger Mike Hallquist, who was backed by more than $100,000 by a liberal group from Washington, DC.
Voters in the City of Brookfield re-elected incumbent Mayor Steve Ponto to a fourth term over Alderman Mike Hallquist in a competitive race that drew significant attention and big spending from an outside liberal group.
Ponto secured 6,391 votes, or 56.3 percent, while Hallquist received 4,969 votes, or 43.7 percent, according to final unofficial results.
The contest pitted Ponto, 78, a longtime resident who has served as mayor since 2010 and prides himself on consensus-building with city staff and the Common Council, against Hallquist, a 40-year-old second-term alderman. The race focused heavily on the city’s ongoing budget challenges, including a projected $4 million gap following voters’ rejection of a $6 million property tax levy referendum in 2025.
The liberal Hallquist’s bid attracted more than $111,000 in spending from the Washington, D.C.-based State & Local Election Alliance, which funded mailers and voter outreach. The amount was described as “unprecedented” in Brookfield politics.
