From new cops and concrete on city streets to health insurance for university researchers' same-sex partners, advocates for urban areas such as Madison are hoping to see action on their agendas from the state and federal Democrats brought to power Tuesday.

The problem in this tough economy, lawmakers and these same advocates say, is that the only proposals that may get passed are those that don't cost much.

"I'm going to be reasonable about it and keep my expectations in check," said Madison Mayor Dave Cieslewicz, who hopes eventually to see more public investment in new police officers, aging roads and high-speed rail. "It's very early morning in America. It's still pretty dark out but at least we have reason to hope now."

Madison and south-central Wisconsin could also benefit from a new slate of leaders, from the White House to the state Legislature's powerful budget committee, with ties to the city and to Wisconsin, some Democrats said. But other lawmakers cautioned that catering too much to cities could lead to ignoring rural concerns or higher taxes or both.

New leadership in Madison and Washington includes:

• State Sen. Mark Miller, D-Monona, is entering his first full budget process as a co-chairman of the budget committee. Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Madison, a chief strategist in the Democrats' takeover of the state Assembly, is considered a top candidate for the other co-chairman post.

• A top candidate for the post of Assembly speaker, Democratic Rep. Mike Sheridan, comes from nearby Janesville. The other candidates, Reps. Jon Richards, Pedro Colon and Fred Kessler, are also urban lawmakers from Milwaukee.

• Gov. Jim Doyle, a relatively early endorser of President-elect and Illinois resident Barack Obama, has repeatedly said he believes Obama will pay more attention to the needs of the state.

Sheridan, who is locked in an uphill battle to keep the General Motors plant in Janesville from closing for good, noted Obama visited the plant during the campaign and made a major economic speech there.

Now, "we feel like we have a friend in the White House," Sheridan said.

For his part, Miller down played what newly ascendant urban lawmakers could do for their areas, saying "the demands of the state override the concerns of any particular region."

"Our top priority (is), how do we keep Wisconsin's economy as strong as possible?" Miller said. "To the extent that we succeed at that, we can look at some of these other priorities."

But Pocan said having Democrats in positions of influence would make a difference for cities such as Madison.

"When it comes to issues like shared (state tax) revenue for cities they're going to have a much more sympathetic ear with the Democrats in charge," Pocan said.

With big spending increases difficult, Pocan said Democrats would look at smaller ticket items such as a plan long-sought by UW-Madison and other state universities to give domestic partner benefits to their employees. During the last budget process the Republican lawmakers who then controlled the Assembly blocked the measure.

Being one of the few large universities in the region that doesn't offer health insurance to employees' same-sex partners makes it harder to attract some top faculty, University of Wisconsin System spokesman David Giroux said. The $670,000 a year cost of the benefit would be returned because it would help attract or retain researchers who bring in the big federal grants that help drive Madison's growing knowledge economy, he said.

"We're going to do what we can to help the UW be competitive in keeping" faculty, Pocan said.

With support from Doyle, the Democrat-controlled Senate and the leaders of the newly Democratic Assembly, the proposal is likely to pass, Pocan said.

Mike Mikalsen agreed. But Mikalsen, an aide to Rep. Steve Nass, R-Whitewater, the sharp university critic who is losing an influential position as the chairman of the Assembly's higher education committee, said Republicans will criticize any such move by Democrats as out of touch with the priorities of ordinary citizens concerned about the economy.

"That's the worst message," Mikalsen said. "The problem is to the broader public, that's not what they want dealt with."

Giroux said he hoped the issue wouldn't become partisan, adding it would be a relatively cheap way to start addressing the lower compensation UW-Madison professors receive compared to their peers.

"We've consistently tried to make the case that this is a competitive issue," he said.

Both Democrats and Republicans acknowledged that major new spending on public programs, from the UW System's $1.1 billion yearly budget to urban infrastructure, will be hard during the current economic downturn.

"We've never seen a financial crisis like this and there is going to have to be a battle" over any new taxes and spending, Mikalsen said.