Steve Kagen takes on Roger Roth

Republican candidate Roger Roth may not be winning the fundraising battle, but he seems to have gotten the attention of Congressman Steve Kagen. This is from Kagen 4 Congress:

State Rep. Roger Roth is one of several Republicans who want to run against Congressman Steve Kagen, D-Appleton.

Kagen can only hope that he is lucky enough to get Roth as his challenger this fall. Like the Republican Kagen beat in 2006 and again in 2008, former Assembly Speaker John Gard, Roth is an out-of-touch ideologue who is more concerned about scoring partisan points than representing the people of northeast Wisconsin.

The line about being "lucky enough to get Roth" as challenger seems little more than bluster. Roth, or any other Republican, certainly wouldn't be a shoe-in, but to think that they wouldn't give Kagen and the Democarts everythying they could handle is simply idiotic.

I hate to break it to the Kagen campaign, but there are many people in N.E.W. that still think highly of John Gard, perhaps even more so in light of Kagen's track record of doing whatever Nancy Pelosi tells him to do. To try and use an association with Gard as a negative is a complete misreading of the current political climate.

Brief tour of WI-8 Congressional District

Wisconsin's 8th congressional district has been mostly quiet lately. This soon will change as we start the new year and as the 2010 election season gets underway in earnest.

Here are some recent items related to the candidates for WI-8 (in no particular order)

As of 12/17 only Kerry Thomas and Terri McCormick were listed as official candidates by the Government Accountability board.

I couldn't find a website for Joe Stern so I'll link my original post on his candidacy.

Andy Williams For Congress now has a facebook page. Become a fan today.

Marc Trager recently spent three days in Washington meeting with Paul Ryan and others.

Reid Ribble sold his business to campaign full time (H/T Fox Politics), signed AFP's no climate tax pledge, but hasn't yet moved into the district.

Christmas wishes from Roger Roth.

Marc Savard is looking to raise $2,010 for 2010. Doing it $9.14 at a time.

Kerry Thomas offers a strategy for saving money on a Disney vacation. I wasn't really interested so I dove into the archives. His Personal Message to Paul Ryan was scathing but well-written.

Terri McCormick on the issues. She is also featuring a good introductory video on her home page.

Roth makes run for WI-8 official

Today was the day that the Republican field to unseat Steve Kagen got just a bit larger with Roger Roth's entry. The Press Gazette reports:

“This is between me and Kagen,” Roth said Tuesday after kicking off his campaign before a group of supporters at Coldwell Banker The Real Estate Group.

Roth, a 31-year-old Grand Chute homebuilder and two-term lawmaker, is counting on his legislative experience, military background and name identification to help him pull ahead of six other candidates in the 2010 GOP primary.

WBAY included this in the report on their website:

He's the nephew of former U.S. Representative Toby Roth, who served the 8th Congressional District for 18 years.

With the name recognition, legislative experience, and military background Roth will no doubt be a formidable candidate. He will have to be careful not to find himself on the receiving end of a quip like the one Reagan used on Mondale with regard to their respective ages.

I do have to say I'm a bit surprised at how muted the response to Roth's announcement is in general. Perhaps it's just too early, or Obama's Afghanistan speech just looms too large today. Either way, I did think that this particular announcement would have a bit more buzz surrounding it. Though Roth did update his website.

So at this point, Kevin is still right, Roth's entry takes the bulls-eye off of Reid Ribble, but also presents a major challenge to all the candidates. At this point though, I would characterize the race as still wide open with a long way to go toward the eventual goal of defeating Kagen.

Roger Roth to Run for WI-8

OK, with this post, I think I am up to date on the candidates. Of course, by the time I wake up tomorrow, two or three more people may have joined the race.

Wis Politics (H/T Lakeshore Laments):

State Rep. Roger Roth, a Republican from Appleton, has sent out a fundraising appeal announcing his intention to seek the GOP nomination to take on U.S. Rep. Steve Kagen in the 8th CD.

Under a header that reads "Roger Roth for Congress," the letter blasts Democrats for taking the United States down the wrong path. Roth will make an official announcement on Dec. 1 on whether or not he will enter the race.

Here is the link to Roth for Congress.

The most interesting part of this announcement for now at least is what Kevin has to say about who benefits by Roth's entry into the race:

On a short-term matter, this announcement probably helps Roofing Company Owner Reid Ribble the most. With Roth in, he takes away "The Establishment Candidate label" (if such a label exists in a seven-way primary) from Ribble and takes the pressure of the bulls-eye off him and onto Roth now since many people -- myself included -- likely view Roth as the first "real choice" to enter the race.