Is state Sen. Julie Lassa the leading Democratic candidate for David Obey’s congressional seat?
That’s the opinion of one senior Democratic insider, who cannot be named, during our conversation this afternoon.
But, in a conference call with reporters today, Mike Tate, chair of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, said names being bandied about are Lassa, state Senate Majority Leader Russ Decker, state Reps. Pat Kreitlow and Donna Seidel, and Christine Bremer, an attorney in Wausau.
Tate said he doesn’t think there will be a competitive Democratic primary in the district, that the party will get together and coalesce around one candidate. Tate said he’s talked to many of the names mentioned above, but wouldn’t disclose details, other than that he hadn’t talked to attorney Bremer.
“Are all of them actively considering this? I couldn’t say that. I haven’t spoken to all of them,” Tate said.
Tate said he thought there would be a strong candidate within 10 days.
First the party lost Doyle and had to field a gubernatorial candidate, now it’s losing Obey on pretty short notice. Makes you kind of feel for Tate, who’s pretty new to the position.
But Tate came out swinging during the conference call.
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The seventh district is safely in Democratic hands, having elected Democrats “up and down the ticket, for generations” Tate said. He conceded that Obey’s electoral success has helped to make that happen, though.
The baseline Democratic vote is 55.3%, although Obey won with much higher margins, usually winning 60% of the vote. And 60% of the voters in the district are represented by a Democrat in the state Legislature, Tate noted.
Tate said he hadn’t seen any polling indicating that Obey would have faced a tough re-election.
And a chat with Tate always includes some zingers. Here’s his take on Sean Duffy, the leading Republican candidate, currently Ashland County district attorney but also a veteran of MTV’s Real World: Boston. Duffy is “someone who’s, frankly, best known for getting drunk and having sex on television … He is an absolute sham.”
