Pubdate: Sat, 30 Jun 2007
Source: Wisconsin State Journal (WI)
Copyright: 2007 Madison Newspapers, Inc.
Contact:  http://www.madison.com/wsj/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/506
Author: Mark Pitsch

DEMOCRATS WILL TARGET GOP LEGISLATORS

At their state convention Friday and Saturday, Democratic leaders
identified some of the Republican legislators they hope to defeat in
the 2008 election.

Rep. Jim Kreuser, D-Kenosha, the Assembly minority leader, said
Democrats will target the Assembly seats of Republicans Karl Van Roy
of Green Bay, Terry Moulton of Chippewa Falls, Brett Davis of Oregon,
J.A. "Doc" Hines of Oxford and Jim Ott of Mequon, among others.
Democrats are three seats shy of controlling the 99-member Assembly,

"We're going to fight tooth and nail to get those three seats,"
Kreuser said.

Democrats currently control the Senate, and Gov. Jim Doyle is a
Democrat.

Kreuser added that 15 Assembly Republicans hold seats in districts
carried by Doyle in the 2006 gubernatorial election, and that all of
those seats are in the Democrats' sights.

"We're going to play hard in those seats," Kreuser
said.

Senate Majority Leader Judy Robson, D-Beloit, said Democrats want to
expand their 18-15 majority in that chamber. Republican senators
Alberta Darling of River Hills and Dan Kapanke of La Crosse are the
top targets, she said.

Rep. Sheldon Wasserman, D-Milwaukee, has already said he is
challenging Darling. Sen. Lena Taylor, D-Milwaukee, said
convention-goers should urge Rep. Jennifer Shilling, D-La Crosse, to
challenge Kapanke. Shilling could not be reached for comment.

Democrats also identified Sen. Carol Roessler, R-Oshkosh, and Sen.
Sheila Harsdorf, R-River Falls, as electoral targets.

Possible challengers

Democrats got their first look at three possible challengers to U.S.
Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Janesville.

Paulette Garin, Marge Krupp and Steve Herr gave brief speeches
Saturday.

Ryan, in his fifth term, is a rising star in the national Republican
Party. Last year he leapfrogged several more senior Republicans in the
U.S. House to be named the ranking member on the House Budget
Committee. He also serves on the powerful Ways and Means Committee,
which sets policy on taxes, Social Security and health care issues.

Garin, 45, of Kenosha is working toward becoming a certified public
accountant and has been a teacher. A political novice,

she said she's following the advice she has given to her students to
aim high and take on new challenges.

Krupp, 51, of Pleasant Prairie, has been running full time for the
seat since April after quitting her job as a chemical engineer. She
said she plans to raise $2 million for the race. She has not run for
political office before.

Herr, 50, runs a farm in Rock County and a business in Kenosha. He
splits time between the two areas. In 2006, he unsuccessfully ran in
the Democratic primary for Ryan's seat.

Joe Wineke, chairman of the state Democratic Party, said the party is
seeking a strong candidate to challenge Ryan.

The convention also heard from Roger Kittleson, 50, a dairy marketing
specialist from Lomira who plans to run against U.S. Rep. Tom Petri,
R-Fond du Lac, and Ben Masel, 52, of Madison, who will run for the
seat of U.S. Sen. Herb Kohl, D-Wis. in 2012.

Wineke said Kittleson "has the potential to be a very good candidate."
Masel failed to unseat Kohl in the 2006 primary.

Heated debates

A total of 670 delegates, 19 alternates and 184 guests attended the
convention, according to the party.

On Saturday. delegates engaged in a few heated debates over policy
resolutions. Delegates voted for resolutions to impeach President
George Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney. But attendees didn't
approve a resolution to reinstitute the draft.

Delegates defeated resolutions to ban lobbying by party officials and
to make the party chairmanship a full-time job with pay similar to
other jobs in the private sector. Those resolutions were offered in
response to the disclosure that Wineke had registered as a lobbyist on
behalf of telecommunications giant AT&T. Wineke has since given up
that position.

The delegates also approved a resolution to support the universal
health plan approved by Senate Democrats.

Straw poll

Gov. Jim Doyle hinted Friday that he might run for a third term. But
that didn't stop the political Web site wispolitics.com from
conducting a straw poll on possible 2010 Democratic candidates for the
job if he doesn't.

Among 389 delegates who voted, Lt. Gov. Barbara Lawton was the top
choice to succeed Doyle with 129 votes.

Former North Carolina senator John Edwards was the top choice for the
Democratic presidential nomination, with 153 votes. And Peg
Lautenschlager, who was elected attorney general in 2002 but lost her
re-election bid last year when Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk won
the party primary, topped the list of candidates for attorney general
in 2010 with 158 votes.
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MAP posted-by: Derek