Obey’s retirement throws Dems for a loop, but party remains confident

Rep. David Obey’s (D-Wis.) retirement announcement came later than most
Democrats would have liked, considering GOP attorney Sean Duffy now has
a half-million-dollar head start in the race.

That left some Democrats in the state asking, Why now? And why no warning?

{mosads}Douglas County Democratic Party Chairman Warren Bender said Obey’s announcement left Duffy looking like the “heir apparent.”

“We have no candidate, and even though we’re just beginning May, it’s going to be very difficult to find a good, viable candidate with name recognition,” Bender said. “If he wants to retire, maybe now is a good time, but it would have been nice to have a list of contenders.”

Wisconsin’s primary is among the latest in the country — Sept. 14 — with a filing deadline that leaves two months for Democrats to figure out the way forward. But it also leaves just six months for a candidate to do what Duffy has done over the course of nearly a year.

Open seats like Obey’s generally draw vast fields of candidates unless there is one person who is head and shoulders above the others. The question for Republicans is whether Duffy’s head start can scare off other would-be candidates. Democrats have less of a chance of avoiding a competitive primary.

Obey’s district leans Democratic — it went 56-42 for President Barack Obama in 2008 — but the current political environment has thrown seats like Obey’s into play.

Republicans attributed Obey’s retirement to Duffy’s strong challenge.

“There is no question that David Obey was facing the race of his life, and that is why it is understandable that the architect of President Obama’s failed stimulus plan has decided to call it quits,” National Republican Congressional Committee spokesman Ken Spain said. “It is ironic that a congressman who became infamously known for his short temper and angry tirades on the House floor is going out with such a whimper.”

Democrats noted that no statewide GOP candidate has carried the district in the past decade, though President George W. Bush came close in 2004.

Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairman Chris Van Hollen (Md.) sought to de-emphasize the electoral pressure Obey faced.

“Chairman Obey would have won reelection again had he run,” Van Hollen assured. “We are confident that a Democrat who shares Chairman Obey’s commitment to making progress for Wisconsin’s middle-class families will succeed him as the next representative of Wisconsin’s 7th congressional district.”

The early list of potential candidates includes state Sens. Julie Lassa and Pat Kreitlow, attorney Christine Bremmer, Marathon County Judge Greg Huber and state Reps. Donna Seidel, Ann Hraychuck and Amy Sue Vruwink.