Democrats have deposited plenty of money and endorsements into Randy Bryce’s coffers since the ironworker announced his candidacy last June, but new reports on Bryce’s past continue to suggest the party may have banked on a bad bet.
Though the Democratic race to run against House Speaker Paul Ryan is only in its primary phase, by October Bryce had amassed more cash than “any other non-incumbent running for a House seat, excluding self-funding candidates,” according to the Center for Responsive Politics. He’s also already earned the endorsements of prominent progressive politicians such as Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Calif., and major interest groups from United Auto Workers to NARAL Pro-Choice America to the Service Employees International Union.
Bryce struck gold with a viral campaign video released this summer depicting him as an Average Joe ironworker from working-class Wisconsin, intent on looking after the little guy in Washington. It was a pitch progressives saw as proof the Democratic Party could still appeal to blue-collar voters in Trump Country.
But the promise of summer has faded somewhat in recent weeks, as Bryce faces a round of reports revealing questionable details about his personal finances.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported earlier this month Bryce was delinquent on his child support payments for almost two years, causing the state to place a lien on his property holdings in September of 2015. Bryce also filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in 1999.
Now the Journal Sentinel is reporting Bryce failed to satisfy a 2004 small claims court judgment issued in a case brought by a former girlfriend, Rhonda Slechta, who once loaned him money to purchase a car. The initial loan was worth $1,776, but had reportedly grown to more than $4,200 with interest. After the pair broke up, Bryce failed for more than a decade to repay Slechta, who describes herself as a single working mother, and says she did not know at the time he had been ticketed twice for driving with a revoked license.
With his debts now a campaign liability, Bryce fulfilled the outstanding child support payments in August and sent Slechta a check to cover her loan just last week. “I sincerely apologize to her for the delay,” Bryce said of Slechta, “and am happy that I am able to make this right.”
Desperate for traction in the Rust Belt, Democrats rallied eagerly around Bryce’s candidacy despite the obvious reality that he stands no serious chance of unseating Ryan. Given the DNC’s fundraising troubles, and the abundance of competitive races elsewhere, it seems donors who give money with the goal of getting Democrats elected might want to reconsider how they spend their cash and which candidates they stamp with their endorsements.
