You might not know it from his share of the media coverage, but before taking on House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., this fall, Democratic candidate Randy Bryce actually has to win a primary. And that race is getting ugly.
Though Bryce and his opponent, local school board member Cathy Myers, managed to put their differences aside and get arrested together at a pro-DREAM Act demonstration earlier this month, things took a turn on Thursday after the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee rewarded Bryce with a coveted spot on its “Red to Blue” list.
“A veteran, father, cancer survivor and union ironworker, Randy Bryce has spent his life building America and fighting for working people,” DCCC chairman Ben Ray Luján said in a statement, lauding Bryce for “build[ing] one of the strongest grassroots campaigns Wisconsin has ever seen.”
In response to a DCCC fundraising tweet that listed off Bryce’s perceived qualifications for the job, Myers said, “He was all of those things when #WI01 voters emphatically rejected him the last three times. He’s never won a primary & has lost three local elections with less than 40 percent of the vote.”
“Ignoring local voters is not how we beat Paul Ryan,” she added.
He was all of those things when #WI01 voters emphatically rejected him the last three times. He’s never won a primary & has lost three local elections with less than 40% of the vote.
Ignoring local voters is not how we beat Paul Ryan. #WeWillNotBeIgnored https://t.co/QXZ7hZ4quP
— Cathy Myers (@CathyMyersWI) March 22, 2018
In a statement to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, a spokesperson for Myers invoked her gender, arguing the DCCC “put its thumb on the scale of a Democratic primary to silence a progressive woman who refuses to take orders from the Washington establishment.”
Being named to the “Red to Blue” list comes with major financial advantages for candidates, ensuring they will received increased resources from the DCCC.
After his campaign announcement video went viral, generating excitement among Democrats eager to rebuild their appeal with the working class, a steady stream of news reports revealed past problems with Bryce’s personal finances. While he’s accused Ryan of spending too much time outside the district, Bryce’s decision to fundraise outside the state has drawn similar attacks from Republicans. After the “Iron Stache” opted to run an advertisement in the Seattle and San Francisco markets, NRCC spokesman Chris Martin said, “Randy Bryce’s decision shows how detached he is from Main Street. He should drop the act and admit that his campaign is just a means to ingratiate himself with the Hollywood elite.”
