UNDATED (WTAQ) – Wisconsin Republicans and Democrats are scrambling to find candidates to run for U.S. Representative Reid Ribble’s 8th Congressional District seat.
Ribble announced his decision not to seek re-election over the weekend.
State Representative John Nygren, a Republican from Marinette said he wasn’t expecting it to happen, thinking he had two more years to make the decision to run. Nygren says he’s spoken with his family about the possibility and that they are supportive.
Also on the GOP side public considering a run and discussing it with their families include: Wisconsin State Sens. Frank Lasee (R-De Pere) and Roger Roth (R-Appleton), along with Wisconsin State Reps. Andre Jacque (R-De Pere), John Macco (R-Ledgeview) and David Steffen (R-Howard).
Area Democrats are also working on getting possible candidates to run for the open seat.
“This is a swing seat and you can bet your life we’re working very hard to get a quality candidate to run in 2016,” Rich Langan of the Democratic Party of Brown County told FOX 11.
Outagamie County Executive Tom Nelson, a former Democratic state representative who served as Assembly majority leader and ran unsuccessfully for lieutenant governor, is also considering running.
However, Wisconsin State Reps. Eric Genrich (D-Green Bay) and Jim Steineke (R-Kaukauna) both say they are not considering a run.
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(Additional reporting from Wheeler News Service and FOX 11).
