WASHINGTON, D. C. (WTAQ-WLUK) – Republican Congressman Mike Gallagher has announced he will not run for re-election this fall in the 8th Congressional District.
The 39-year-old Gallagher released the following statement early Saturday afternoon:
“Eight years ago, when I first ran for Congress, I promised to treat my time in office as a high-intensity deployment. Through my bipartisan work on the Armed Services and Intelligence Committees, chairing the Cyberspace Solarium Commission, and chairing the Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, we’ve accomplished more on this deployment than I could have ever imagined.”
“But the Framers intended citizens to serve in Congress for a season and then return to their private lives. Electoral politics was never supposed to be a career and, trust me, Congress is no place to grow old. And so, with a heavy heart, I have decided not to run for re-election. Thank you to the good people of Northeast Wisconsin for the honor of a lifetime. Four terms serving you has strengthened my conviction that America is the greatest country in the history of the world. And though my title may change, my mission will always remain the same: deter America’s enemies and defend the Constitution.”
Gallagher’s announcement comes after days of heavy criticism from Northeast Wisconsin supporters after he was one of three House Republicans to vote Tuesday against the impeachment of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
“Impeachment not only would fail to resolve Mr. Biden’s border crisis but would also set a dangerous new precedent that would be used against future Republican administrations,” wrote Gallagher of his vote.
FOX 11 asked Gallagher in a 1-on-1 interview whether the criticism had anything to do with his decision to not run again.
“No, me and my wife were thinking about this long before we knew that we were going to vote on the Mayorkas impeachment,” said Gallagher. “And I’ve also been through that before. That pushback was nothing compared with the pushback I got when I did not object to the election on January 6th or even when I voted against Trump’s emergency declaration in what I thought was an unconstitutional reappropriation of money.”
FOX 11 also asked Gallagher if any party leaders asked him to not run again.
“No, I’ve talked with the party leaders and they encouraged me to reverse my decision, but no one asked me to not run again,” said Gallagher.
There had been speculation Gallagher could be a candidate to challenge Democratic Senator Tammy Baldwin this fall, but he said in June of last year that he had no intention to enter the race.
Gallagher says he would be open to running for public office again in the future.
“I want to do a mixture of private sector and stints of public service,” said Gallagher. I don’t know what that would be in the future, but I’m certainly not ruling anything out. I don’t see anything on the horizon that I’m gearing up to run for, but I’d love the opportunity if it’s the right opportunity to do another stint of public service in the future.”
Gallagher serves as Chairman of the Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party, as Chairman of the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Cyber, Information Technologies, and Innovation, and on the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.
According to his office, Gallagher is the youngest member of Congress to chair a committee in the modern era.
Before his tenure in office and time in the private sector, Gallagher served seven years of active duty in the U.S. Marines Corp, which included two deployments in Iraq.
The Green Bay native has two daughters and says he has plans to continue to grow his family.
“I always had in mind his just being a season of service, not a long-term career,” said Gallagher. “These things combined, we just had been talking about this and this is a good time to step back.”
The Democratic Party of Wisconsin released the following statement on Gallagher’s announcement:
Speaker Johnson and the House GOP are mired in chaos and dysfunction, and Mike Gallagher calling it quits is about as stark an indictment of Republicans’ inability to govern as you can get. Wisconsin Democrats look forward to competing in the 8th and bringing some stability and competence back to the House.
Which Republicans could run for Gallagher’s seat?
The 8th Congressional District is widely considered a deep red seat. In Gallagher’s four races, the vote differential was never within 25%.
Former State Sen. Roger Roth, of Appleton, says he will run for the seat, according to a post from his account on X.
“As a lifelong resident of Northeast Wisconsin, I am ready to fight back against President Joe Biden’s dangerous open border, disastrous economy, and weak foreign policy that has put Americans at risk, both at home and abroad,” wrote Roth. “Now is a time for bold, new leadership to restore the America we love. We must solidify our border and strengthen our national security, our economy, and our traditional values.”
Roth, 46, previously ran for the seat in 2010, but lost in a primary matchup to Reid Ribble.
The Appleton native was the Republican candidate for lieutenant governor when Tim Michels lost to Gov. Tony Evers in 2022, after serving 8 years in Wisconsin’s senate and 4 years in the State Assembly.
Roth is a former member of the Wisconsin Air National Guard, having served four tours of duty in Iraq.
State Sen. Andre Jacque, of De Pere, tells FOX 11 he has had a lot of people reach out to him to run, and it’s something he will take a serious look at.
Alex Bruesewitz, the CEO and founder of X Strategies – a political consulting firm, has already said he will consider a run for Gallagher’s spot.
The Ripon native posted a statement on X saying he has meetings planned with county GOP chairs in the district and “the people of #WI8 deserve a fighter who will help secure the southern border and Make America Great Again.”
Bruesewitz reportedly lives in Florida and would need to move back to Wisconsin and the 8th Congressional District in order to be eligible.
Gallagher says isn’t sure who might try to replace him.
“We have a lot of good state legislators that I’ve worked with very closely,” said Gallagher. “I have no idea who is thinking about throwing their hat in the race.”
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