CONLEY COMMENTARY (WSAU) – In two recent statewide races, it was Republicans who got stuck with an inferior candidate. Rebecca Kleefisch was a much stronger GOP candidate for governor than Tim Michels. But Michels spent heavily in the primaries, defeating Kleefisch, and than ran an uninspired campaign for the general election, losing to Tony Evers.
Waukesha County judge Jennifer Dorow would have been a new, promising candidate in the 2023 state Supreme Court election. Instead Daniel Kelly won the primary – he’d already run for supreme court before and lost in a landslide – and was easily defeated by Janet Protasiewicz.
For once, it appears the Democrats will be stuck with an inferior candidate this fall. On Tuesday Rebecca Cooke won the District 3 congressional primary, defeating Katrina Shankland. Katrina is well known in the eastern part of the district, in places like Stevens Point and Wisconsin Rapids. She’s also a former state assembly minority leader, someone who would have had tremendous support from the state’s democratic party. Instead, Cook will get the dem’s line on the ballot. She’s never held political office, and lost in the primary two years ago. Her biggest strength appears to be that she’s been campaigning for years. She’s a novice, and in the weeks before the primary she was propped up by negative ads attacking her opponent’s voting record. It’s a race where dark money made a difference.
Derek Van Orden is sometimes portrayed as gruff and unfriendly. I’ve always taken that as he has a sense of urgency to get things done. He’s received some negative press for yelling at some congressional interns. So what? For a freshman congressman, winning a second term is sometimes a tough hurdle to get over. Van Orden will get the advantage of running against a political newcomer. A much stronger candidate is stuck on the bench.
Chris Conley
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