July 11, 2006

Grothman Not Running Against Kohl

Sen. Herb Kohl will be running virtually unopposed--Robert Gerald Lorge and the Green Party candidate don't count. State Senator Glenn Grothman had enough signatures but didn't have the heart to throw in his hat at the very last moment:

State Sen. Glenn Grothman (R-West Bend) gathered enough signatures to run against Democratic U.S. Sen. Herb Kohl but opted not to file them today, meaning Kohl will have no significant opposition in November.

About 3,000 people signed nomination papers for Grothman, well over the 2,000 needed to get on the ballot. But Grothman said he did not believe he had a strong enough organization in place to mount a challenged against the millionaire owner of the Milwaukee Bucks.

Republicans had hoped to get a serious contender to take on Kohl, and turned to Grothman in recent weeks after former Gov. Tommy G. Thompson said he would not jump in the race.

Nomination papers for fall races are due today.

Grothman gets little blame. Deciding to run was a last-minute decision. He probably got an initial rush of excitement from people asking him to run. Then when it all sank in he figured he could do better things instead of the up-hill effort of an underfunded, underdog race.

No, blame goes to the state GOP and Tommy Thompson. The state party failed to get anyone to run so they waited and hoped Tommy would want to stroke his ego one more time in a state-wide race. I give the party a great, big "F." I'm hoping party chairman Rich Graber gets his Bush administration job soon. He's not useful to Wisconsin Republicans.

To those who thought no one should run against Kohl, you better hope Rep. Mark Green beats Gov. Doyle--that's the big reason you didn't want Grothman to run. Because if Doyle wins I'll be rubbing your silly political strategy in your faces.

"Grothman Won't Run Against Kohl"

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