Posted on 01/26/2004 9:24:12 AM PST by AuH2ORepublican
Kleczka won't run again Decision certain to create election free-for-all By DAVE UMHOEFER dumhoefer@journalsentinel.com Posted: Jan. 24, 2004 Just shy of 20 years on the job, Milwaukee congressman Jerry Kleczka is contacting friends today with a stunning message: He's calling it quits at year's end.
Calling It A Career
Photo/Jack Orton
You can go out feet first, and that's not my desire, or you can say, 'I think we've served with distinction, and this is the time to go home and seek a new challenge.'
- Rep. Jerry Kleczka, on his decision
Photo/File Rep. Jerry Kleczka (D-Wis.) holds his sheltie, Colby, as he speaks in Washington in 1999 about fur coats made from the hair of domestic animals. He was a co-sponsor of a bill on the labeling of fur coats.
If this were a marginal seat, I'd probably question leaving at this time, but I feel very confident that my successor will be a Democrat.
- Jerry Kleczka
A Long Career of Public Service
The career of U.S. Rep. Gerald Kleczka Background: Raised on Milwaukee's south side, graduated from Don Bosco High School, attended the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. State Assembly: 1969-'74 State Senate: 1975-'84 U.S. House: 1984-to present; member of the Ways and Means Committee.
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Jerry Kleczka: Official Web site
The 10-term House Democrat, a born-and-bred south-sider who observers believed had a lifetime lock on the 4th District, will not seek re-election this fall, he told the Journal Sentinel.
The surprise announcement leaves the seat open for only the third time since 1948 and seems certain to set off an election free-for-all with a broad ripple effect across the local political landscape. A primary in the 4th District is only eight months away and likely will be the decisive contest in the district, which is dominated by the Democratic Party.
"Some people call it shocking," said the 60-year-old Kleczka. "You can go out feet first, and that's not my desire, or you can say, 'I think we've served with distinction, and this is the time to go home and seek a new challenge.' "
The son of a factory worker, Kleczka won a crowded congressional election in 1984 to succeed south side legend Clement Zablocki, who suffered a heart attack in his Capitol office in 1983 and died days later at the age of 71.
Kleczka's public life began in the state Legislature at age 24. He has triumphed in 17 elections without a loss and is doing well in an another battle: against the alcoholism that became public in 1995 after a second drunken-driving arrest.
He talked about personal and professional reasons behind his decision in an interview in Milwaukee. He seemed at ease and displayed the blunt, unvarnished style that has marked his public life. He said the decision was made over a six-month period with counsel from almost no one but his wife of 25 years, Bonnie.
He wants quality family time and a chance to pursue public policy-related work, although he has nothing lined up. The couple will move from Alexandria, Va., to live in Milwaukee or in Madison, where Bonnie's family resides, he said.
Kleczka said he had grown tired of the unsavory chase for campaign funds necessary to remain competitive, calling it "the most embarrassing thing I've had to do in my life - calling strangers and begging for money."
"There are members who come to Congress in January after the election, coming out of marginal seats, who are saddled with a million dollars in debt," Kleczka said. "The first thing they do is seek out the Democratic National Committee so they can get a phone and a cubicle and start calling."
He said he has not groomed a successor nor could he name anyone he thought immediately would be a front-runner for the job.
"Everyone has a fair shot," he said. "That's why I chose to announce now instead of waiting until March or June."
Colleagues shocked The announcement caught even Kleczka's closest allies off-guard.
"I can't believe it," U.S. Rep. Dave Obey (D-Wis.) said Saturday after hearing from Kleczka. "I think it's a big loss, because Congress is getting more and more 'yuppified,' and he's one of the few of us left from a blue-collar background who gives a hoot about blue-collar people."
Kleczka, Obey said, is right smack in the middle of Wisconsin's populist, progressive tradition.
"He's got a barrel of guts and doesn't mind sticking his chin out," Obey said. "There are so many people in this place who will genuflect to those with economic power. It's been nice to know there's been someone else in that foxhole every day."
His departure creates a rare opportunity.
If the next 4th District representative follows the path Kleczka took, contenders could come from a group of Milwaukee-area Democrats that include state Sens. Tim Carpenter, Gwen Moore and Spencer Coggs, and state Reps. Shirley Krug, Sheldon Wasserman, Jon Richards and Peggy Krusick, just to name a few.
The timing of Kleczka's announcement, just weeks after the filing deadline for local races, raises a what-might-have-been question for some.
For example, would some Milwaukee mayoral candidates, including Sheriff David A. Clarke Jr., Tom Barrett - a former member of the U.S. House - and Acting Mayor Marvin Pratt, have been interested in a bid for Congress if they had known of Kleczka's intentions? Might any of them still be if they lose the April mayor's race?
Seat solidly Democratic Kleczka's move is particularly surprising because post-census redistricting removed the Waukesha County portion of the 4th District and added Milwaukee's north side. That made it rock-solid Democratic turf: the entire city of Milwaukee and a handful of Milwaukee County suburbs with blue-collar roots - West Milwaukee, Cudahy, St. Francis, South Milwaukee and part of West Allis.
No congressional district in the country underwent a bigger partisan change, some national observers say.
In the old district, Kleczka had seen his winning percentages drop against Republican challengers in the mid-1990s. The new seat is safer-than-safe; he attracted no GOP opponent in 2002.
"If this were a marginal seat, I'd probably question leaving at this time, but I feel very confident that my successor will be a Democrat," Kleczka said.
Always a reliable Democratic vote in Congress, his record received high marks from groups representing labor, social justice, civil liberties and balanced budgets, and low marks from pro-business groups, conservatives, taxpayer organizations and the Christian Coalition.
In stepping aside, he gives up a spot on one of the most coveted House committees, Ways and Means. He said living under Republican rule in the House was not a factor in his decision, although Obey noted that Kleczka "was very turned off by the way the House is being run and managed. There's never any ability to plan a personal life."
Kleczka has stayed in touch back home, providing constituent services reputed to be top-notch, and flying back every other weekend in off-election years and every weekend in campaign years.
(Excerpt) Read more at jsonline.com ...
It would be an "interesting" decision. While it would collect the few "straight-ticket" Republican votes left in the district, far more people simply select the straight-Democratic ticket and give voting no more thought (note; in a general election one can select a "straight-party" ticket in Wisconsin and override it for individual offices).
Do bear in mind that Clarke, who was appointed sheriff when Lev Baldwin took his platinum parachute as part of the pension scandal fallout, ran on the Democratic ticket when he faced re-election as sheriff (which, unlike either mayor or conty exec, is a partisan office), even though he never joined the Democratic Party of Wisconsin (it seems that there is no party membership requirement to run on any particular party's slate in Wisconsin). In fact, it was a mini-controversy on both sides of the aisle - the Pubbies were pissed that he would "turn his back" on McCallum, who appointed him; the RATs were pissed that Clarke figured out how a moderate-to-conservative could win a partisan race in one of their strongholds.
About the same as him joining the DPW; zero.
The 2000 election results, with the notable exception of Tammy Baldwin, reflect the power of incumbency. The old 1st Congressional District (Paul Ryan), for example, had the union/Democrat strongholds of Racine, Kenosha, Janesville and Beloit (the last got traded to Baldwin's district in exchange for the emerging Repulican stronghold in southern Waukesha/Milwaukee counties).
Baldwin's situation in 2000 is unique in that while an incumbent, she is as openly far left as anyone can go. That plays exceptionally well in Madison, but doesn't play as well in the countryside (indeed, John Sharpless carried each county except Dane, where Madison is, in 2000). As a note, that pattern was not repeated in 2002 by Ron Greer.
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