Free Republic

The election Tuesday to replace 35-year GOP congressman Tom Petri of Fond du Lac may be Wisconsin’s most unusual U.S. House race in decades. That’s because of the extraordinary rift between Petri and the candidate his own party has nominated to replace him, state lawmaker Glenn Grothman. Grothman decided last April to run against Petri. It’s the kind of serious primary challenge that almost never happens in a Wisconsin congressional race. He continued to criticize Petri after Petri announced his retirement, saying he’d be insulted if he went to Washington and people thought he was “just like Tom Petri.” And...

Outgoing Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Petri doesn’t strike us as a big fan of conservative state Sen. Glenn Grothman, who narrowly won the GOP primary last month in the race to replace Petri. When asked about Grothman by WisPolitics.com on Tuesday, Petri offered tepid praise for his possible successor, calling him “able.” Of course, Grothman jumped in the race before Petri announced his retirement, accusing the 35-year veteran congressman of not being sufficiently conservative.

State Rep. Duey Stroebel (R-Town of Cedarburg) announced Saturday he will run for the congressional seat being vacated by U.S. Rep. Tom Petri (R-Neenah), who announced Friday he is stepping down. Stroebel becomes the second declared candidate for the seat of Petri, who has been in Congress since 1979.

U.S. Representative Tom Petri (R-WI) not seeking re-election. The congressman, who has held Wisconsin’s 6th congressional district seat since 1979, will make an official statement on Monday at his town hall meeting in Neenah.

The Wisconsin congressional district represented by Rep. Tom Petri (R) stands to lose nearly 2,000 jobs because of the Obama Administration’s “War on Coal,” but Petri has twice voted to let some of those more controversial – and burdensome – regulations stand. A nationwide analysis by the Heritage Foundation concludes that Wisconsin will lose an estimated 11,702 jobs thanks to Obama environmental regulations. The sixth district alone will lose more jobs than any other congressional district in the country the study concludes. ... Petri was the only Republican from Wisconsin to vote against suspending the rule. Voting with Petri was...