With Mike Gallagher exiting the scene, Democrats vow to mount a challenge for his seat

WASHINGTON – Two years after Democrats failed to field a challenger to Green Bay Rep. Mike Gallagher in his solidly Republican northeastern Wisconsin House district, they appear to be changing their tune.

At least three Democrats have signaled interest in the seat in the wake of Gallagher’s decision not to seek reelection. And the party is projecting optimism with the now-open seat despite facing a steep uphill climb in the 8th Congressional District that has remained solidly Republican for much of the past decade.

“There’s going to be an energized Democratic electorate in a year when a national abortion ban could be essentially on the ballot, especially based on who has the House majority,” Democratic Party of Wisconsin Chairman Ben Wikler recently told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

“I don’t think people should count out the 8th.”

While Republicans are favored to retain the seat, one thing is clear for Democrats: they will have a candidate.

Three Democrats who are publicly considering runs — De Pere doctor Kristin Lyerly, former journalist Kelly Peterson and Navy veteran Alicia Saunders — told the Journal Sentinel they are in close communication and plan for only one person to enter the race in an attempt to prevent a primary.

In separate interviews, the women said that while one of them will run for Gallagher’s open seat, the others might choose to run for state legislative seats in the district. The trio indicated they plan to make their decisions by late March or early April.

Congressional candidates must file their paperwork to run in Wisconsin by June 1 in order to be on the ballot for the primary, set for Aug. 13.

“What happens with the state legislative races affects everything that happens up and down the ballot,” said Lyerly, an OB-GYN who has been vocal in her opposition to efforts to restrict abortion access. “The goal is to make sure that we have great candidates who are well supported and connected with each other all the way from school board all the way up to President Biden.”

The talk is a notable difference from 2022, when Democrats did not field candidates to challenge Gallagher and Rep. Glenn Grothman, a Glenbuelah Republican who represents the 6th Congressional District. Though both districts are solidly red, some Democrats at the time suggested recruiting candidates could help get their message out and retain visibility in the districts.

Wikler, the Wisconsin Democrats’ chairman, told the Journal Sentinel that the party has “definitely learned about making sure that there are candidates in every congressional district” this cycle. He noted the open seat will allow Democrats to put their message up not against an incumbent but candidates who might be farther on the GOP’s right flank than Gallagher.

He said Democrats will have a “really strong candidate” and noted that could boost Democratic turnout, in turn helping Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin and President Joe Biden in their reelection efforts, as well as potentially aiding state Assembly and Senate races.

Republicans, however, are expected to win the 8th District in November.

Though the seat was once competitive — from 1975 to 2016, three of the six U.S. House members to represent the district were Democrats and three were Republicans — the district has shifted to a deeper red as its rural areas have become strongly Republican.

Republicans now have about a 16-point edge in the seat that stretches from Appleton and Green Bay, through Door County and north to Marinette and the Upper Peninsula. Gallagher won each reelection handily, by no fewer than 25 points.

“I don’t think a Democrat can win the 8th District,” Mark Graul, a longtime Republican strategist from Green Bay, told the Journal Sentinel following Gallagher’s retirement announcement. “I think the 8th District is pretty solidly Republican, assuming there’s not some sort of — if something comes out about the nominee that is disqualifying in nature.”

And Republicans have already started making their own moves to replace Gallagher.

Former state Sen. Roger Roth, an Appleton Republican who ran for lieutenant governor in 2022, announced his campaign for the 8th District just hours after Gallagher said he would not seek reelection. State Sen. Andre Jacque, a Republican from De Pere, told the Journal Sentinel he was also taking a close look at the seat.

The Donald Trump-aligned GOP consultant Alex Bruesewitz told the Journal Sentinel late last month he was “leaning towards yes” as he ponders a run for the seat. Bruesewitz currently lives in West Palm Beach, Florida, and grew up in Ripon, in Wisconsin’s 6th District. He said his grandmother lives in the 8th District, where he would run.

Gallagher told the Journal Sentinel he does not have plans to endorse anyone in the Republican primary.

A spokesman for the Wisconsin GOP said this of the race: “Any Democrat candidate running in Wisconsin’s 8th District will face an uphill battle against not only their Republican opponent but also against the tide of voters’ frustration with Bidenomics and the border crisis."

Still, Lyerly, Peterson and Saunders indicated women’s reproductive rights, which Democrats have successfully campaigned on since the 2022 overturning of the landmark Roe v. Wade case, will remain a key issue.

Lyerly, who said she grew up in Kaukauna voting for Republicans, claimed Republican leadership has “lost touch” with voters as the party has shifted to the right. She said conservatives and liberals need to work together — she called Gallagher a “good conservative” who will be a “star once all of this MAGA stuff goes away” — but suggested Democrats will try to prove they can create an “environment where people talk to each other and solve problems.”

But as Democrats figure out just who could enter the 8th Congressional District race, the collaborative strategy points to an attempt to make inroads in a district the party missed out on last cycle.

“The whole vision that we’re hoping to do,” said Peterson, who is also considering a run for a state-level seat, “is that our movement really brings Democratic success come November.”

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: With Mike Gallagher exiting, Democrats vow to challenge for his seat