Wisconsin Republicans stun open congressional seat in strong GOP district – Winnipeg Free Press

MADISON, Wisconsin — A former state lawmaker in a Republican congressional district in a Wisconsin congressional district has a number of potential candidates, despite the sudden retirement of a congressman.

U.S. Rep. Mike Gallagher announced Saturday that he will not seek a fifth term to represent northeastern Wisconsin's 8th Congressional District. It comes just days after he abruptly refused to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, sparking outrage among Republicans.

Hours after Gallagher announced his retirement, former state Sen. Appleton Roger Roth announced his candidacy on Saturday and simultaneously endorsed Trump, something he did not do in the 2022 lieutenant governor race.

The district represented by Gallagher is strongly Republican. Gallagher, 39, seen as a rising star in the Republican Party, has at times been at odds with both former President Donald Trump and his supporters, most recently over the Mallorca vote.

Trump won the state by 16 points in 2020, even though he won the state by less than one point over President Joe Biden. Gallagher won re-election three times by at least 25 points. The district includes the cities of Appleton and Green Bay, Door County, and mostly rural areas north through Marinette.

Roth served in the legislature from 2007 to 2023 and was the Republican nominee for lieutenant governor in 2022. He ran for Congress in 2010, but lost the primary to eventual winner Reed Ribble.

Roth called himself a “proven conservative campaigner” in a statement Saturday, calling for strengthening the border, national security, the economy and “our traditional values.”

While Roth is the first candidate to enter, he won't be the last.

Trump ally and Republican consultant Alex Brusewitz said Gallagher “betrayed the Republican Party and the American people by voting for Mallorca.” He posted a letter of support from the Oconto County Republican Party chairman on X, previously on Twitter, and said he looks forward to “spreading the MAGA message to the patriots in the Oconto GOP.”

Brusewitz immediately received support from former Trump campaign adviser Roger Stone, who announced on social media that Brusewitz “fully supports the MAGA movement.”

Brusewitz, 26, was born in Wisconsin but now lives in Florida. He would have to return to Wisconsin to run for the seat.

State Sen. Andre Jacques of De Pere also said he is considering a run. Other current and former Republican members of the Legislature are expected to consider running.

Democrat Christine Lyerly, a De Pere physician, has previously said she would consider running against Gallagher. Democrats have not fielded a single candidate for the 2022 election.