And then there were three: Mogk drops out

John Mogk, the last candidate to enter the Democrats' once-crowded 1st District Congressional race, is now the second to withdraw. His announcement was a surprise, since he had been an active campaigner here in Racine; he worked the crowds during the July 4 parade and was doing so again a couple of Saturdays ago during the MicroCar show on Monument Square.

The winner of the now three-candidate primary on Sept. 9 gets to take on established Republican incumbent Paul Ryan, and his $1.8 million or so campaign warchest. At first, it appeared there would be five candidates, but perennial hopeful (and loser) Jeff Thomas, although having insisted he would run, did not submit the signatures or file papers necessary to get on the ballot when the filing period closed on July 8. With Mogk's withdrawal, the Democrats must choose among first-timers Paulette Garin and Marge Krupp, and 2006's second-place finisher Mike Hebert.

Mogk, who only announced his entrance into the race on June 8, posted the following announcement on his website:

I, John Mogk, a candidate for U.S. Congress representing the 1st Congressional District, am announcing today my decision to withdraw from the Democratic primary scheduled for September 9. I entered the race in late May of this year at the urging of many supporters, and am proud of the campaign we've run, bringing up important issues like the environment, renewable energies, and creating jobs in Southeast Wisconsin.

From the beginning of the campaign, we held to my message that the election was bigger than any one candidate. It has been a long standing goal of the Democratic Party in the 1st CD to defeat Paul Ryan in the November election, and I will not stand in the way of achieving that. For the good of the Party I feel this is the time to step aside. The election was never about me, but about making a positive change for the people.

I do plan to stay involved with the local and presidential races, and the reasons I entered the race still need to be addressed. This district is facing the growing problems of a failing health care system, lost jobs, and a national debt that will drown the country, and deeply impact Southeast Wisconsin. Paul Ryan continues to be part of the problem and offers no solutions for the people, just sweeter deals for his special interests in Washington. I will continue working to help Sen. Barack Obama be elected President, and will fully support the Democratic nominee of the 1st district against Rep. Ryan.

I thank you all for your support, and urge every single one of you to stay active in the local, state, and national races this Fall. This is too important an election to dismiss. We all need to come together to ensure a better, brighter future for everyone.

John Mogk

More about Mogk HERE and HERE.

It's down to the wire... filing period ends today

Update 2: The Janesville Post-Gazette interviewed Thomas, who told the paper: "I just decided not to run this year. There are some good people running this year. I probably will run again. I hope to.” Full story

Update, 6:30 p.m.: Jeff Thomas is nowhere to be seen!

The state Elections Board database was updated at 5:26 p.m., and it appears there was no candidacy filing by Dr. Jeff Thomas of Janesville, the Democrats' last four Congressional elections' sacrificial lamb to Republican Paul Ryan. Only the candidates mentioned below in our original post are listed as having met the requirements for a place on the ballot. Marge Krupp filed 1,525 signatures, and Joseph Kexel filed 1, 277. The other Congressional candidates' totals are below in our original post.

If it turns out to be final that Thomas is not running, his departure will be a relief to many Democrats unhappy with his non-campaign campaigns over the past eight years. Party leaders were loath to take sides publicly during spring and summer's run-up to today's filing deadline, but it was clear most wanted Thomas to step aside to make room for a more active and hopefully better-financed candidate.

In other races:

In Racine's 61st Assembly District, only incumbent Democrat Robert Turner and Libertarian George Meyers have filed.

In the 62nd Assembly district, it's incumbent Democrat Cory Mason and Libertarian Keith R. Deschler.

In the 63rd Assembly District, it's incumbent Republican Robin Vos and Democrat Linda Flashinski.

For Racine County District Attorney, only incumbent Republican Michael E. Nieskes has filed.

The complete list of filings is HERE.

Original post:

The filing deadline has arrived for the Nov. 4 general election.

By tonight, depending upon how quickly the Wisconsin State Elections Board database is updated after 5 p..m., we should know exactly who has filed for each race -- and who has not -- and which contests will require a Sept. 9 primary.

For example, in the 1st Congressional District, as of this writing shortly before noon, six candidates have submitted the necessary nomination papers.

Six, including Rep. Paul Ryan, the Republican incumbent, and Joseph Kexel of Kenosha, a Libertarian. Wait a minute, shouldn't there be seven candidates? Haven't five Democrats been making the rounds most of the summer?

Yup. So far, Paulette Garin, John Mogk and Mike Hebert, all of Kenosha, have filed papers and the necessary signatures. Marge Krupp of Pleasant Prairie has filed, but her signatures total is not yet listed. Each candidate needs 1,000 -- but it's tradition to submit a number closer to the maximum allowed, 2,000. Ryan, in fact, submitted exactly that number; Garin, 1,986; Mogk, 1,971; and Hebert, a measly 1,223.

Missing in action so far this morning is perennial Congressional candidate Jeff Thomas of Janesville. But he has until 5 p.m. to make yet another run for the office he sought unsuccessfully four times already.

P.S. Am I the only person who wonders why Kenosha produces so many Congressional candidates, and Racine does not?

Mogk serves up wine and politics

Congressional candidate as sommelier

John Mogk was keeping two conversational threads going last night.

One revolved around the four wines he was pouring at the Sommelier Wine Shop in Kenosha. "It's got a crisp taste, a little pucker on the tongue, some sweetness," he said, of one of the four bottles in front of him. The wines came from Trento, Italy, and Bad Wildungen, Germany -- the places his mother's, and father's families came from.

(Hey, as a political fund-raiser, meet-n-greet topic, it sure beat a stiff in a suit delivering a speech!)

The other conversation had more political substance: what he would do if elected to Congress in the 1st Congressional District in November.

Mogk is the latest Democrat seeking the opportunity to oppose Republican Paul Ryan, who has held the Congressional seat for 10 years. Ryan has incumbency, a huge war chest and a string of five easy victories behind him.

Despite all that, Democrats are eager to take him on in this presidential election year, a year in which all the recent Wisconsin polls show Democrat Barack Obama with a substantial lead over Republican John McCain. Marge Krupp announced her candidacy last June; Paulette Garin in January. By February, there were four: Dr. Jeffrey Thomas, Ryan's victim in each of the past four elections, is running yet again; and so is the man Thomas edged out in the 2006 Democratic primary, Mike Hebert.

And since earlier this month there are five: Call John Mogk Johnny-come-lately or accept his analysis that "there's still not a front-runner" among the earlier-announced candidates. "I started talking to people and getting encouraged to run. I'm really not being a spoiler. I think I've caught up with the other candidates already, in terms of people who are approaching me. Now, if we can just catch up on the money side."

Krupp has said she expects the race against Ryan to cost $2 million. Mogk thinks it will be about $750,000. Garin was somewhere in the high six figures. The other two Democratic wannabees -- Thomas and Hebert -- are famous for spending ... um, nothing. (They've never been elected, either.)

Mogk, 41, who was Kenosha Field Organizer for Kerry/Edwards in 2004, says he decided to run this year because "you never know what's going to happen tomorrow. You can say 'I won't run' because of Dr. Thomas, you can say 'I won't run' because Ryan has won before. Well, he's never had a challenge. And yet, he's not bringing more jobs into the district, there are things we could do with environmental issues..."

"I'm here to represent the people of the 1st District. Not the oil companies, not the party."

It's the people of the district who should set a Congressman's agenda, says Mogk (the "g" is silent). He ticks off issues in the order people mention them to him:

1. Universal health care.
2. Energy and gas prices
3. The economy and jobs.
4. Education.

"Everyone's going to pay $500 more a year for food," he says, just because of the extra costs in transportation and packaging. "And in Janesville, 2,400 people will be out of work" because GM's reliance on big cars has run into those high gas prices too.

Interestingly, Mogk says Iraq hardly comes up in discussions with potential voters. "I would like to see us get out as soon as possible, while protecting the troops," he says. But he also thinks the Iraqi people "want us to stay and help them create Democracy."

Most surprisingly (to me, anyway), Mogk says he agrees with Ryan's lone stand against earmarks. "If everybody in Congress keeps saying yes, we're going to be playing the same game. Eventually, the people will get behind me on this, even if I'm the only one."

Mogk says he has collected about 1,500 signatures; candidates need 1,000 "nominators' signatures" to get on the Democratic Primary ballot, and are permitted to submit up to 2,000. They usually opt for the larger number because anyone who signs more than one candidate's petitions is disqualified if there is a challenge. Deadline for submission is July 8.

More on Mogk HERE. His website is HERE.

More on Krupp and Garin HERE.

More on Thomas and Hebert HERE.

The first four appeared at the 1st District's annual convention in February. Read about it HERE.

Here are the four wines John Mogk was serving

Mogk joins Democratic field to oppose Ryan

And then there were five!

John Mogk of Kenosha has announced his entrance in the Democratic primary in Wisconsin's 1st Congressional District, for the right to oppose Rep. Paul Ryan, the Republican incumbent. He joins Paulette Garin, Marge Krupp, Jeff Thomas and Mike Hebert. Democrats began collecting signatures on June 1; the necessary papers to gain inclusion in the September primary must be filed by July 8.

Currently active in the Kenosha County Democratic Party, Mogk started in 1994 as a member of the Racine County Democrats, serving as a local party officer and a brief stint as a vice-chair of the 1st CD.

He served as a volunteer in Racine on the 1996 Clinton/Gore campaign, and actively supported the special election that moved Kim Plache from the State Assembly to the State Senate.

In 2004 Mogk worked as the Kenosha Field Organizer for the Kerry/Edwards campaign. About his prior campaign work Mogk said, “My favorite memory is the incredible work by hundreds of dedicated volunteers that helped John Kerry win Kenosha County and the 1st CD.”

Mogk said he is running because Congress has been out of control and out of touch for too long. “Representatives in Congress are supposed to represent the interests of the people in their district, not the special interests as they do now.”


He said, “People in the 1st CD are paying record prices for gas, while the oil companies make record profits and continue receiving our tax dollars in subsidies. Whose interest is being served? Where is the common sense in that?”

A personal peeve of Mogk’s is the fight for affordable and available health care for everyone: “The health care system is killing this country,” he said, “costs are rising double the rate of inflation and people are being left with nothing.”

Mogk feels some of the proposals offering tax credits would help those working or who already have insurance, but they do not go far enough. He says the problem needs to be attacked on a number of fronts including insurance and medical costs, industry greed, duplication of work, and insurance companies who deny and limit care.

“700,000 declared bankruptcy last year over a health care crisis. About 500,000 of them had insurance when the crisis began. Common sense should tell us the system is not working. It will take bigger measures to handle this crisis,” he said.

Discussing the war in Iraq, Mogk’s focus is the troops. He believes lack of budget oversight and no-bid contracts are still leaving the troops without necessary equipment such as body armor and fortified vehicles. He says billions of tax dollars have been lost and mismanaged through privatizing the war. “World War II gave us the Marshal Plan. The war in Iraq has given us the Halliburton Plan. And the results have been deadly.”

Mogk believes more needs to be done to protect the troops, and fulfill the requests of generals, not the fanciful ideas of the Administration who lost America’s respect around the world. “If the 1st CD makes the right change in Congress this election, we won’t need another 5 years before the mission really is accomplished.”

Other issues Mogk discusses are improving education, the student loan crisis, alternative energies and jobs for Wisconsin, the pettiness in Congress, eliminating government waste, and the housing crisis. Mogk says the common theme through many of these issues is a lack of common sense approach.

“If you do the right thing for the right reasons, the solutions will benefit everyone. Perhaps if GM had done the right thing and looked beyond one fiscal quarter at a time, 2,400 residents of the 1st CD would not be losing their jobs.”

Mogk feels the 1st CD and Wisconsin are losing out in the development of alternative energies. “There is not a single solution. Common sense should tell us what works in the southwest might not work in the midwest.”

“But we have to do more now. Oil is a finite resource. We got lazy after the last oil crisis and are still unprepared. The 1st CD and Wisconsin are great places to develop and test ideas such as the fusion project at UW-Madison, and the KRM that could have been running already, saving residents from $4 gas.”

Mogk says that as a Representative in Congress he would pursue these ideas for the environment and jobs. “Southeast Wisconsin has the best workers, top universities, great communities with sun and wind. Bringing the research, testing and development to our backyard will have long-term economic, education, and health impacts for a better quality of life for all of us. Common sense says it’s the right thing to do. Why hasn’t Paul Ryan done it?”

Mogk has a B.A. in Business Administration. He worked at Carthage College in Kenosha in the student affairs and development departments. Currently he is call center manager at Lake Forest College.

Dem primary candidate wades into foreign policy

Marge Krupp, one of four Dems running to challenge Paul Ryan in the fall, issued a statement calling for more U.S. aid to Myanmar following the tragic cyclone in the southeast Asian country. Krupp has reportedly raised $85,000 in her bid to challenge Ryan in the fall. She's running the First Congressional District primary against perennial nominee Jeff Thomas, plus Paulette Garin and Mike Hebert.

Here's Krupp's statement on Myanmar:

Krupp Calls For More U.S. Help in Myanmar
The world wants to see the United States lead again, it is now time for the United States to act and to provide that leadership

PLEASANT PRAIRIE, Wisconsin -- With a reported death toll of more than 34,000 and as many as 100,000 suspected to have perished as a result of Saturday's deadly cyclone, Marge Krupp is calling on more pressure from the U.S. government to allow relief workers to enter the Southeast Asian nation of Myanmar. Myanmar's military regime has barred large-scale relief efforts, and at press, the United Nations is reporting that less than a quarter of the nation's affected are having their issues met. Without proper attention from experts trained in responding to natural disasters of this kind, the death toll is expected to climb rapidly.

Krupp, Democratic Candidate for Wisconsin's First Congressional District criticized the sluggish relief response by the U.S., "The lessons learned from the tragically slow response to Hurricane Katrina in our own nation should be applied to what could amount to a regional refugee crisis in Southeast Asia." Krupp also called on more pressure to be applied by Washington on Myanmar's military dictatorship, "The time to act is now."

Joint communication and aid in the form of relief workers and supplies between the U.S. and Myanmar could avert the possibility of more deaths and a flood of refugees to surrounding nations.

Marge Krupp is a highly qualified Democratic candidate for Congress who will fight to end the war in Iraq, strongly support working families and work hard to ensure a more peaceful and prosperous world. For more information, please visit her web site at www.KruppforCongress.com