Dan Kohl running for 22nd Assembly District

[undeterred]

By Greg Bump
WisPolitics Staff

Democrat Dan Kohl told WisPolitics today he will run for the 22nd Assembly District seat vacated by Rep. Sheldon Wasserman, D-Milwaukee.

"I'm running for the state Assembly, and will make a formal announcement soon," said Kohl, nephew of U.S. Sen. Herb Kohl. "As a lifelong resident I'm excited by the opportunity to represent the North Shore and prepared to advance the interests of the Greater Milwaukee region."

The 22nd AD includes River Hills, Glendale, Fox Point, Whitefish Bay, Shorewood and a portion of Milwaukee's east side.

Kohl is a former assistant general manager for the Milwaukee Bucks, and is currently working for the SEED Foundation as Wisconsin director for new schools and development. The SEED Foundation is a project to launch public college preparatory schools for at-risk students.

Kohl also serves on the national finance committee for U.S. Sen. Barack Obama's presidential campaign, and also served on the finance committee for Gov. Jim Doyle.

Four other Democrats have filed candidate registration papers with the Government Accountability Board's Election Division to run for the 22nd AD seat: Andy Feldman of Shorewood, Guy Johnson of Shorewood, Sandra Pasch of Whitefish Bay, and Rosemary Ponik of Brown Deer.

According to a Republican Party of Wisconsin spokeswoman, two Republicans are mulling a run in the 22nd. No GOP candidates have filed registration papers, according to the GAB Web site.

Wasserman is giving up his Assembly seat to run against incumbent Sen. Alberta Darling, R-River Hills.

http://www.wispolitics.com/index.iml?Article=123273

This should be interesting. I've only met Sandra Pasch (and I thought she was terrific).

[dragonlady]

1. Thanks for the info

They are really coming out of the woodwork for this open seat. Sandy Pasch started campaigning for this a year ago, and I agree she is very good, bringing her background in nursing and public health. Andy Feldman spoke at a meeting I attended a couple of months ago, and he also sounds well prepared (doctorate from Harvard and worked for the Clinton Council of Economic Advisors). I haven't seen the other two and know nothing about them yet except that Ponik doesn't live in the district, so we'll have to see what's up with that.

[dragonlady]

2. He must have changed his mind since August

This is from the Bice political gossip column in the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, August 18, 2007:

With time running out on them, Milwaukee County Democrats are putting forward a new name in their hunt to find someone - actually, anyone - to take on County Executive Scott Walker:

Dan Kohl, the nephew of U.S. Sen. Herb Kohl and a former top staffer with the Milwaukee Bucks.

The Dems point out that Dan Kohl has the money to buy name ID and much, much more. Plus, they say, he's itching to run for something.

His reaction to all this: Forget it.

"I don't know how all this got started," Dan Kohl said last week.

The 41-year-old Milwaukee resident also shot down talk that he's dying to follow his uncle into elective office: "That's not true."

http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=648916

There were also rumors a couple of years ago that he might run against Sensenbrenner.

[midnight]

3. Why doesn't he run against sennsenbrenner? We need a

Dem.

[undeterred]

4. Does he really want to run for public office

or is it just that other people want him to because he has the name and the money? I think its a good idea for him to test the waters this way and see if he can be elected running against some strong Dem candidates. Money won't be an issue in this race since the other candidates have been in it for a while raising money.

Be careful what you wish for. Once you get a Kohl as Congressman, the only way you'll be rid of him is through retirement.