Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle has told associates he will announce this week that he won’t seek a third term in 2010, POLITICO has learned.
By deciding against a run, Doyle, a Democrat, sets off what could be one of the most competitive gubernatorial races in the country next year.
The governor has been coy for months about his intentions, stockpiling money but at the same time not saying publicly whether he would run for re-election.
But sources familiar with his decision not to seek a third term say Doyle recognized the difficulties he may have faced next year.
He’s had to raise taxes and fees while furloughing state workers to help plug a $6.6 billion budget deficit. In doing so, his approval numbers have fallen below 40 percent. And just this week, he faced the embarrassment of seeing his legal counsel quit because she hadn’t passed the state bar.
“His legal counsel resigns, poll numbers have been in the tank, the state's unemployment rate is hovering above 9 percent, he's bickering with Dem lawmakers on the Finance Committee, and he's taking shots from the Madison media over one of his appointments to the Dane County bench,” wrote the popular state political site Wispolitics.com in their insider “Stock Market” column last week. “And there's continued heartburn among Dems because he still hasn't officially announced if he's running for governor next year. It all adds up to a rough patch for the guv, insiders from both sides say.”
National Democratic strategists privately expressed concern about Doyle’s re-election prospects, especially in the face of a strong GOP field that includes Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker and former Rep. Mark Neumann.
Doyle’s office and the Democratic Governors Association did not respond to requests for comment Saturday.
With Doyle retiring, a slew of Wisconsin Democrats are likely to consider the race. That list is topped by Lt. Gov. Barbara Lawton, who has already indicated she would run if Doyle does not and who would be the state’s first female governor.
By next year, though, Lawton may be running as an incumbent.
For months, buzz has circulated in Wisconsin and national political circles that Doyle is in line for an Obama administration post. The governor got behind the president early in the Democratic race, well before the Wisconsin primary in which Obama thumped Hillary Clinton.
When asked about a prospective Obama post by the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel last month, Doyle issued a statement with ample wiggle room.
"I have never ever asked for any [Washington] position,” the governor said. “I've never asked anybody on my behalf to ask for any position. I have no intention of doing anything but serving out this term."
But both Doyle, 63, and his wife hail from prominent political families and an administration job may represent a capstone to a career that has included time in the Peace Corps, as Dane County (Madison) attorney and as state attorney general.
In addition to Lawton, other potential Democratic gubernatorial candidates include Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, Rep. Ron Kind and state Sen. Joe Erpenbach.
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0809/26145.html
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