From Washington D.C. to Wisconsin, betting is strong that newly-minted Republican vice presidential hopeful Paul Ryan will run on Mitt Romney???s ticket while simultaneously seeking re-election to Congress.
???It is perfectly legal under state law for Paul Ryan to run for the House and vice president concurrently,??? veteran Madison (Wisc.) Republican consultant Scott Becher told Human Events shortly after Ryan was formally tapped as Romney???s running mate Saturday morning. Becher noted that the Badger State will hold its primaries next Tuesday (August 14) and Ryan is already on the ballot for renomination to a seventh term as U.S. Representative from the 1st District.
Ryan, who has more than $5 million in his congressional campaign committee, appeared headed for another big re-election. Since winning his first term in 1998 with 57 percent of the vote, the Janesville lawmaker has been re-elected with margins ranging from 63 to 68 percent of the vote.
Even talk of who would succeed Ryan if the Republican ticket triumphed in November has been dampened. State Rep. Robin Voss of Rochester, a Ryan-style Republican who is likely to become the next speaker of the state assembly, discouraged talk that he was likely to run in the 1st District next year if his close friend became vice president and resigned his seat.
???It???s way too early to talk about that but...I???ve made a commitment to my colleagues in the Assembly,??? Vos said of a possible open seat. ???And that is my first commitment.???
Ryan is the first sitting U.S. House member to be on a national GOP ticket since New York Rep. William E. Miller became Barry Goldwater???s running mate in 1964. The last sitting House member to be elected vice president was Democrat John Nance Garner of Texas in 1932. Garner was also speaker of the House at the time he was tapped to be Franklin D. Roosevelt???s running mate. Neither Garner nor Miller sought re-election to their respective House seats while running for vice president.
To read/watch Paul Ryan's prepared remarks from Norfolk, Va. yesterday, please click here.
