There’s a story at the Janesville Gazette about the possible candidacy of Andy Jorgensen for the 43rd Assembly District. Jorgensen is now an incumbent representative from the 37th District, and is considering running for the 43rd next year. The 43rd’s freshman incumbent had a few words for his possible challenger.
Rep. Evan Wynn’s quoted as saying that
It doesn’t surprise me that Andy feels that he has to leave his hometown to keep his job,” Wynn said in a statement, pointing out that voters in a new district would know less about Jorgenson’s track record….
Is Wynn serious, or does he think you’re not?
Jorgensen isn’t thinking about moving because of a bad political reputation, but because the GOP-majority sliced up whole cities into different districts, and Jorgensen’s current district will be divided into four districts if the re-districting plan survives legal challenge. This re-districting has been among the most extreme and partisan case of gerrymandering in generations, and Rep. Wynn was among those voting for it. If Wynn wanted to avoid the prospect of facing Jorgensen, he shouldn’t supported slicing communities into so many bits.
By the way — so that we are all very clear — Jorgensen was re-elected in 2010 with about the same percentage of the popular vote — a bit over 52% — as Wynn received in his election. (In a red year, no less.) I’m not endorsing Joregensen’s voting record, but merely noting that it was no less popular than Wynn’s campaign promises.
Like the governor he has so dutifully supported, Wynn’s campaign statements concealed the out-of-the-mainstream agenda he’s pushed upon taking office. Voters in the 37th knew in 2010 what they were getting in Jorgensen; voters in the 43rd didn’t receive that simple courtesy.
Wynn won’t be able to run twice as a wolf in sheep’s clothing.
When Wynn makes statements about Jorgensen moving, he’s hoping (or doubting) that voters will be able to understand the real reason for a candidacy in a different district (partisan redistricting) or won’t know that Wynn was no more popular in the 43rd than Jorgensen in the 37th (he wasn’t).
Now I don’t know if Wynn writes his own statements, or has someone write them for him. Either way, he’s foolish to condescend to his constituents’ knowledge: the residents of the 43rd are more than able to see through off-the-mark rhetoric that’s neither true nor compelling.
For a freshman legislator who, during the election, disclaimed any certainty that he would even run for a second term, Wynn now seems a happily ensconced, comfortable pol. A mere nine months on, he’s sounding like someone who intends to keep running.
So he will, surely, but in a district in which he’s out of step, without his former luxury of being able to persuade otherwise.