Wisconsin Democrat Randy Bryce Snubbed by Brother in New Ad
Paul Ryan-aligned super PAC put out the ad in speaker’s home district
Strangers from around the country have poured millions of dollars into Democratic congressional candidate Randy Bryce’s campaign after his video announcing a grass-roots bid against Speaker Paul D. Ryan in Wisconsin’s 1st District went viral.
But the “Iron Stache,” as he has been nicknamed on the web, has not managed to secure the support of someone much closer to home: his brother.
In a new testimonial ad from the Ryan-aligned Congressional Leadership Fund super PAC, James Bryce, a local police officer in the 1st District and Randy Bryce’s brother, says he is supporting GOP candidate Brian Steil, a former Ryan aide.
When police become the terrorists -The Two-Pronged Assault on Dissent in Wisconsin’s Capitol | The Progressive https://t.co/VnLSa66f
— Randy Bryce (@IronStache) September 16, 2012
In the ad, James Bryce highlights FBI statistics that show “assaults against law enforcement have gone up in the last few years.” He blames that uptick in part on “cop-hating rhetoric.”
“When people refer to police officers as terrorists, that hits a little close to home,” James Bryce says in the ad, as one of his brother’s tweets from 2012 flashes across the screen.
“This ad summarizes everything you need to know about this race,” Corry Bliss, CLF’s executive director, said in a statement. “Randy Bryce is unfit to serve and will not win this race.”
A spokeswoman for Randy Bryce’s campaign said the ad “resort[s] to divisive, dirty politics that people are fed up with.”
“Randy is the proud son of a police officer and has a deep respect for law enforcement officers, including his brother, even when they have political disagreements,” spokeswoman Julia Savel said.
A spokesman for Steil’s campaign could not immediately be reached for comment.
The 1st District could be the Democrats’ best target in the Badger State after Ryan announced his retirement earlier this year.
President Donald Trump carried it by 10 points in 2016, but that was his smallest winning margin among the five GOP-held House seats in Wisconsin.
And Bryce had a $1 million advantage in cash on hand at the end of the last filing quarter, the Federal Election Commission’s online database shows.
Inside Elections with Nathan L. Gonzales rates the race Leans Republican.
