3100
(1 vote, average 5.00 out of 5)
Written by Louis Weisberg, Staff writer
Jun 16, 2011
State Rep. Mark Pocan – Photo: Courtesy
Out state Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Madison, is eyeing a run for Congress.
Pocan said he’d seek U.S. Rep. Tammy Baldwin’s 2nd Congressional District seat if she decides to run for the U.S. Senate. “The determining factor is what Tammy’s up to, and everything seems to be leaning toward Tammy probably getting in,” Pocan said.
Baldwin is expected to reach a decision by mid-July on whether to launch a bid to replace retiring U.S. Sen. Herb Kohl.
In 1998, Pocan succeeded Baldwin in his current position representing Wisconsin’s 78th Assembly District. Since then, he’s become a major player in the state’s Democratic Party, spearheading the party’s takeover of the Assembly in 2008 and serving as co-chair of the Legislature’s powerful Joint Committee on Finance.
Pocan has won numerous awards for his legislative work. In 2009, Milwaukee Magazine and SEIU both named him best legislator. That same year, Planned Parenthood recognized him for helping to pass the Compassionate Care for Rape Victims Act, and Fair Wisconsin honored him with its statewide leader award for his role in creating the state’s domestic partner registry.
As an architect of the 2009 state budget, Pocan helped to address a $6.6 billion deficit without raising taxes on 99 percent of Wisconsinites and while stimulating the economy through the creation of green jobs and other initiatives.
Despite the deficit, “we still got a lot done and protected things that the Republicans are going against now,” Pocan said. “We showed that with progressive priorities you can get a lot done and still address the tough fiscal times that were caused by the federal economy.”
With so many leadership accomplishments under his belt, Pocan is being aggressively courted to run by the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund, if Baldwin decides on a Senate bid. The group’s goal is to elect openly gay leaders.
Currently there are four out members of Congress.
“Victory Fund is very enthusiastic about keeping this congressional seat, and they want to be involved in any way possible,” Pocan said.
Pocan said it’s also important for the 2nd District to “continue to have someone who is an unashamed and unabashed progressive out there willing to fight the fight.”
Meanwhile, Pocan is bullish on Baldwin’s prospects of becoming the nation’s first out senator.
“Tammy’s a very strong vote-getter,” he said. “She can bring out turnout like no one else.”
A late-May poll by Public Policy Polling showed that former Sen. Russ Feingold, who lost reelection last year after serving three terms, is the favorite to succeed Kohl. Baldwin came in second in the poll and out-performed nearly all of the likely GOP candidates, including Wisconsin House Speaker Jeff Fitzgerald, former U.S. Rep. Mark Neumann and Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen – all Tea Party-allied officials.
The poll showed only former Gov. Tommy Thompson beating Baldwin – by 1 percent, which was within the poll’s margin of error. Political insiders say Thompson is unlikely to run because pervasive rumors about his extra-marital affairs would embarrass his family and prove to be an electoral distraction.
