Paul Ryan Makes Ad Buy in His Congressional District
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Win McNamee/Getty Images(MILWAUKEE) — GOP vice presidential nominee and Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan has made an ad buy in the congressional district he currently represents, ABC News has confirmed.
Ryan, who represents the state’s first congressional district, placed an ad buy with WISN Milwaukee that will begin running Wednesday, and Ryan campaign officials note, this will not be the only buy from the VP nominee.
“As he has done in years past, Congressman Ryan will be airing advertisements in Milwaukee and Madison TV media markets in the run up to the November elections,” Ryan campaign manager Kevin Seifert told ABC News. “This is the first in the series of ads that will be rolled out between now and November 6th by Ryan for Congress, and you can expect to see additional TV, radio and print advertisements.”
Ryan has served the 1st District for seven terms — and he has never had a competitive race during that time. And even though Ryan is focused on the presidential race right now, he is still expected to win his House race this cycle. ABC News currently rates the seat as solidly Republican.
However, advertisements for the representative from Janesville might have a dual purpose. Ryan’s district encompasses one of the major Republican stronghold counties in the state — Waukesha. Any Republican candidate hoping to win the state must command a strong turnout there and a boosted turnout with Ryan’s presence on the ticket might be what Romney needs to carry the Badger State.
One risk though in running the ads is that Ryan looks less than confident in his ticket taking the White House.
Ryan is hardly the first veep nominee to continue to run in a second race during their national campaign. Joe Biden ran concurrently in Delaware in 2008, Joe Lieberman continued to run in Connecticut in 2000 after being tapped to be Al Gore’s running mate. Lyndon Johnson continued to run for the Senate in Texas in 1960 after he joined the Kennedy ticket. And it’s worth noting — all of these men won those state races.
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