Ribble Endorses Mike Gallagher For Congress

U.S. Rep. Reid Ribble says he’s backing Mike Gallagher in the upcoming primary vote for Wisconsin’s 8th Congressional District.

The outgoing incumbent said Gallagher has “moxie.” He also cited the Republican candidate’s outsider status and his service as a Marine.

Gallagher served as a foreign policy expert for Gov. Scott Walker’s presidential campaign and currently is a senior global market strategist at Breakthrough Fuel in Green Bay.

Gallagher faces state Sen. Frank Lasee and businessman Terry McNulty in next month’s primary.

Ribble’s seal of approval will help Gallagher, said University of Wisconsin-Green Bay political scientist David Helpap. As a candidate, the endorsement of the person holding the seat is especially strong.

“Gallagher seems to be emphasizing quite a bit his place in the Marines, and then also the fact that he’s a conservative and those types of things, and he’s anti-federal government,” Helpap said. “Reid Ribble was a little bit different, where he was focused on business.”

Earlier this year Ribble said he wouldn’t run for another term, which Helpap said would’ve been a lock.

“Reid Ribble, I think, would have won the election had he run again,” Helpap said.

The lone Democrat in the race, Outagamie County Executive Tom Nelson, has received an endorsement from the United Steelworkers Union.