Grothman Wins Race To Replace Petri In Congress

Republican state Sen. Glenn Grothman won the race to replace retiring U.S. Rep. Tom Petri in Congress on Tuesday night.

The Associated Press declared that Grothman defeated Mark Harris, the Democratic Winnebago County executive, in Wisconsin’s 6th Congressional District, with the race being called shortly after 10 p.m. Grothman had been heavily favored to win in the district, which leans heavily Republican.

Grothman helped Gov. Scott Walker pass controversial legislation like Act 10, which stripped public-sector unions of most of their bargaining powers.

At a victory party, Grothman told a crowd of supporters that one of his priorities in Washington, D.C., will be welfare reform.

“We worked with a national outfit on this thing,” said Grothman. “We talked about jobs, we talked about the debt, it’s true. But, we also talked a lot in this race about the welfare. We did it with love. But, we did it because we’re losing America, we’re losing our families, we’re losing our work ethic.”

The state senator, who has represented southeastern Wisconsin’s 20th Senate District since 2005, will now bring his penchant for fiercely conservative rhetoric to the national arena. During his 20 years in the state Legislature, he has made numerous controversial statements on topics ranging from equal pay for women to the Martin Luther King Jr. state holiday.

Harris’ campaign had claimed Grothman’s policies were too “extreme even for Republicans.”

It was perhaps that sort of rhetoric that Grothman was addressing when asked his supporters during his victory speech: “Wasn’t it wonderful to watch the people engaged in that nasty, negative lying campaigning lose?”

Petri, a Republican, has himself represented the 6th Congressional District since 1979. He announced his retirement earlier this year, shortly after Grothman declared his candidacy in the race. He refused to endorse Grothman in the race.

A third-party candidate, Libertarian Gus Fahrendorf, came in a distant third place.