2007.07.05: July 5, 2007: Headlines: Figures: COS - Tunisia: Politics: State Government: Wisconsin State Journal: Gov.Jim Doyle is raising money and hiring campaign staff so he'll be positioned to seek a third term if he chooses
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2007.07.05: July 5, 2007: Headlines: Figures: COS - Tunisia: Politics: State Government: Wisconsin State Journal: Gov.Jim Doyle is raising money and hiring campaign staff so he'll be positioned to seek a third term if he chooses
Gov.Jim Doyle is raising money and hiring campaign staff so he'll be positioned to seek a third term if he chooses
A campaign spokesman says Doyle raised about $500,000 in the first half of this year, about the same amount he collected in the first six months of his first term. Fundraisers, such as a $1,000-a-head golf outing that drew more than 100 people last month in spite of the day's rain, mean Doyle is making sure he's financially ready should he seek to become the state's first third-term Democratic governor, political experts said. "If you're an incumbent, you certainly want to keep your options open," said Ken Mayer, a political science professor at UW-Madison. "You can always decide you're not going to run." In a speech to the state Democratic Party convention on Friday, Doyle promised to improve health care, job training and education in Wisconsin. Then he said to a standing ovation: "And at the end of these four years of working together, who knows, maybe we'll need four more." Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle and his wife served as Peace Corps Volunteers in Tunisia in the 1960's.
Gov.Jim Doyle is raising money and hiring campaign staff so he'll be positioned to seek a third term if he chooses
Doyle acting as if he may run again
MARK PITSCH
608-252-6145
mpitsch@madison.com
Gov. Jim Doyle hinted last week that he might seek re-election and he's raising money and hiring staff in case he does.
A campaign spokesman says Doyle raised about $500,000 in the first half of this year, about the same amount he collected in the first six months of his first term.
Fundraisers, such as a $1,000-a-head golf outing that drew more than 100 people last month in spite of the day's rain, mean Doyle is making sure he's financially ready should he seek to become the state's first third-term Democratic governor, political experts said.
"If you're an incumbent, you certainly want to keep your options open," said Ken Mayer, a political science professor at UW-Madison. "You can always decide you're not going to run."
In a speech to the state Democratic Party convention on Friday, Doyle promised to improve health care, job training and education in Wisconsin. Then he said to a standing ovation: "And at the end of these four years of working together, who knows, maybe we'll need four more."
Doyle declined several requests through a spokesman to comment on his plans, and he wasn't available for comment Friday after his speech.
Doyle for Wisconsin, the governor's campaign, remains operational. It hired consultant Mike Tate, who began work Feb. 1, and has kept one full-time and one part-time fundraiser.
Tate said Doyle is raising money and hiring campaign staff so he can decide to run for a third term.
"Governor Doyle loves being governor and feels there's still a lot of work he wants to do," Tate said.
Doyle, 61, a former state attorney general, has held three fundraisers since his January inauguration, not including his inaugural ball, in which donors paid for the event and raised money for state Boys and Girls Clubs. In addition to the golf outing, Doyle hosted two St. Patrick's Day-themed fundraisers in mid-March, one in Madison and one in Milwaukee. The suggested contribution for each event was $50 a person.
Tate wouldn't say how much was raised at the three events. But he said those events and direct-mail solicitations should generate an amount similar to the $562,954 Doyle collected in the first six months of his first term in 2003.
State law allows Doyle and other state politicians to keep secret the names of donors and the amounts they give until July 20, the date those names and amounts must be publicly disclosed to the state Elections Board.
Kevin Kennedy, executive director of the board, said if Doyle decides not to run for a third term he can:
Donate the money to charity.
Contribute money to candidates for state races, subject to contribution limits.
Contribute money to candidates for federal races, subject to certain limits.
Return the money to donors, although he is under no obligation to do so even if a donor requests it.
Doyle wouldn't be able to use the money to run for a federal office, Kennedy said.
Mayer and his UW-Madison colleague, Charles Franklin, a political science professor, said it would be unwise for Doyle to stop raising money -- even if he has no plans to run for a third term.
By raising money, Doyle "helps himself with leverage with the Legislature in the meantime and he helps himself by remaining a credible politician in the future, even if he doesn't seek a third term," Franklin said.
Doyle also helps out the Democratic Party by raising money because he can distribute it to Democratic state candidates if he doesn't seek a third term, Mayer said.
"There isn't a compelling reason not to raise money," Mayer said.
But Jay Heck, executive director of Common Cause in Wisconsin, said Doyle shouldn't be raising money while the 2007-09 budget is still under consideration.
Mark Jefferson, executive director of the state Republican Party, said Doyle's budget proposal suggests he wants to seek a third term.
"He's using the model of looking to run again. Look at his budget," Jefferson said. "He's got four years of tax hikes loaded into the first two years of his term so that in the second two years he can deceive people into thinking he's a moderate."
Tate said Doyle is looking at more current budget priorities such as health care, education and tax cuts for families for expenses such as university tuition.
"I think Gov. Doyle is pretty focused on the current budget," Tate said. "We're focused on making sure the legislators really protect (those) things."
Tate was the architect of the turn-out-the-vote effort for Fair Wisconsin, which opposed the constitutional amendment banning gay marriage and civil unions approved by voters last year.
Though the amendment was approved by a wide margin, Fair Wisconsin mobilized thousands of young voters in and around universities who are credited with helping re-elect Doyle, deliver control of the state Senate to Democrats and narrow the margin of the Republican majority in the Assembly.
State Journal reporter Jason Stein contributed to this story.
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Story Source: Wisconsin State Journal
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