Contact – Dennis Hughes | (262) 455-1542 | dennis@cathymyersforcongress.com
Janesville, WI – Cathy Myers is demanding a retraction and apology from her primary challenger, Randy Bryce, for his campaign comparing her to the white supremacist running against Paul Ryan.
Last night, Vice published a profile on Bryce, which stated: “Bryce aides told me Myers is to their candidate what Paul Nehlen and Nick Polce (Republican primary challengers to the speaker) are to Ryan: rivals who simply aren’t on his level. Bryce’s strategy is to ignore Myers. When I asked about her, he would not even say her name . . .”
Multiple investigations by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel have made Bryce’s long history of ignoring women an issue in the race.
Myers responded by stating, “with nearly 65,000 supporters on Facebook, 7,000 contributions from more than 5,000 donors in all 50 states, my campaign has taken off since the truth about Randy’s history with women has begun to come to light. I expected him to attack me to deflect from his past, but comparing me to a white supremacist who lost his last election by 68% crosses the line. Baseless attacks from men like Randy are why women have hesitated to run for office in the past, but I will never back down.”
Historically, women run for Congress at much lower rates than men, but that changed with the election of Donald Trump, which caused an unprecedented surge of women candidates. Currently, 307 Democratic women are running for Congress.
Cathy Myers expected a vigorous, policy-focused debate in her Democratic primary when she announced her campaign a few days after Bryce, but she has been disappointed by her opponent’s disrespectful campaign tactics. “We are not going to beat Paul Ryan by using his tactics against each other in a Democratic primary. I want to talk about issues that affect our neighbors. We may not agree on everything, but honest debates don’t divide Democrats, they make us stronger,” Myers said.
The candidates agreed to participate in a candidate forum on October 4th hosted by Our Wisconsin Revolution and Forward Kenosha, but the Bryce campaign backed out a week before the event without adequate explanation, and has refused to reschedule. Across the country, Democrats are fielding competitive primaries in competitive races and those Democrats are having a robust debate on the issues. That is what the voters in Wisconsin’s 1st District expect.
Myers is a two-term Janesville School Board member who was elected in 2013 and re-elected in 2016, more than doubling her vote. Bryce has lost two primaries and a total of three elections over the past five years with less than 40% of the vote.
“Unlike the other candidates vying to replace Paul Ryan, I know what it takes to win elections because I’ve done it. Our campaign is growing larger every day because progressives across the country are demanding that women’s voices be heard in Congress,” Myers concluded.
