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Several members of Wisconsin’s congressional delegation have announced guests they’ll bring to President Trump’s first State of the Union Speech tonight. And one guest is causing a spat between two congressmen.
Republican U.S. Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner, the dean of the Wisconsin congressional delegation, is knocking Dem U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan for inviting Randy Bryce, a potential Democratic challenger to Speaker Paul Ryan in the 1st CD.
Sensenbrenner in a statement called the invite an attempt to “deepen a divide in an already fractured political environment.”
“Creating a spectacle like this – regardless of position or party – is disrespectful and out of bounds,” Sensenbrenner said. “Worse, Mr. Bryce is using it as a tool to actively raise campaign funds.”
Pocan countered that Ryan has abandoned Wisconsin values and that Republicans lack credibility when it comes to respect.
“I must’ve missed Mr. Sensenbrenner’s remarks when the president disparaged foreign countries as sh*tholes, called neo-Nazis and white supremacists ‘very fine people,’ bragged about sexually assaulting a woman, or even reportedly asked his lawyer to pay off an adult film star using campaign funds,” the Madison-area Dem said in a statement. “Apparently tax cuts for GOP donors come at any cost.”
See below a list of several other guests of Wisconsin’s national delegation:
Ryan: He’s invited 6-year-old Wisconsinite Jackson Poulos and parents Ashley and John. Ryan’s office helped secure FDA approval of a chemotherapy that helped Jackson stave off cancer. Also invited are Janesville resident Kyle Pucek, who at 23 became addicted to opioids but has been sober since 2013; and nurse Cathy Cenzon of Brooklyn, whose opposition to having to help perform an abortion led her hospital to accommodate other anti-abortion staff.
Sen. Tammy Baldwin: The Madison Dem will bring Avery Smith, a heavy equipment operator from Little Suamico.
Sen. Ron Johnson: The Oshkosh Republican will bring Lauri Badura, an Oconomowoc woman whose son died of an opioid overdose.
Rep. Sean Duffy: The northern Wisconsin Republican is bringing a 10-year Army infantry veteran (twice-deployed to Afghanistan) named Ricky Taylor. He lives in Virginia now but is from New Jersey.
Rep. Gwen Moore: The Milwaukee Democrat will be bringing Frances Fox Piven, a longtime welfare reform activist, with her to SOTU.
Rep. Ron Kind: The La Crosse Dem will bring Monroe County resident John Fritz, president of the Wisconsin Federation of the Blind, to the address.
Sensenbrenner: The Menomonee Falls Republican will bring a member of his staff, as he’s done in the past.
And Rep. Glenn Grothman: The 6th CD Republican is bringing his brother-in-law, Mark Hoggatt, who lives in Lake Mills and is a software manager at Trek Bicycles.
