Professors plan bipartisan bid for Sensenbrenner's seat
(Published Wednesday, July 25, 2007 10:36:30 AM CST)
A d v e r t i s e m e n t
Associated Press
MILWAUKEE - Two Concordia University professors are planning an unusual bipartisan campaign to unseat U.S. Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner.
Political scientist Jeff Walz, 40, plans to run against the longtime Republican congressman as a Democrat. Historian James Burkee, 39, will run as a Republican.
The two plan to campaign together and combine their promotional efforts.
"We are going to run against each other but with one another, if that makes sense," Burkee said.
The two have worked together in recent years as speakers and commentators.
They said their goal for the campaign is to show what elections should look like.
"What people want is just a greater sense of decency, a greater sense of cooperation, a greater sense of collaboration," Walz said.
They hope to provide that by avoiding personal attacks and forgoing donations from special interest groups. They plan to publish a pact laying out ground rules for the campaign.
"Once we're past the primary, we're going to debate every day, across the district, Lincoln-Douglas style," Burkee said.
The candidates said they disagree on many issues, but both oppose deficit spending in times of economic growth. They said they hope to focus the campaign on immigration reform and energy policy.
The 5th District is considered a "safe" seat for Sensenbrenner, who has been among the top vote-getters in the U.S. House. His chief of staff Tom Schreibel declined to comment on the professors' candidacies.
Walz and Burkee work for Concordia University Wisconsin, a Lutheran school with 5,000 students in Mequon.
