WASHINGTON ? Rep. Mark Green could be one of at least a half
dozen lawmakers trying to make the leap from the U.S. House of
Representatives to the governor?s mansion in November 2006.
Green, R-Hobart, is expected to officially announce his candidacy
Sunday for the Republican nomination to run against Democratic Gov.
Jim Doyle. Another Republican, Milwaukee County Executive Scott
Walker, also may run.
According to documents filed with the Federal Election
Commission, Green transferred more than $1.2 million from his
congressional campaign committee to a state committee Jan. 26 in
apparent preparation for his gubernatorial bid.
Green?s campaign spokesman, Mark Graul, said the congressman
would announce a decision Sunday but declined to confirm whether he
will join the race.
Reps. Jim Davis of Florida, a Democrat, and Butch Otter of Idaho,
a Republican, already have announced they plan on running for
governor of their respective states.
Three others ? Reps. Jim Nussle of Iowa, Jim Gibbons of Nevada
and Bob Beauprez of Colorado, all Republicans ? also are likely to
announce they will run for governor in 2006, according to Stuart
Rothenberg of the Rothenberg Political Report.
And Rep. Ray LaHood, R-Ill., is considering a bid in Illinois,
according to the Chicago Sun-Times.
?Elected public officials have an insatiable desire to run for
higher elected office,? said James Thurber, director of American
University?s Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies.
?There?s always been a revolving door.?
Thurber said the recent polarization and antagonism between
Republicans and Democrats in Washington may have increased the
trend.
?It?s not really a pleasant place to be so it encourages them to
look at gubernatorial races,? he said.
Recent history also offers some encouragement for aspirants.
Six U.S. House members were elected governors in November 2002,
according to the National Governors Association. Two were Democrats:
Rod Blagojevich in Illinois and John Baldacci in Maine. Four were
Republicans: Ernie Fletcher in Kentucky, Robert Ehrlich in Maryland,
Bob Riley in Alabama and Mark Sanford in South Carolina.
Two current governors ? Republicans Frank Murkowski in Alaska and
Dirk Kempthorne in Idaho ? are former U.S. senators.
The leap Green is trying to make from Congress to governor is not
a one-way street.
Nine U.S. senators and one House member are former governors,
according to the Congressional Monitor.