Daniel Riemer
Daniel Riemer is an American law student who defeated incumbent Wisconsin State Assembly member Peggy Krusick in the August 14, 2012 Democratic primary for the 7th Assembly district. Riemer was the presumptive winner in the November general election, as there were no other candidates in the race[1]; but Krusick filed as an official write-in candidate against Riemer.[2] In the end, Riemer won easily.
Background
Krusick had been in the Assembly since before Riemer (25 years old) was born. Riemer, son of Democratic policy adviser David Riemer (budget director for former governor Jim Doyle), does not currently plan to return to law school (he is on leave from the University of Wisconsin Law School).[3] The district, which includes parts of Milwaukee's south side, West Allis, West Milwaukee and Greenfield, had been drastically redrawn in the 2011 redistricting.[4]
Write-in campaign by Krusick
In September 2012 it was reported that Krusick was considering running a write-in campaign against Riemer in the November general election, and it was confirmed that she had contacted staff of the Wisconsin Government Accountability Board about the mechanics of such an effort, but had not yet filed registration documents for such a run.[5]
On October 2, it was officially confirmed that she was running as a registered write-in candidate (under Wisconsin law, write-in candidates must register with the state to have their votes be individually counted, rather than lumped in with other write-in votes). She has set up a new website[6] and begun a direct mail campaign boasting about her "independent track record." She did not return press calls, and it is unclear who was funding her campaign against her party's nominee.[7]
Riemer won easily in the end, with 16,664 votes (85.4%) to Krusick's 2499 (12.8%) and 361 scattered votes (1.8%).[8]
Controversy
Riemer assaulted a fellow guest during a Halloween party while he was an undergraduate student at the University of Chicago. The victim was benignly costumed as a "West German," but Riemer assumed that he was dressed as a Nazi or a member of the Hitler Youth, which offended him.
References
- ^ Henzl, Ann-Elise. "Daniel Riemer Ousts Longtime Representative Peggy Krusick" WUWM News; August 14, 2012
- ^ Bice, Daniel. "Krusick launches write-in campaign for Assembly" No Quarter Blog, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Oct. 2, 2012
- ^ Bauter, Alison. "Riemer defeats 29-year incumbent Rep. Krusick" Milwaukee Journal Sentinel All Politics Blog; August 14, 2012
- ^ Bauter, Alison. "New 7th District boundaries jostle Democratic primary" Milwaukee Journal Sentinel July 30, 2012
- ^ Bice, Daniel. "Krusick considers write-in campaign" No Quarter Blog, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel September 14, 2012
- ^ New Krusick website
- ^ Bice, Daniel. "Krusick launches write-in campaign for Assembly" No Quarter Blog, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Oct. 2, 2012
- ^ Wisconsin Governmental Accountability Board. "2012 PRESIDENTIAL AND GENERAL ELECTION: ASSEMBLY - DISTRICT 7" 11/21/2012 1:57:46 PM Page 7 of 99