Ryan challenger Bryce pays back child support, old loan
All it took for Randy Bryce to make good on a couple of old debts was a run for Congress.
First, Bryce — the Democrats’ best hope for knocking off House Speaker
Paul Ryan — cleared a lien on his property by paying $1,257 in back child support in August.
Now, the 52-year-old ironworker has just satisfied a 2004 court judgment by paying off an old loan of $1,776. With interest, the sum exceeded $4,200.
“I sincerely apologize to her for the delay,” said Bryce, known as the “Iron Stache” to his 169,000 Twitter followers, “and am happy that I am able to make this right.” Bryce is referring to
Rhonda Slechta, whose last name was Nessler when the two were dating about 15 years ago, long before Bryce exploded on the national political scene with a viral campaign ad urging the Republican House speaker to swap jobs with him.
Back in 2002, Bryce was a down-onhis-luck ironworker who was just emerging from bankruptcy. Slechta lent Bryce enough cash to buy a used car from a neighbor so he could get to work regularly. She said she didn’t know at the time that he was twice ticketed for driving with a revoked license.
The pair soon broke up, and Bryce never paid back the sum.
“I helped Randy when he was making horrible life choices and, in return, he screwed me over,” Slechta said last week. “I was — and still am — a single working mother who works hard to pay my mortgage, send my son to school and always pay my bills.”
Slechta said she tried working with Bryce for months to get her money back.
She took the matter to small claims court. Because Bryce didn’t show up, a Milwaukee County judge granted Slechta a default judgment in 2004. She took the paperwork to Bryce’s mother, with whom Bryce was then living. Slechta contacted a collection agency, which turned her down. It also proved too costly for her to try to garnish his wages.
“My only hope for repayment was maybe someday Randy needed credit and would have to pay what he owes me,” said Slechta, who works at Great Lakes Neurosurgical Associates.
Bryce didn’t dispute her version of events.
“I’ve been very open about the fact that like so many others just trying to get by, at times I was downright broke,” he said. “I’m not proud of the fact I’ve had to borrow money from people who were kind enough to help me out when money was tight, like Rhonda.”
Having all but written off the debt, Slechta was stunned to see Bryce featured in the campaign ad portraying him as a hard-working ironworker running for Congress.
Slechta then reached out to the Journal Sentinel after a column ran on Bryce’s child support lien and other financial issues.
Court records show Bryce was making $76,000 annually a few years ago. For his child-support payments, he is said to be earning about $50,000 a year, though he’s acknowledged he has not worked since launching the campaign.
“This has nothing to do with my political views,” Slechta said, declining to give her party preference. “I can’t vote for or against Randy” because he’s outside her district.
Much to her surprise, a Democratic Party attorney contacted Slechta last week to say she would be getting her money, plus interest. The call came after Bryce’s campaign was asked by a reporter to respond to Slechta’s remarks on the loan.
Slechta received a check for $4,245 over the Thanksgiving holiday.
“I was thrilled,” Slechta said Monday. “I expected nothing.”