Kind all talk, no action on higher office
U.S. Rep. Ron Kind is known for three things.
Kind has some of the best hair in politics.
He has a good golf swing.
And he’s the biggest tease in Wisconsin politics.
For more than two decades now, Kind has talked about running for higher office and then not followed through.
The first time this happened was in 2000 when the Wisconsin Democrat said he was “taking a real hard look at” running for governor in less than two years.
He decided not to run. Now, Kind is kicking around the idea of running in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate next year, saying he was “taking a look” at the idea.
Sound familiar?
“Nine hundred times the bridesmaid and never the bride,” joked one prominent Wisconsin Democrat.
An exaggeration, of course. But it is true that Kind has broached the idea of running for statewide office — four times for governor and three for U.S. Senate — on a total of seven occasions in the past 21 years.
Instead of taking the risk, however, the moderate Democrat has always chosen to stay in his relatively safe congressional seat representing the La Crosse area since 1997, for 13 terms in office.
Will this time be different? Kind and his staff preferred not to engage on the topic. They recycled a statement saying the guy is really busy in Washington, D.C., right now.
“It’s all hands on deck right now in Congress to address the COVID-19 pandemic and the economic crisis it has caused and that’s what I’m focused on doing,” Kind said in the statement. “I haven’t made any decisions about 2022.”
But Republicans didn’t hesitate at chiding Kind for, once again, broaching the idea of seeking a promotion to higher office.
“Ron Kind is a career politician who
loves to get a headline from pretending he’s going to run for higher office,” said Mike Berg, spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee. “One way or another, he won’t be a House member in 2023.”
Republicans aren’t the only ones who are dubious that Kind, who just turned 58, will end up running for the seat now held by U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, a Republican from Oshkosh.
No political insider on either side of the aisle is taking Kind’s most recent talk seriously.
He has become the Chicken Little of Wisconsin politics. No one trusts what he says about his political future.
“It’s just not going to happen,” said one veteran Democratic campaign consultant.
Of the many times he has talked about vying for higher office, Kind was probably most serious about a decade ago.
In 2009, he traveled the state meeting with party leaders when considering running for governor the next year. Former Gov. Scott Walker,a Republican, ended up taking the post.
Two years later, Kind was again talking about leaving the 3rd Congressional District to run for greener pastures. This time it was an open U.S. Senate seat, which eventually went to Tammy Baldwin, a Democrat.
“Now is not my time to run for the U.S. Senate,” Kind said in a written statement.
“There’s a certain risk averseness there. He doesn’t have the cojones.”
Democratic consultant
‘There’s a certain risk adverseness there’
Why the hesitancy? Wisconsin insiders have many theories.
“There’s a certain risk averseness there,” said one Democratic consultant. “He doesn’t have the cojones.”
He has certainly carved out a niche where he is. There’s a certain comfort in that. He’s also climbed the ranks in the U.S. House of Representatives, having recently served as chairman of the New Democrat Coalition, a group of centrist Democratic representatives.
By contrast, there would be no guarantees if he ran for governor or U.S. Senate.
“Running statewide is hard,” said GOP consultant Mark Graul.
It’s tough for anyone, but even more so for Kind.
He is known in western Wisconsin but not the eastern side, where most people live. It would cost a lot of money to raise his visibility across the state. He wouldn’t be able to use money from his congressional account to run for governor. He has about $877,000 in his federal fund.
Beyond that, Kind has alienated himself from labor unions, a key constituency for Democrats, with his past votes on trade issues. More recently, he was one of only two Democrats in the House to vote against legislation aimed at changing policing standards, a measure that came after the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
“He would like to run, but he knows he can’t,” said a second Democratic adviser.
In other words, Kind thinks he would be a very good general election candidate in Wisconsin, a swing state. But he also realizes he would have a very tough time winning a Democratic primary in a state that went for lefty U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders in the 2016 presidential primary.
In fact, during the 2016 Democratic National Convention, Kind was interrupted by Sanders supporters at a breakfast speech over his pro-trade stance.
The first Democratic campaign consultant said Kind’s frequent teasing bids for higher office have turned off many on the left in Wisconsin. If he was going to aspire for something statewide, he should have done it already.
“Ron Kind has potentially missed his moment,” the Dem consultant said.
The second Democratic adviser disagreed, noting things are changing.
Kind had his toughest race in a decade in 2020, and the Republican-controlled Legislature will soon be redrawing district lines for congressional seats, a matter that could end up in court. As a result, he might not want to run for reelection.
In addition, Kind could win a Democratic primary for the U.S. Senate in the state if four or five candidates enter the race. He would need only 30% to 35% of the vote to come out on top.
The only thing is, Kind doesn’t seem to be doing anything to prepare for a statewide run. Two Democratic candidates — Milwaukee Bucks exec Alex Lasry and Outagamie County Executive Tom Nelson — are already in the race, and state Treasurer Sarah Godlewski is expected to announce soon. Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes is also considering a run.
All Kind has done is talk.
But that is something he is good at, keeping his name circulating in the conversation about various political contests.
“Every politician likes to be loved,” said Graul, the GOP campaign consultant.
And Kind seems to need it every election cycle.