Assembly Democrat Leadership Woes Forcast a Tough Fall for Vulnerables Like Garthwaite

This tersely worded story from Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reporter Patrick Marley spells trouble for Assembly Democrats. According to this and other stories, rumors spread around the Capitol Friday that Assembly Speaker Mike Sheridan was in jeopardy of losing his leadership post over an alleged, inappropriate relationship the married speaker had carried on with a lobbyist.

Sheridan, Rep. Garthwaite's boss in the Assembly, denied these allegations Friday, stating that the lobbyist was just a friend and that they had gone on just one date. He has since amended his story stating, "I have dated a gal who is a lobbyist. It's not been a conflict, and I have no problem saying that..." The Speaker also told the Journal Sentinel that, "We (He and the lobbyist) went to a Christmas party. I think we went out with like a group of people a couple different times and that type of thing." "Like a group of people." "That type of thing." Why does the Speaker of the State Assembly sound like a kid who broke curfew and doesn't want to fess up to his parents about what he was out doing?

The Assembly Democrats already faced a tough election fight. The mood of the country and state is swinging back against their big taxing, big spending policies. Their total lack of focus on jobs and the economy over the last year doesn't help their cause much either. This potential scandal, however, adds a whole new dimension to the challenges that vulnerable Representatives like Garthwaite will have next fall.

For starters, this issue will further divide an Assembly Democrat Caucus that is already split over the proposed mayoral take over of the Milwaukee Public Schools. Coupled with their failure to put the Jeff Wood incidents behind them, the Assembly Democrats will be distracted this spring and will likely leave this session without having accomplished anything of substance on jobs, the economy, or anything else. What will they have to run on in the fall? A failed stimulus bill and honey regulation?

Secondly, an embattled and divided Assembly Democrat leadership will not be able to properly organize and fund raise for members facing tough challenges. Democrat Majority Leader Tom Nelson was already set to be in the fight of his life over budget pork that cost his district and comments he made in regards to the Democrat auto insurance premium hike of 2009
Sheridan too will now be preoccupied with his own survival.

Traditionally, Assembly Democrats have counted on large third party expenditures from public employee unions, trial attorneys, and tribal gaming interests to bail them out of situations like this. This year, however, those groups will be focused on getting a Democrat into the vacant Governor's mansion first, maintaining a precarious majority in the State Senate second, and keeping vulnerable Assemblymen like Garthwaite in office a distant third. This all spells trouble for the Democrat from Grant County next fall.