Though polls looked close in the final days of the race, Randy “Iron Stache” Bryce comfortably won his primary for the Democratic Party’s nomination in retiring House Speaker Paul Ryan’s, R-Wis., congressional district on Tuesday.
But it wasn’t a cake walk for Bryce, who was plagued by a steady stream of bad press that will certainly follow him into the general election.
Though he has a national profile, the backing of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, a sweet nickname, and lots of cash, the race got close enough to make Bryce sweat this summer. How did he go from a shoo-in to a tossup?
Trouble for Bryce started in November, when the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel first reported the candidate had been delinquent on his child support payments for two years, and only paid back the money after announcing his campaign. That report also revealed Bryce had filed for bankruptcy in 1999. Later that month, the Journal Sentinel reported that Bryce had also failed to pay back another loan — this time from an ex-girlfriend who lent him cash to purchase a car in 2002 — until after announcing his campaign.
But that was mild compared to what CNN reported in July: Bryce had been arrested nine times (twice from protesting), and most of those arrests stemmed from one arrest for drunk driving in 1998. Three were for driving with a suspended license. One, in 1991, was for marijuana possession, property damage, and trespassing and theft, though the last charge was later dropped.
All this, in addition to the small problem of Bryce’s radical progressive policy stances making him a poor fit for the district, explain why some Democrats seemed to have been looking for a better candidate to enter the race after House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., announced his retirement this spring. And that was back before most of Bryce’s arrests had been reported.
Bryce has faced other, comparatively minor questions as well (see here, here, here, here, and here), adding up to the image of an unconventional candidate at best, and a sloppy and unprepared one at worst.
The campaign announcement video that rocketed him to viral fame was great, especially as demoralized Democrats scrambled post-2016 to recapture the support of the white working class. But the stream of reports on his past hurt Bryce’s credibility.
Though his opponent, local teacher and school board member Cathy Myers, managed to raise a surprising amount of money, it was no match for Bryce’s millions. But now that he’s officially competing with voters outside the Democratic base, these problems aren’t going anywhere for Bryce, who is sure to be dogged by character questions from now until November.
