Duffy may already have a challenger for Congressional seat

Even before newly elected Seventh District Congressman Sean Duffy is sworn in, one Democrat says he is seriously considering running for the seat held for 41 years by Dave Obey. But even he thinks Duffy may be hard to beat.

Kevin Shibilski is a former Democratic state Senator from Stevens Point, a candidate for lieutenant governor, and Secretary of the Department of Tourism. After leaving politics, Shibilski became a successful investment banker, and now owns two resorts in the Northwoods. Shibilski almost ran for Congress this past year when Dave Obey announced his retirement. He says he is seriously considering running in 2012 against freshman Republican Sean Duffy.

“Now that we have business investments throughout the north, we have a new perspective I think, and we really want to see our economy rebound, and we want to see real job growth, so we would never slam the door on those who are calling to talk about the prospect of running."

But Shibilski doesn't think the newly elected Republican Congressman will be an easy target.

“Sean Duffy won a very high energy, enthusiastic, effective campaign. If he is as dynamic as a Congressman as he was as a candidate, he will not be easy to beat in two years regardless of who runs or how much money they have."

Shibilski says that if Sean Duffy crafts himself as a moderate Republican in the Mel Laird mode, he will likely be re-elected. But to do that, he says Duffy must distance himself from the extreme elements of his party.

Shibilski says if he does decide to run for Congress, he would be able to spend at least $2-million of his own money to fund a campaign.

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