Glenn Grothman, Dan Kohl headed for 2018 Wisconsin congressional showdown

GRAFTON - Dan Kohl is a Democrat on a mission.

He has marched into the 6th Congressional District, a Republican stronghold, to take on U.S. Rep. Glenn Grothman (R-Glenbeulah) next year.

From the large Kohl for Congress sign outside a strip mall on a busy street to impressive fundraising totals, Kohl is making big moves to put a bedrock GOP seat in play in 2018. Democrats are trying to make gains in the mid-term elections and if a political wave develops, Kohl wants to be in position to ride it to victory.

"This is a different time," Kohl said the other day while sitting in his campaign office. "People are really hurting out there. People are looking for representation that addresses the pressing problems that people face, whether it's health care, better paying jobs, you name it."

Political history is still very much against Kohl, a nonprofit and business executive and nephew of former U.S. Sen. Herb Kohl.

Only once since World War II has a Democrat represented the 6th District, and even then, it was for only one term courtesy of Lyndon Johnson's coattails in 1964. Over the years, though, there have been some close races in a district that sprawls through a chunk of east-central Wisconsin.

Kohl's opponent, Grothman, is taking nothing for granted. He's working the district hard with town hall meetings and has raised the alarm nationally that he faces a big fight in which he may be outspent.

"He knows very wealthy people from all around the country, he has family wealth," Grothman said of Kohl. "Unlike me, who has to work in Washington, he's doing this full time. I think my message of fiscal conservatism, welfare reform, securing our borders is the message that will resonate with the people."

With no strong primary challengers on the horizon, the potential Kohl-Grothman match is a study in contrasts.

Kohl has never held office before — he lost in a 2008 Democratic primary for state Assembly. During his 13-year stint with the Milwaukee Bucks, then owned by his uncle, he rose to the position of assistant general manager. He worked nearly four years for J Street, a liberal pro-Israel advocacy group, where he was vice president for political affairs. He also was a senior adviser at Baker Hoestetler, a large Washington-based law firm.

Kohl, who returned to Wisconsin in May and settled in Mequon, calls himself a "problem-solving Democrat."

Grothman is a long-time political figure, first elected to the Assembly in 1993 and the state Senate in 2004. He made his big leap in 2014, announcing a primary challenge against long-time U.S. Rep. Tom Petri, a moderate. Petri retired, the primary field grew and Grothman won by a handful of votes in the GOP race before easily winning the general election. He sailed to re-election in 2016.

Grothman is proudly conservative.

Kohl said people want change in Congress.

"They think their desires are being ignored, the members of Congress aren't listening to them," he said.

How would Kohl be different as a Democrat in a Republican-leaning district? Would he automatically vote for California's Nancy Pelosi as speaker of the House should his party sweep into power?

"I wouldn't commit to voting for anybody," he said. "I think the Democratic Party, we do need to do a better job of providing more opportunities for leadership. Let me get elected but I'm certainly not promising my vote to Nancy Pelosi or anybody else."

Kohl's campaign has called Grothman "the single-most partisan member of the House," pointing to a Lugar Center bipartisan index that labeled Grothman as the second-most partisan member during the 2015-'16 session of Congress.

It's an assertion that Grothman disputes.

"I have a history of bipartisanship going way back," said Grothman, who fought Republicans in Madison on rent-to-own and payday lending bills.

Despite voting for the Republican tax overhaul bill in the House, Grothman said he'll continue to press for changes.

"I want to get rid of the special treatment for carried interest for hedge fund investors, make sure manufacturers are treated better and I'd like to bring the medical deduction back," Grothman said.

Kohl opposes the GOP tax overhaul, claiming it's a tax cut for corporations and the wealthy at the expense of the middle class.

Kohl is prepared for a long campaign. He has already hired three full-time staffers and accelerated fundraising. At the end of September, his campaign had $404,000 cash on hand, according to federal filings. By comparison, Grothman had $324,000 cash on hand.

Grothman said he won't hire full-time campaign staff until next year. Last month, in discussing fundraising, Grothman said he was in "the toughest race of my political career."

On that, he'll get no argument from Kohl, who said: "I would agree with Glenn that this is going to be the political fight of his lifetime."