Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk will not be a Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor in 2010, a campaign aide said Tuesday.
Since Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett was rumored as a candidate for the 2010 gubernatorial race, which was confirmed by his declaration of candidacy on Sunday, Falk has been mentioned as a possible running mate.
However, Falk Campaign Manager Melissa Mulliken said while fellow Democrats have encouraged Falk to run for lieutenant governor, Falk would rather maintain her focus on her work as Dane County executive.
“Folks in the Democratic Party have urged her to run — I’m not surprised they have urged her — but [Falk] has a job she loves and that is important, and she does not have an interest in running for lieutenant governor,” Mulliken said.
Falk has also been rumored to be considering a run for governor, but she has not made any definitive announcement concerning that position. Falk, along with Barrett, previously ran against then-Attorney General Jim Doyle in the 2002 gubernatorial primary.
Falk was first elected as the Dane County executive in 1997 and has been reelected every four years since then. Falk also ran in the 2006 state attorney general race, beating out incumbent Peg Lautenschlager and just barely losing to Republican J. B. Van Hollen.
The race for lieutenant governor opened after Lt. Gov. Barbara Lawton decided to forgo a re-election bid to pursue the Democratic gubernatorial nomination.
Lawton has since dropped out of the race for governor due to personal reasons.
Milwaukee Ald. Tony Zielinski, District 14, is one of the declared Democratic candidates for lieutenant governor and said he respects Falk as a public figure.
“Kathleen Falk does a great job representing her constituents, and I wish her best of luck in whatever she does in the future,” Zielinski said.
Also running as a Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor is Sen. Spencer Coggs, D-Milwaukee.
For Republicans, Rep. Brett Davis, R-Oregon, filed paperwork as a lieutenant governor candidate, along with Superior Mayor Dave Ross and Lake Geneva businessman Ben Collins.
Jeff Fleming, campaign spokesperson for Barrett, could not be reached for comment as of press time.
