When a Congressional seat is vacated after being occupied by a legislator for just over 40 years, the race to replace definitely gets a lot of attention. Especially if party control of the House or Senate is at stake.

So when Democratic U.S. Rep. Dave Obey announced he would not be running for reelection, Wisconsin gained even more national attention for its important political races this year.

“It’s definitely a hot one,” Barry Burden, University of Wisconsin political science professor, said of the race between Democrat Julie Lassa and Republican Sean Duffy. “It’s one of top 30 or 40 races for Congress in the country.”

Lassa and Duffy are fighting to represent Wisconsin’s Seventh Congressional District, which encompasses Wausau, Stevens Point, Superior, and other areas in the northwest part of the state.

From Assembly to MTV

As is the theme of many current political races, one candidate boasts substantial political experience while the other is not so traditional.

Lassa, 40, is currently a state Senator from her hometown of Stevens Point. Prior to her special election to the Senate in 2003, Lassa also served for five years in the state Assembly.

In contrast, the extent of 39-year-old Duffy’s political experience is his eight years of service as Ashland County District Attorney. However, many may instead recognize Duffy for his work in television. In 1997, he was a cast member on MTV’s “The Real World: Boston,” and has also done commentary work for ESPN.

“This year, unconventional candidates seem to be attractive to a lot of people, so Duffy’s got that in contrast to Lassa,” Burden said. “Lassa is the much more traditional and much more predictable candidate.”

Hot race equals heated attacks

Democrats have been quick to attack Duffy’s performance as district attorney. In a conference call Oct. 15, state Democratic Party Chair Mike Tate said the party questioned the veracity of Duffy’s claim to a 90 percent conviction rate.

“The Ashland County DA’s office said it doesn’t compile conviction rate statistics,” Tate said. “The Wisconsin Office of Justice Assistance also did not compile these statistics. So where does this 90 percent conviction rate statistic come from”?

Lassa campaign manager Rick Fromberg agreed with Tate’s claims.

“I think there are a lot of questions about his record as district attorney,” Fromberg said. “There are numerous cases where Duffy plea bargained with sex offenders who could have had serious convictions but he let them off easy.”

Duffy campaign spokesperson Wendy Riemann dismissed the Democrat’s attacks, saying in an e-mail their logic was “flawed.”

“Sean’s campaign staff tallied up his record on campaign time based off of the public records of cases he filed and tried as District Attorney,” Riemann said. “He won 63 of the 68 cases he both charged and tried. Those records are all public and on CCAP.”

Riemann also said the supposed rise in violent crimes and sexual assaults have been distorted by Democrats. She said the numbers result from an increase in reporting sexual assaults coupled with newly broadened definitions of violent crimes.

Republicans have their questions about Lassa’s job performance as well. Andrew Welhouse, spokesperson for the state Republican Party, criticized Lassa’s failures as chair of the Senate Economic Development Committee.

“While she’s the committee chair, the state lost hundreds of thousands of jobs,” Wellhouse said. “To have that poor of a record and then to cast stones against [Duffy] is I think a pretty desperate attempt to distract voters.”

Entering the last stretch

Heading into November, Burden said the challenge facing Lassa and other Democrats is separating themselves from their party’s identity.

“It is smart for Lassa to emphasize her ties to the district,” Burden said. “She’s trying to demonstrate that she’s a person, not simply a robot working for her party.”

But Welhouse noted the apparent public unrest with the Democrat’s direction of the state and country, and how people are responding to Duffy and Republicans, who are offering a new philosophy.

However, Fromberg said the Lassa campaign has a lot of enthusiasm behind it.

“What people are looking for is someone who will be strong and stand up for the district, and we feel confident Julie’s message of creating jobs and her strong independent voice is going a long way with people,” Fromberg said.

While few nonpartisan polls have been conducted in the race, political oddsmaker Nate Silver of The New York Times, who correctly predicted the outcome of all states but one in the 2008 presidential election, estimates that Duffy is up by about six points – but with a nine point margin of error.

Burden said the race is tough one to call, as the district varies in its ideals.

“It’s a district that’s really a swing district,” Burden said. “Socially it’s on the conservative side, and economically it’s more on the liberal side. It usually doesn’t fit either way very well.”