Democratic Outagamie County Executive Tom Nelson announced Thursday he would run for United States House of Representative in Wisconsin's 8th District.
Nelson has served as Outagamie county executive since April 2011. He was a member of the Wisconsin State Assembly, representing the 5th Assembly District from 2005 to 2011 and was elected Assembly majority leader in 2008. He then ran for lieutenant governor in 2010.
"The purpose of this campaign is to put people over politics," Nelson said in a press release. "In Congress, and over the course of this campaign, I will always remember the interests of the people I seek to represent. The purpose of my public service has always been about people, not politics, and that is not going to change."
Nelson and supporters will hold a formal campaign kick-off event in a couple of weeks.
State Sen. Frank Lasee, R-De Pere, who announced to run for the same Congress seat in February, said Nelson has voted to raise taxes on Wisconsinites and said he looked forward to the race.
"[Nelson] presided over the $5 billion tax and fee hike forced on Wisconsin taxpayers in 2009 while spending us into a nearly $4 billion deficit. If you want more taxes, more fees and more debt then Nelson's your guy," Lasee said.
Wisconsin's 8th Congressional District is in northeastern Wisconsin and includes Green Bay and Appleton. It has been represented by Republican Reid Ribble since 2011, who has announced he will retire at the end of the current term.
