RACINE COUNTY, WI — On Wednesday, March 11, Speaker of the House and First District Congressman Paul Ryan (R-Janesville) announced publicly that he is not seeking re-election after a 20-year run in the post.

"Paul Ryan decided to quit today rather than face Randy Bryce and the voters," said campaign Communications Director Lauren Hitt. "With nearly $5 million raised to date, a strong field program aided by organized labor, a broad coalition of support locally and nationally, Randy Bryce is incredibly well positioned to be the next representative for the First District. "

One of the candidates vying for Ryan's seat, Racine County Democrat Randy Bryce, says Ryan's announcement has a lot to do with potentially squaring off with the union ironworker in November.

Then, in mid-March CNN formally changed their assessment of Speaker Ryan's district, saying his District is no longer a "Safe Republican" seat . CNN said the decision to re-classify the district race is partially attributable to Bryce, describing him as a "small-dollar fundraising star."

Sanders, who won the 2016 Democratic presidential primary, threw his support behind Bryce while advocating for a variety of issues including raising the minimum wage, gun control, net neutrality and the federal DACA program.

In January, Wisconsin Congressman Mark Pocan invited Bryce to Donald Trump's first State of the Union Speech in order to have Bryce "look Paul Ryan in the eye" during the speech.

Take it for what you will, but Wednesday's announcement from the Bryce campaign is the latest in an extended run of barbs and darts thrown the congressman's way.

Bryce will be in attendance in the gallery Tuesday night as congressman Mark Pocan's (D-WI) guest. "It's important to be there in person to hold Speaker Ryan accountable since he won't hold a public town hall in the District," Bryce said in a prepared statement.

"He told us his tax reform bill was for the middle class, and then we find out he got a $500,000 campaign contribution from the Kochs just days after the bill passed. He publicly promised a DREAMer and her daughter that they didn't have to fear deportation, but then he sided with extremists in his party and refused to commit to a vote on DACA during the budget negotiations," Bryce said in a prepared statement prior to the speech.

In late February, Bryce criticized Ryan for attending a GOP fundraiser at Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort - just 60 miles away from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida - the site of a deadly school shooting that left 17 people dead.

"If Speaker Ryan could make time for a fundraiser just 60 miles from the school and if he could make time for a visit to the Mar-a-Lago resort, then he should have made time for the Parkland students," said Bryce, who is challenging Ryan in Wisconsin's First District. "Those students have lost friends and teachers as well as their sense of safety and security. The very least Speaker Ryan could have done is have a conversation with them, and explain why he is not even allowing a vote on gun reform. But since he didn't make time in Florida, he should do it now with the students he directly represents.

Several days later, Ryan met with those high school students in a closed-door meeting to discuss a variety of issues centered around gun control and school safety.

Then, in early March, Bryce was among 25 people taken into custody as a group protested outside Ryan's Racine Constituent Services Center office for action on DACA.

Bryce and fellow Democrat Cathy Myers of Janesville were arrested by Racine police for blocking the intersection of Main and Sixth Streets of Downtown. Reports indicated that those taken into custody were released after they were issued civil citations.

Bryce said he tried helping two Dreamers contact their congressman, Paul Ryan to support Daca. Bryce said that Ryan had yet to meet with them "even after they went on a five-day hunger strike, and he refused to meet them at his Janesville church, even though the priest gave [them] permission to be there."

Patch File Photo