The challenger blames the government shutdown on Ryan. Shooting victim's son plans run

Democrat Amar Kaleka, whose father was killed in last year’s suburban Milwaukee Sikh temple massacre, announced on Monday that he will try to unseat GOP Rep. Paul Ryan in 2014.

Kaleka, a documentary film maker, told the Associated Press that he would formally launch his campaign against Ryan, House Budget Committee chairman and 2012 GOP vice presidential nominee, in November.


“There’s a fever in the nation, and specifically in this district, for our leaders to stop playing politics and do their jobs,” he said. “All I want to do is bring democracy — a government of, for and by the people — back to America.”

Kaleka’s father, Satwant Singh Kaleka, was one of five people killed when a white supremacist opened fire at the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin in August 2012.

Unseating Ryan won’t be easy. The eighth-term Republican typically skates to reelection. In 2012, he defeated Democrat Rob Zerban — who attacked Ryan for his controversial plan to reform Medicare and Social Security and for leaving the district to wage a national campaign — by 12 percentage points.