Paul Ryan trying to be re-elected to his current House seat

By WTMJ News Team

CREATED Aug. 29, 2012

  • Print

  • Lacey Crisp reports Video by tmj4.com

    video

JANESVILLE- Oddly enough, vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan is also running for re-election to his seat in congress.

All eyes will be on the Wisconsin congressman Wednesday night for his speech at the Republican National Convention, but he's still running a campaign in Janesville for his 1st congressional district seat.

Congressman Paul Ryan has taken the national stage in the past three weeks, running alongside presidential candidate Mitt Romney.
 
But Paul Ryan is still trying to keep his seat as U.S. representative.
 
"I think it's great.  Both races, it's fine.  He's a winner either way," said Lewis Aceto of Kenosha to TODAY'S TMJ4.
 
But some taxpayers say it's a waste of time and money.

"If he wins both, it's going to be back on the taxpayers to come back and do his seat again," said John Dioszegi of Kenosha.
 
But the man who's running against Ryan is taking the congressional race very seriously.

TODAY'S TMJ4's Lacey Crisp: "Does it help or hurt you that he's now running for VP?"

Congressional candidate Rob Zerban: "I think it helps because I think what President Obama and Joe Biden are going to do is highlight the Ryan budget in a way that we wouldn't have been able to do."
 
Zerban admits he knows Ryan has won Wisconsin's 1st congressional district easily in the past.
 
"He's been able to win in the past with comfortable margins, but he's never had a challenger like myself," said Zerban to TODAY'S TMJ4.
 
Zerban is out campaigning in the district every day, while Ryan is in all parts of the country working on his vice presidential campaign.
 
"I'm going to ask for debates," said Zerban.  "Hopefully he'll do that."

If Ryan were to win both, there would be an election to fill his congressional seat in the spring.

Current Vice President Joe Biden ran for both senate and vice president in 2008.