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Congressmen David Obey’s stunning announcement last week that he will not run for reelection is particularly bad news for Mayor Tom Barrett, the Democratic candidate for governor.

dave obey

Barrett has lost a longtime mentor, and someone who might have helped him as governor by delivering significant federal dollars to this state. Barrett may have also been counting on Obey to deliver voters in his northwest district in the November race for governor, but now that Obey is a lame duck, he may not have the same impact – or the same passion for the effort.

As a long-time ranking Democrat on the powerful House appropriations committee and chairman of the committee since 2007, Obey has been a reliable conduit for federal aid to his district, and for support to the state as a whole.

“If Barrett is governor, his relationship to Obey means a lot,” said former Mayor John Norquist in an interview last fall on Barrett’s future. “That is a good reason for Wisconsin to elect Barrett.”

Barrett and Obey have had a political and personal relationship that goes back to the mid-1980s, when Barrett was in the state Assembly and Obey was in Congress. Losing that relationship is a huge blow for Barrett.

tom barrett

“It’s a blow even if Tom [remains] the mayor,” says Patrick Curley, Barrett’s chief of staff. “It’s a blow to the state.”

Obey campaigned for Barrett in Barrett’s unsuccessful bid for governor in 2002. Obey strongly encouraged him to run again in this year’s gubernatorial race, according to political insiders.

Barrett first learned of Obey’s decision to hang it up in a phone call from Obey on the morning of his announcement. A week earlier, Obey had campaigned with Barrett in Obey’s 7^th district.

Obey apparently will continue to campaign for Barrett. But how effective will a retiring congressman be in delivering votes in a northern Wisconsin district to a Milwaukee-based candidate?

Elected in 1969, Obey had been in Congress nearly 23 years before Barrett won a Congressional seat in 1992. Obey acted as a political godfather to Barrett, opening doors and greasing the skids for federally funded programs to Barrett’s Milwaukee district.

In 1998, Obey lobbied House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt to appoint Barrett to the House Judiciary committee. As a committee member, Barrett was thrust into the national spotlight as he questioned independent prosecutor Kenneth Starr during hearings leading to the impeachment of President Bill Clinton.

A year ago, Obey helped Barrett with a behind-the-scenes deal that finally freed up $91.5 million in federal funds for public transit in Milwaukee. The funds had languished for years in a political stalemate. Most recently, Barrett and Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker (a Republican candidate for governor) had argued repeatedly over how the funds would be divided.

In the end, the city of Milwaukee received 60 percent of the funds for streetcars, while Milwaukee County got 40 percent for bus service.

“Dave is the one who was willing to help us,” Barrett said last year in an interview.

That kind of help, though, will soon be long gone.

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