The Jackson Citizen Patriot reports today that former Adrian mayor and state senator Jim Berryman is considering challenging Congressman Tim Walberg.

Berryman, a Democrat who lost a race for Congress in 1998, said he is assessing whether he can raise the money needed for a competitive campaign against Walberg, R-Tipton.

"I am not going to form an exploratory committee or anything like that," Berryman said. "I expect it's only going to take three or four weeks to make a decision."

Berryman has been privately communicating with people across the district about a possible run for a little while now. He would be an impressive candidate, and it'll be interesting to see what his final decision will be.

For those that don't remember the 1998 election:

7th District Representative in Congress 2 Year Term (1) Position

                      TOTAL  Nick           Jim          
COUNTY                   BY    Smith          Berryman     
CODE/NAME              COUNTY  REP            DEM          
=============== ============== ============== ==============
08 BARRY                 2,780          1,706            988
12 BRANCH               10,761          7,117          3,517
13 CALHOUN              38,706         21,247         16,585
23 EATON                36,055         21,187         13,727
30 HILLSDALE            12,234          8,499          3,586
38 JACKSON              46,449         27,016         17,997
46 LENAWEE              28,765         14,302         14,042
81 WASHTENAW             6,377          3,582          2,556

Totals                 182,127        104,656         72,998

Remember, the district boundaries changed following the 2000 census (current district map). More of Washtenaw County is now included, and Barry County is no longer in the district. Most significant, I think, is Berryman's strong performance in Lenawee County against the incumbent Nick Smith. A race in 2008 where Lenawee County isn't solidly for Walberg would be interesting.

UPDATE: I was in a hurry earlier when I posted this, so I'll expand on my post a little.

Jim Berryman served as mayor of Adrian, Michigan from 1985 to 1990, and then served in the Michigan Senate from 1991 to 1998. He currently serves as the Michigan Education Association Uniserv Director in Lenawee County, representing teachers from about half of Lenawee County's school districts.

As an anonymous poster in the comments pointed out, his vote totals in 1998 wasn't the only item of significance:

What stands out about his run in 1998 is the amount of money he raised. If you go to http://www.politicalmoneyline.com/cgi-win/x_candpg.exe?DoFn=H8MI07047*1998

it says that he raised $459,000. That is a lot of cash for a race that no one thought he could win. That tells me he can raise cash.

Now, obviously 1998 is different than 2008, but this is impressive. It's also nice to know that, unlike Tim Walberg, the vast majority of individual itemized contributions to Berryman in 1998 came from in the state of Michigan (91% in-state for Berryman, 27% in-state for Walberg).

Labels: 2008 Speculation, Jim Berryman