Friday, November 18, 2011
8:58 AM
Former Bucyrus head unlikely to jump into races next year
Former Bucyrus President and CEO Tim Sullivan told WisPolitics.com Thursday it's unlikely he would run for the U.S. Senate or in a possible recall election involving Gov. Scott Walker “unless the wheels fall off” the political process and he becomes convinced an independent could win.
Sullivan originally surfaced as a possible Senate candidate, and he said earlier this year he'd consider a bid as an independent. He said people also began to approach him recently about getting into the guv’s race.
But he credited Walker with making tough fiscal decisions and said he wouldn’t have necessarily taken a different path in addressing the state’s fiscal problems. His concerns are more over the method in which Walker pushed his changes, but said that wasn’t enough of a reason to get into a possible recall race.
“I just don’t like how things are getting done right now,” Sullivan said. “I think that’s why people are talking to me. I’m more of a consensus person than someone who tries to drive things without a consensus. It’s never a good outcome.”
Sullivan, who left Bucyrus after its sale to Caterpillar was completed earlier this year, said he's unlikely to run for the Senate in part because he doesn't believe the current atmosphere is conducive for an independent to be successful, particularly in a presidential year.
“I never say never, and that’s why I’ve not definitely said absolutely not,” Sullivan said. “But it’s very unlikely right now. There are enough people showing strong interest, there’s enough money flying around this thing that I’m not sure it’s the right time to jump into the fray, especially with the divisiveness right now.”
Sullivan said he believes an independent candidacy would be more viable in a race for guv in the current atmosphere.
“If the wheels fall off the political process completely and there really arises a situation where I don’t want to call it a crisis, but where people really, strongly believe someone like myself could help out, I might change my mind,” Sullivan said. “But right now, I think we’ll see.”
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