# Can Ryan run to retain his House seat? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 11, 2012, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-ryan-run-to-retain-his-house-seat/631194 "2012-08-11T14:36:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Billdo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/billdo/32/315_2.png) [@Billdo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Billdo)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2012, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-ryan-run-to-retain-his-house-seat/631194/1 "2012-08-11T14:36:22Z")
When Joe Lieberman was running for Vice President, he also ran for reelection to his Connecticut Senate seat, a move that generated some controversy. I vaguely recall that he was permitted to do so through a quirk of Connecticut law, but that running simultaneously for Vice President and Congress would be barred in some other states. In the end, Lieberman lost the Vice Presidency and retained his Senate seat. Since Mitt Romney has now picked Paul Ryan as his running mate, will he have to drop out of the election for his Wisconsin House seat, or can he still run to retain his House seat while seeking the Vice Presidency? (If it is possible, any discussion of the wisdom of doing so would likely be better suited to the Elections forum.) ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2012, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-ryan-run-to-retain-his-house-seat/631194/2 "2012-08-11T14:44:52Z")
His [Congressional campaign website](http://www.ryanforcongress.com/Home.aspx) is still operating under the assumption that he can. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2012, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-ryan-run-to-retain-his-house-seat/631194/3 "2012-08-11T14:52:03Z")
[Yes.](http://docs.legis.wi.gov/statutes/statutes/8/03/2?up=1) Wisconsin law allows candidates to run for president or vice president and seek re-election be on the ballot twice if one of the offices they are running for is president or vice president. Ryan will run in both races. ---
**Author:** ![Silophant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a698b9/32.png) [@Silophant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silophant)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2012, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-ryan-run-to-retain-his-house-seat/631194/4 "2012-08-11T15:57:25Z")
So, as a related question, what happens if he manages, somehow, to win both races? Is there a special election for his Congressional seat or does it just go to his opponent? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2012, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-ryan-run-to-retain-his-house-seat/631194/5 "2012-08-11T16:00:17Z")
From the cite: > [@](#): > > A special election shall be held to fill any office vacated under this subsection. I don’t think there is any circumstance under which an elected office would just be given to the runner up. If the person who wins can’t serve, they hold another election. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2012, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-ryan-run-to-retain-his-house-seat/631194/6 "2012-08-11T21:30:47Z")
When Lyndon Johnson ran for Vice President in 1960, he also ran for re-election to the Senate (and, just like Joe Lieberman, he was criticized for it.) Johnson won both elections, but resigned from the Senate on the date his new term would have started (January 3, the start of the new Congress.) The governor of Texas appointed an interim Senator to serve until a new election was held. ---
**Author:** ![obfusciatrist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/4af34b/32.png) [@obfusciatrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obfusciatrist)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2012, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-ryan-run-to-retain-his-house-seat/631194/7 "2012-08-11T22:15:59Z")
How much does it cost to run a special election? Just curious since Ryan is such a spending hawk and if he expects to Romney to win it means he expects to foist that extra cost on Wisconsin. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2012, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-ryan-run-to-retain-his-house-seat/631194/8 "2012-08-11T22:35:38Z")
What would happen if he decided not to run again for his House seat? Could the party replace him on the ballot or would there have to be a special primary? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2012, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-ryan-run-to-retain-his-house-seat/631194/9 "2012-08-12T00:03:43Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > When Lyndon Johnson ran for Vice President in 1960, he also ran for re-election to the Senate (and, just like Joe Lieberman, he was criticized for it.) Johnson won both elections, but resigned from the Senate on the date his new term would have started (January 3, the start of the new Congress.) The governor of Texas appointed an interim Senator to serve until a new election was held. At the time he was nominated, Texas law didn’t allow a candidate to run for two different offices simultaneously. Johnson had to quickly get a law pushed through which allowed him to run for both offices. ---
**Author:** ![Folacin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folacin/32/3195_2.png) [@Folacin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folacin)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2012, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-ryan-run-to-retain-his-house-seat/631194/10 "2012-08-12T00:12:18Z")
> [@obfusciatrist](#): > > How much does it cost to run a special election? Just curious since Ryan is such a spending hawk and if he expects to Romney to win it means he expects to foist that extra cost on Wisconsin. No cite, but I read somewhere that the WI ballots are already locked in - so I don’t think Ryan could legally get his name off the ballot even if he wanted to. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2012, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-ryan-run-to-retain-his-house-seat/631194/11 "2012-08-12T01:23:24Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > At the time he was nominated, Texas law didn’t allow a candidate to run for two different offices simultaneously. Johnson had to quickly get a law pushed through which allowed him to run for both offices. Lloyd Bentsen took advantage of the same law in 1988. He was easily reelected to the Senate that year, but alas, did not become Mike Dukakis’s Vice President. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2012, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-ryan-run-to-retain-his-house-seat/631194/12 "2012-08-12T01:43:10Z")
Does Ryan have a challenger for his House seat this cycle? ---
**Author:** ![MikeS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MikeS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeS)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2012, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-ryan-run-to-retain-his-house-seat/631194/13 "2012-08-13T13:12:33Z")
Note that more recently, [Joe Biden won re-election to the Senate in 2008.](http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/2008-11-04-420465768_x.htm) (The odd phrasing of the article is because it was posted after the exit poll projections were in for Biden’s Senate seat, but before it became clear that Obama had won the presidential election.) So apparently Delaware allows/allowed it as well. ---
**Author:** ![MikeS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MikeS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeS)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2012, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-ryan-run-to-retain-his-house-seat/631194/14 "2012-08-13T13:16:05Z")
> [@Simplicio](#): > > Does Ryan have a challenger for his House seat this cycle? [Yes.](http://www.robzerban.com/)