Franklin resident William “Larry” Gamble is gathering voter signatures required to enable him to run as a Tea Party candidate in the Republican primary against state Rep. Jeff Stone (R-Greendale).
Gamble, 47, said he is “about halfway” to obtaining the 200 signatures needed to get on the ballot in the Sept. 14 GOP primary.
A retired military man, Gamble resides at 3121 W Southwood Drive with his wife, Edith. They have three children. He attended high school at the Williamsburg Academy in South Carolina and attained a bachelor’s degree in business administration at The Citadel.
“We’re kind of late getting everything started, but hopefully we’ll have enough signatures to get on the ballot,” Gamble said.
Gamble was a pilot for Skyway Airlines in Milwaukee until his position was eliminated in April 2008. Gamble said he also had owned the Deep Blue scuba diving shops in Franklin and Milwaukee until they were closed because of the recession.
Gamble said he was not recruited to run against Stone, who is generally regarded as one of the dwindling contention of political moderates in the Wisconsin Legislature.
“It was something I was thinking about. I had heard that he (Stone) was for the (high-speed) train system the governor wants to buy and that he was for Obamacare,” Gamble said.
In response, Stone said, "He must have been misinformed, I have never supported the
High-speed train, which I don’t believe will generate adequate ridership. Also, I have never been in favor of Obamacare. In fact, over the last several months, I have questioned the authority of the Doyle administration to proceed with plans to institute an insurance exchange in Wisconsin. I believe that the administration may be overreaching their statutory authority, and if they are, I would encourage a legal challenge to this first step toward imposing Obamacare in our state. I have spent the last session working and voting to create a photo ID for voting, to hold the line on spending and taxes, proposing legislation to end emission testing in our region while creating jobs, and fighting proposals to limit local government control over the placement of sex offenders in our communities."
– BizTimes Milwaukee
