Paul Ryan Congressional Ads Now Appearing in 1st District

While Congressman Paul Ryan campaigns near Green Bay today as one half of the Republican presidential ticket, his 1st congressional re-election ad is playing in Southeast Wisconsin.

Released Wednesday in Milwaukee and Madison, the ad features Ryan speaking to a small group at a cafe about how the November election is the voters' chance to put America back on the right track.

"It focuses on the critical choice before voters this November and the importance of electing leaders who are capable of advancing solutions that get America back on track," campaign manager Kevin Seifert is quoted as saying in a story from WISN.

The same WISN story states Ryan's campaign confirmed that having a challenger - Democrat Rob Zerban - didn't influence the decision to start running ads because this is how a Ryan campaign is usually run.

Still, a Zerban campaign staffer told the news station that the size of the ad buy - reported to be $2 million - is a clear signal that Ryan knows he has a serious opponent.

"A $2 million ad buy, that's bigger then he has put up against any of his opponents, ever," Campaign Manager Al Benninghoff told WISN.

Ryan is in Wisconsin campaigning as the Vice President candidate. According to a story from our media partners at Fox 6, he is hosting a town hall meeting today in De Pere. to have lunch with firefighters there to commemorate 9/11, but he was not campaigning for either race during the stop.

On Tuesday, on Oct. 25. While Zerban's camp has said he's definitely interested in participating, neither candidate has responded yet to the invitation.

As the ABC News political blog notes, Ryan is not the first Vice Presidential candidate to also run for his existing seat. Vice President Joe Biden continued to run in 2008; Joe Lieberman ran two races in 2000; and so did Lyndon Johnson in 1960.

"And it’s worth noting- all of these men won those state races," the blog concludes.