Son of slain Wisconsin Sikh Temple leader seeks to take on Rep. Ryan

MADISON, Wis., Oct. 15 (UPI) -- The son of slain Sikh Temple of Wisconsin President Satwant Singh Kaleka said he plans to seek the Democratic bid to challenge U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis.

"I think it's about time we look at a different contender. I'm sorry, but Ryan has gone D.C. He really hasn't come back to do Town Halls. He doesn't touch his constituency. He votes against his constituency half the time," Amar Kaleka told WITI-TV, Milwaukee, in an interview released Monday.

The elder Kaleka was shot and killed at the temple in August 2012. Kaleka said the tragedy prompted him to consider running for Congress.

"It is definitely a reason for why I'm running because he was gunned down in such a way that it opened my eyes to a lot of things that are going around, that are going on in our nation," Kaleka said.

Kaleka told WITI one of his campaign issues is gun control.

Name recognition and fundraising are two challenges Kaleka said face him.

"It's a scary situation because I'm not going to have that financing. I'm a middle-class guy. I don't make over six figures per year," he said. "But here's a guy who's now gone from maybe having only $200,000 of net worth to multimillion dollars in Congress."

WITI said Kaleka could face a Democratic primary challenge from Rob Zerban, who ran against Ryan in the past two elections.