An outside political group aligned with House Republican leadership released an ad Monday targeting Randy Bryce, the Democratic candidate for Paul Ryan's congressional seat, for not paying child support for two years, labeling him a "deadbeat."

“Putting the mother of his child in that position is inexcusable,” a single mother from Wisconsin said in the ad, run by the Congressional Leadership Fund, a GOP-aligned super PAC. “Randy Bryce is a deadbeat, he’s not fit to serve in Congress.”


The ad is the latest effort by Republican allies to attack Bryce based on his personal life.

Bryce, a 52 year-old military veteran, is running against Republican Bryan Steil for the open House seat in Wisconsin’s 1st District.

In September 2015, the state placed a lien on Bryce’s property holdings because he had fallen behind by over two months on the $471 in child support he owed per month.

For over two years, Bryce would routinely paid the court-ordered child support late, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.

On Aug. 31, 2018, just two months after launching his congressional bid, Bryce paid off the $1,257 in child support that he owed.

Bryce featured his 11-year-old son in an online ad and would bring him up in fundraising letters.

In 2012, Racine County Circuit Court estimated Bryce’s annual income to be $76,073 and ordered him to pay $881.79 per month in child support.

In early 2014, Bryce requested the payments be reduced until he could find new employment, according to the court documents. Later that year, Bryce returned to work and the monthly payments were set at $471, adjusted to his new salary.