KENOSHA – As the House of Representatives prepares to vote today on the Paul Ryan budget that ends the guarantee of Medicare and protects tax breaks for the wealthiest, Small business owner Rob Zerban announced the formation of a committee to explore a 2014 challenge to Congressman Ryan. Zerban, a successful businessman who built two food service companies from scratch and a former Kenosha County supervisor, released the following statement Wednesday:

“Since the election, I have been inundated with phone calls and emails from people all over the First District urging me to come forward again to give the people of Southeast Wisconsin a viable alternative to Paul Ryan. I’ve been listening to people from Janesville to Racine talk about their need for jobs and economic security, good schools and fair pay, and a strong social safety net for the hardships life sometimes throws our way. The formation of this exploratory committee is simply a formalizing of that process of listening to my friends and neighbors.

My hope is that, over the next few months, we will begin to have a conversation about what the people of the Wisconsin’s First District really want: a secure future, not federal austerity.”

In 2012, Zerban gave Ryan the closest challenge of his Congressional career – and shaved nearly 20 points off Ryan’s average victory margin, even while Ryan was on a presidential ticket with Mitt Romney. It was the closest 2012 Congressional election in Wisconsin and caused Paul Ryan to lose his home ward, his home town, and his home county.