Post Publication Update:  Governor Doyle has appointed Attorney William Pocan to the bench.

With the possible exit of State Representative Dave Cullen from the legislature, the question of who will replace him hangs in the air. There are a few good people who might consider entering the race.

I'll premise this by saying it's just wild speculation right now but two people we're keeping our eyes on are Eamonn Guerrin and Pete Donegan.

Guerrin grew up in the district and went to Tosa East High School. He is part of a well connected political family.

Wauwatosa Alderman Pete Donegan recently smoked his opponent, Scott Nelson, with over 71% of the vote. This is no small feat as Nelson was a Republican staffer for State Senator Cathy Stepp so Nelson was no political novice. An interesting tidbit is that Donegan works with David Riemer on the Wisconsin Health Project.

We're not crediting Nelson for the Stepp victory and Nelson wasn't lining up for kudos either. For that, you'd have to talk to political hack John Yingling whose unprofessional and amateur antics lead him to share important confidential information with the media in campaigns he is supposed to be masterminding. (Note to dems — Yingling used to work for Republicans but his win-loss record is abysmal, just ask Peggy Rosensweig, Mary Panzer, Jim Ryan or Marvin Pratt.)

Doyle doesn't have long to announce the Cullen appointment if he hopes to keep the filing deadlines the same. We expect the Governor to make his announcement within the week.