Hesitant Paul Ryan Would Have $35 Million Shoes to Fill as Speaker
- Wisconsin Republican urged by colleagues to seek top House job
- Boehner says he'll stay on until his replacement is selected
Representative Paul Ryan speaks at the Union League Club of Chicago on Aug. 21, 2014, in Chicago.
Photographer: John Gress/Getty ImagesThis article is for subscribers only.
Republicans imploring Paul Ryan to become U.S. House speaker are dangling a pledge that he can skip the job’s frantic fundraising duties. But it’ll cost them upwards of $35 million per election cycle.
That’s what outgoing Speaker John Boehner raised, through a grueling nights-and-weekends pace that had him trekking from Florida to Alaska and places in between throughout the 2014 campaign. And this year is no different, as Boehner already has traveled to more than 100 events, according to his fundraising operation.