"I believe he can unite the parties:" Folks in Paul Ryan's congressional district reflect on speakership

OAK CREEK -- Rep. Paul Ryan has officially been elected as the 54th Speaker of the House after he got the votes of 236 members by the full House of Representatives. The vote was largely a formality after House Republicans nominated him for the position on Wednesday. Reaction to Speaker Ryan's election is coming in from across southeastern Wisconsin from people who know him as a friend, and others who simply know him as their congressman.

Whether they know Paul Ryan personally or as an elected official, people are curious to see what will happen when their congressman takes a position more powerful than any Wisconsinite has held before.

Some in the 1st Congressional District say Ryan's upbringing makes him the perfect fit to serve as the new House speaker.

"I think we`re very Midwestern. We have good values. We want things to be done the right way. We want people to be taken care of," Renee Keidl said.

"I believe he can link the Democratic and Republican parties and try to get us moving in the right direction," Meagan Thielecke said.

Ryan himself has developed a reputation during his time in Washington as a policy wonk. Some voters in his district aren't so sentimental and say it's simply time to get to work.

"We`re wasting a lot of money and money we don`t have and we`re not far in the country from a failure, a bankruptcy," Paul Robbins said.

Paul Ryan, his wife Janna and his children

Of course, there are those in the district who have known Ryan for decades. They can't help but reflect on the fact that someone they know quite well is now speaker of the House.

"We know him as Paul, and here`s Paul, our friend, that is now the third-most powerful person in the country," Erin Decker said.

"I`m excited to see him in that role. I know he wants to change the position of speaker and what does it really mean, modernize it, bring it into the future," Rep. Samantha Kerkman (R-Salem) said.

Again, many of those who don't know Ryan are only worried about how their congressman performs his new job.

Paul Ryan

"It`s not a Democrat or Republican, or left or right. It`s what`s right for the country -- and we should do things that are right for the country," Robbins said.

In his own district, Ryan receives some of the criticism we've heard from Washington. Democrats say he's far too willing to cut assistance for people in need.

Some Republicans say he isn't conservative enough and his previous work on the budget committee means he shares some of the responsibility for spending levels they say are unacceptable.