Lasee, a state senator, is one of two candidates vying for Republican Rep. Reid Ribble's soon-to-be vacant 8th District seat in an election expected to favor the GOP nominee . Case in point: Wisconsin Republican Frank Lasee is facing questions in his home state about whether he actually lives in the two-bedroom, "luxury apartment," he was advertising for rent until recently for $210 a night on Airbnb.com, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported Saturday. [Related: Ribble Retirment Creates Vulnerable GOP Open Seat] Reporters at the Journal Sentinel thought the arrangement was curious enough that they tried to book Lasee's apartment for one day last month, prompting a reply from Lasee's wife, Amy Joy Lasee, who wanted to know who they were and why they wanted the apartment, the paper reported. His wife own a home in Racine — in Ryan's home district — assessed at $262,000, the paper reported. Not long after that, local conservative talk radio host Jerry Bader brought up the listing , noting that the available dates had recently been limited to weekends of Green Bay Packers home games. Reached the other day, Lasee was reluctant to explain why he took down the listing: "Because we wanted to." He then said they didn't want "everyone in the world looking at it." Lasee said Democrats had filed a complaint about his residence with the state Government Accountability Board during a previous election, and the board had dismissed the complaint after he produced a 2011 lease — which, the paper pointed out, said that Lasee and his wife were occupants of the apartment and they were not allowed to sublease without the owners' consent. "It's a campaign issue," said Lasee, who is running against businessman and former Marine Mike Gallagher, a former aide to Gov. Lasee acknowledged that he has a "crazy" living arrangement, saying he lives most of the time in De Pere while his wife owns a Racine house, which is assessed at $262,000. If he were to declare Racine as his residence, Lasee would have to take on House Speaker Paul Ryan to make it to Washington, D.C. That, of course, would be political suicide. "Your story is hard to swallow," Bader said, addressing the senator.
– If Frank Lasee ran for office using his wife's house as his primary residence, he'd have to run against incumbent Paul Ryan—which the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says would be "political suicide." Instead, the GOP state senator looking to fill a soon-to-be-vacant congressional seat says he mainly lives in a De Pere apartment in a different district. Only problem: He's listed out the place on Airbnb, Roll Call notes. The listing has since been taken down, but a cached version shows a $210-a-month offering for the "luxury apartment," which Journal Sentinel reporters actually tried booking in April. They dealt with Amy Joy Lasee, Frank's wife, who asked why they wanted to stay there and ultimately denied their request. Why did they pull the listing? "Because we wanted to," says Lasee, who adds that they didn't want "everyone in the world looking at it." He then described a "crazy living arrangement" involving him mostly shacking up at the apartment and sometimes in Racine. This isn't new for Lasee, who had to produce a lease in 2014 when pressed by Democrats wanting evidence that he wasn't subletting the apartment. In a response to the state's Government Accountability Board, he said custody arrangements and the challenges of a "blended family" forced him to retain both residences. Yet he has switched his official residence a few times between Racine and De Pere during various divorce and child custody proceedings. Lasee chalks the whole hubbub up this time around to "a campaign issue."