State Rep. Roger Roth, a Republican from Appleton, has sent out a fundraising appeal announcing his intention to seek the GOP nomination to take on U.S. Rep. Steve Kagen in the 8th CD.

Under a header that reads "Roger Roth for Congress," the letter blasts Democrats for taking the United States down the wrong path. Roth will make an official announcement on Dec. 1 on whether or not he will enter the race.

"In 2010 we will decide if our nation can be preserved as a beacon of hope to the world or if it will continue on a certain path toward socialism and economic stagnation," Roth says in the letter.

"Our founding fathers were wise. They were faithful in giving to us a political and economic system that has become the envy of the world. Today this system is under a great attack from within.

"This attack comes from the liberal elite who believe that spending and wasting massive amounts of money while going ever deeper in debt is the answer to every problem. You and I know that we are in serious trouble. Borrowing, taxing and incessant spending is only digging a deeper economic hole."

Roth is in his second term in the Assembly. A member of the Wisconsin Air National Guard, he recently returned from a mission to Iraq.

The Federal Elections Commission said Thursday it hadn't yet received a registration statement from Roth

Roth joins a crowded GOP primary field which includes former state Rep. Terri McCormick, who Roth succeeded in the Assembly.

Roth has also set up a Web site for his congressional run at www.rothforcongress.com/