Senate primary on the ballot today

Neumann, Fitzgerald find common ground while frontrunners are absent at Senate forum

By Ed Nadolski

Editor in Chief

U.S. Senate candidate Jeff Fitzgerald waited until the end of Monday’s forum at Veterans Terrace to state the obvious:

“If the other two guys would have showed up, this debate would have been a lot more lively,” Fitzgerald said.

He was referring, of course, to fellow Republicans Tommy Thompson and Eric Hovde, the generally recognized frontrunners in the statewide Republican primary election to determine the party’s candidate to succeed Democrat Herb Kohl, who is stepping down.

While Thompson and Hovde have spent millions in advertising in recent weeks with messages questioning each other’s conservative pedigrees, Fitzgerald and the fourth candidate in the race – former U.S. Rep. Mark Neumann – found more common ground than disagreement at Monday’s forum.

The four candidates appear on Tuesday’s primary ballot with the winner advancing to the November general election where he will face Democratic U.S. Rep. Tammy Baldwin of Madison.

Polls throughout the area open at 7 a.m. and close at 8 p.m.

The fact that only two of the four candidates showed up for Monday’s forum – which was sponsored by three local affiliates of the Wisconsin Realtors Association – might have had something to do with the light turnout for the event.

The forum, moderated by Royce De Bow of the Lakes Area Realtors Association, was open to

members of the three associations as well as the Burlington Rotary Club, which holds its regular noon meetings at Veterans Terrace on Mondays.

Common ground

Unlike the tone of the television commercials aired by Neumann, Thompson and Hovde, on Monday Fitzgerald and Neumann spoke mostly of common conservative principles at the forum.

Fitzgerald, who is speaker of the State Assembly, spoke often of the work he’s done to help transform state government in the last two years.

“I think we’ve done a good job of putting the state back on the right track,” he said referring to controversial reforms that eliminated the state’s budget deficit. “Now it’s time to do that on a national level.”

Fitzgerald said his two greatest concerns are that the U.S. is not competitive on a global level due to high business taxes (he suggests a 25 percent flat business tax), and that the country has too much debt (he proposed cutting entitlements to reflect changing demographics).

“We have to make some very difficult choices,” he said. “We need to start electing candidates who aren’t afraid to make those choices.”

Neumann, who returned to his home building and real estate development business after serving a term in congress in the 1990s, touted his record as a conservative Republican who wasn’t afraid to buck the party line in developing a balanced budget.

“We’re in serious trouble from a financial perspective,” he said of the current state of the country. “It’s our job to fix it.”

He said his plan to do so revolves around three hallmarks: Return to the principles of the Founding Fathers; get rid of Obamacare; and balance the federal budget.

Neumann said he’s the only candidate to present a comprehensive plan to balance the federal budget in five years by cutting $1.4 trillion in spending. He said he’d also work to pay down the country’s debt by treating it as a 30-year mortgage.

The no-shows

Throughout the campaign Thompson – who was governor for 16 years and a cabinet member under George W. Bush – has touted a plan of “bold reform,” which includes deficit reduction, repeal of Obamacare in favor of market-based solutions, tax reform, budget reform and cost-cutting initiatives, and reform of federal employee pay.

Hovde, a businessman, promotes himself as a citizen legislator who’ll rely on knowledge gained in the private sector to reform Washington. His plan, like the others, centers on debt reduction, budget and health care reform, as well as reform of the Federal Reserve and tax code. His tax plans centers on lowering individual and business tax rates while closing loopholes to level the playing field for all taxpayers.

Check back Tuesday nights for local results from the primary.