Hovde, Baldwin speak at counties association, set to debate Oct. 18

(The Center Square) – As Wisconsin Senate candidates head to their only debate at 7 p.m. on Oct. 18, Republican challenger Eric Hovde and incumbent Democrat Sen. Tammy Baldwin both spoke last week to the Wisconsin Counties Association.

Hovde spoke for 15 minutes in person, outlining his priorities of lowering the federal debt, working to improve health care and inflation costs, fight the fentanyl crisis and improve complex national housing issues.

“When you have $35 trillion in debt, the interest cost on that debt is higher than our defense department budget,” Hovde said. “It is going to start squeezing out federal spending, lead to more inflation.”

Baldwin spoke to the conference for less than three minutes. She spoke of her political career starting as a Dane County Supervisor and of the many Wisconsin projects that were funded through pandemic-era federal funding heading to the state.

Those projects include the Blatnik bridge replacement in Douglas County, ice rescue roads for the Winnebago County Sheriff, opioid treatment in Milwaukee County, the Lafayette Hospital and Clinics’ new location set to open in January 2025, a new regional forensic science center in Marathon County, and funding for the Jackson County child care network.

The two candidates will debate at WMTV in Madison in an event hosted by the Wisconsin Broadcasters Association Foundation.

Hovde said he wishes there could have been earlier debates before early voting and said that he hopes that race is decided on issues, not television commercials claiming he is from California.

“I believe campaigns should be about issues,” Hovde said. “Instead, it’s about special interest money that comes in and does crazy ads saying things like I am from California. No. I own a company in California. I own companies all over. That doesn’t make me not a Wisconsinite.

“We’ve got to lower the rhetoric.”

Hovde added he has the support of the Wisconsin Police and Milwaukee Police associations for his policies.

Hovde also said that he believes Obamacare is a failure that the federal government needs to fix as it is costing everyone extra for health care.

“There is no such thing as a free lunch,” Hovde said. “When 10 or 16 or 20 million, whatever that number is, get health care for zero cost that cost gets transferred to everyone.”