GREEN BAY, Wis. — The three Republican candidates running to represent northeast Wisconsin’s 8th Congressional District met Thursday for their second debate.
They are vying for the seat that was unexpectedly vacated by former state Rep. Mike Gallagher in April.
State Sen. André Jacque, former State Sen. Roger Roth, and entrepreneur Tony Wied participated in the debate hosted by the business association Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce.
Candidates agreed on most issues like decentralizing health care, securing our nation’s southern border and opening up pipelines to help lower gas and energy costs.
They also agreed voters are most concerned with the increase in the cost of living. When asked about the best way for the government to combat inflation, the candidates provided the following responses:
“It’s critical that we basically stop the spending, rather than continuing resolutions that put us on that trajectory of unsustainable spending. It’s critical that we actually do zero-based budgeting, do single subject spending bills, and quit some of these omnibus appropriations,” State Senator André Jacque said.
“It’s pretty clear, it’s the reckless spending in Washington that has driven the inflation here in our country, and these politicians thought for too long that they could spend. Whatever they want, and it wouldn’t have an effect. But at the end of the day, you can’t violate the laws of economics, Roger Roth said.
“Every 100 days, we’re going further into debt a trillion dollars, and our Federal Reserve at this point is literally printing or inserting $80,000 into our currency every single second, so your dollar is worth less as we continue to spend. That’s why we continue to have this massive inflation. So, to cut inflation, one is we need to reign in spending,” Tony Weid said.
Candidates offered differing solutions to international issues. When asked about balancing trade that benefits both the U.S. and our international partners while protecting national security, they provided the following responses:
“Making sure that we are looking out for U.S. interests and protecting U.S. supply chains as well as our intellectual property,” Jacques said.
“We need to protect American jobs. We need to bring jobs back here to the United States and get to a fair playing field,” Weid said.
“This year, is the first time ever that a majority of our food has been imported, imported our canned food. This is a national food security. It’s a national security issue, and this is because of the steel tariffs. It’s cheaper now for them to buy our green beans and ship them from places like Egypt than to grow them here. So we’re losing agriculture, losing canneries here in the United States,” Roth said.
The 8th congressional district includes the cities of Green Bay, Appleton and Oshkosh.
The winner of the Aug. 13 primary will face democrat Dr. Kristin Lyerly in the Nov. 5 general election.
Voters will make two choices on the same ballot in both elections—what candidate will fill finish out Gallagher’s term until Jan. 3, 2025, and who will serve in the House of Representatives until 2027.