Frederica Freyberg:
Wisconsin Republican U.S. Senate candidate Eric Hovde snagged a speaking slot at the convention, but he also sat down with reporter Steven Potter for this interview.

Eric Hovde:
Well, first of all, I think Wisconsin put on a great show for this convention. I’m very proud of our state and the people have been so nice. The weather accommodated all the rest. But look, I’ve been talking about the issues all along. How we need change in our country. We have major problems with our economy. The inflation that’s impacting people’s lives. Our open border, the problems that has created, crime in our communities, our health care system, the cost, the accessibility of our health care system. You know, there was a whole discussion about how the world’s in chaos right now. So I’m just staying focused on the issues.

Steven Potter:
Senator Tammy Baldwin has been tough to beat in the past. Do you expect to get any kind of a bump from the top of the ticket?

Eric Hovde:
Well, right now it looks like President Trump is doing very well. You know, I don’t get caught up in the daily swings and polls, but I think the message that’s come out of the convention has been very favorable. You know, and a message that I’ve been talking about long before what happened this past Saturday is that we need to bring this country together, that the politics of division, personal destruction has been so toxic for our country and, you know, I’ve been saying it and I’ve talked about it in my speech. We need to come together, you know, in the world of business, you’re never going to get much done if you take the path that most politicians do. They just camp themselves in their own party and fight amongst themselves, you know. In the world of business, you have to compromise. That’s become a dirty world — word in politics, which I think is wrong.

Steven Potter:
What issues do you think there can be compromise on between Republicans and Democrats?

Eric Hovde:
Well, let’s start with the fentanyl crisis. I cannot believe Washington, D.C. has really done nothing about this for a decade, and we’re losing 100,000 young people every single year. Fentanyl is created in China. It’s sent to the drug cartels in Mexico, brought up over our southern border. We have to attack it at every single level and how it’s distributed here in our country. So that’s a big one. Look, there’s philosophical differences on health care, but there’s issues we can come together. Drug prices. Look, I have M.S. You know, to see how drug prices have just gone like this in almost every area. That is an area that I think we can find common ground on. So I think you can find common ground with people if you’re willing to sit down and talk with them and engage with them.