Here & Now

7th Congressional District Election Preview

Frederica Freyberg:
Races for the top of the ticket and for the U.S. Senate in Wisconsin get the lion’s share of ink this election cycle, but voters in important congressional and legislative races also head to the polls next Tuesday, of course. Among those, the election in the 7th Congressional District. It's between incumbent Republican US representative, Sean Duffy, and his challenger democratic challenger, Pat Kreitlow, a former state senator. Wisconsin Public Radio's Superior reporter, Mike Simonson, has been covering the race and last night sat on the debate’s press panel. Mike, thanks a lot for being here.

Mike Simonson:
Hi, Fred.

Frederica Freyberg:
Well, so what came out of the debate that voters can take to the polls on Tuesday?

Mike Simonson:
Well, a lot of it was talking points. Not a lot of surprise. But we were able to bring up Hurricane Sandy. We were able to talk about the superstorm and global warming, what candidates thought about, if the science is good or not, and pretty much it came out, Kreitlow said we’ve got to reduce emissions although responsibly, you know the fudge factor there. But Duffy says we need more research. It could be human-made or it might be a natural phenomenon. That was interesting and current, since the last debate a couple weeks ago in Wausau. Also at the end they talked about mining. They both, you know, are in favor of jobs. That’s a shocker. But they also talked about the difference between streamlining it and being responsible. Kreitlow pretty much came down on the side of where you’ll see the legislative, the senate, mining committee led by Democrats now, say that it should be streamlined, but not one or two years. They just came out this week and said it should be longer than that. He agreed, but Duffy said should be responsible, but we should build this mine and we should build this mine quickly. So local issues, that was interesting.

Frederica Freyberg:
Great. Well, I know that Sean Duffy embraces the Paul Ryan budget, Including it's Medicare prescription. That being this premium support type program. I know that Pat Kreitlow does not. How did they address that topic during your debate?

Mike Simonson:
That was very party line. And, in fact, they, you know, keep going back to it. You could ask them about farming and they’d go back to talking about that. It was no tax increases for Duffy, and in fact, the question was, have you signed a pledge, which he has, the Tea Party pledge, with Grover Norquist, but he wouldn’t admit that. But Kreitlow said, yes, you did that. Until you tear that up, you’re not going to be responsible to your constituents as you are to Grover Norquist. Otherwise, Kreitlow is doing what the national campaign is doing for Democrats, and that's a combination of tax increases and spending cuts.

Frederica Freyberg:
Well, as you say, both of these candidates clearly represent their parties and the choice seems quite clear for voters. But I was wondering from you how the redistricting of that 7th congressional district, since the days of David Obey, have changed the way the vote goes there.

Mike Simonson:
I don’t really know. I think it’s always been a pretty close district, even though it’s been dominated by Congressman Obey for 40 years. But even so, it’s been close as far as voting presidential races, Democrat and Republican. The southern part of the district is more conservative than the northern part of the district. It may have an impact if the race is really, really close, and this may be a really, really close election. But, you know, Kreitlow’s big duty, big job, was to get name identification across the entire district beyond where he was a state senator. Duffy already had that and, you know, that’s the advantage of being the incumbent.

Frederica Freyberg:
So if it is expected to be a very close race, what kind of money has poured into this campaign cycle there in that district?

Mike Simonson:
I checked at the beginning of the month, at the end, September 30– quarter that ended September 30, and it was $2.3 million for the Duffy campaign and $1.1 million for the Kreitlow campaign. Since then, I think another $.5 million, just in really two weeks, has rolled into the campaign. This is a microcosm of the national election. This is a race that at least people with money think could go either way for control of the house.

Frederica Freyberg:
With Wisconsin being, kind of, the last-minute battle zone of Campaign 2012, what kind of candidate appearances are you getting in your neck of the woods?

Mike Simonson:
Not many. I mean, everybody’s going to Green Bay and Wausau and Milwaukee and Racine and Madison, La Crosse and Eau Claire. They’re pretty much skipping this area, which is heavily Democratic. But today Joe Biden is going to be speaking in town at Superior Middle School. Lots of interest on that. I think the idea is to generate the large Democratic base that is here for Kreitlow and for President Obama. So are you going to ask me about my shirt?

Frederica Freyberg:
What about your shirt?

Mike Simonson:
I wore this at the debate last night. I’ve washed it since. But since lumberjack' has been the theme of Sean Duffy’s campaign and then Pat Kreitlow’s taking a walk in the woods, I said, reporters can be avid outdoors people too.

Frederica Freyberg:
Well, Mike Simonson, I just have one thing to say and that’s you’re no Sean Duffy.

Mike Simonson:
Thanks.

Frederica Freyberg:
Thank you. Appreciate it.