national opinion. >> All right. Charles Franklin,
thank you so much for being here. Thank you. The eighth
Congressional District in Wisconsin is gearing up for a
special election following Mike Gallagher's departure as a Aditi
Debnath reports, three Republicans are vying for the
primary nomination in August to face the sole Democratic
candidate in November's general election.
people here in northeast Wisconsin, great Republicans
running, and Roger Rath served 12 years in the state
legislature, including as Senate president, until stepping aside
in 2023. I think it's important that we have someone from
northeast Wisconsin, blue colla, worked with their hands,
understands how decisions out there, how they impact families
here in northeast Wisconsin, state Senator André Jacque
served 14 years in the state legislature and currently
represents part of northeast Wisconsin in the state Senate.
>> He's running on his record of bipartisan cooperation.
>> Everybody is going to tell you what you want to hear at
election time. I'm the guy that means it.
outside his Senate district due to redistricting, emphasizes his
experience tackling issues like government spending.
>> I bear the scars of having, you know, spoken my conscience
and fought for my constituents. >> Both Jack and Rath bring to
the table years of experience in the state legislature. Tony
Wied, a political outsider and former business owner, sees his
lack of political experience as an asset. Tony Wied did not
respond to multiple requests for an interview. However, in an
audio interview with Wisconsin Public Radio, he said this I
have that real world experience of actually operating things and
growing and building businesses, and I can actually go and make a
difference. The three Republicans share common ground
on issues like inflation. >> Federal government has to
stop spending money. at the baseline expenditure.
Line item and, and basically, get into zero based budgeting
and border security. Really the first thing is we have to have a
vetting and an orderly process for anybody that's looking to
come into the country. >> We need to build the border
wall. >> Each candidate has their
unique selling points. Wied touts his endorsement from
former President Donald Trump. >> I'm very proud. The only
candidate endorsed by President Trump in this race. This is an
honor of a lifetime. >> Senator Jack highlights his
endorsements from law enforcement and pro-life
conservative credentials. really from the taxpayers
perspective, eliminating any abortion. I've done that
systematically at the state level. They're actually far more
that exists at the federal level.
Governor Scott Walker, wants to make it mandatory for public
employees to work in person. >> It's time we brought civil
service reform to Washington. I will take that issue that I
worked on and was able to get through with Governor Scott
this race. I'll be able to go and make strong advances on that
issue on day one. >> Despite Trump's endorsement
of Wied, both Roth and Jack remain confident in their
campaigns. have their endorsements. I don't
know how much weight that in particular has.
given some bad information, but at the end of the day, he
supports winners. We're going to win this election.
>> The primary election is set >> The primary election is set