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2026 7th Congressional
Democratic primary debate today
We're going to learn more about
where three of the candidates stand
on the issues to help you make an
informed decision this August
Whoever wins the primary will face
the winner of the republican primary
in the november election Let's
meet the candidates from left to
right. We have ginger murray fred
clark and chris armstrong
We will hear opening statements in
just a moment, but let's get
acquainted to the rules.
Candidates will have 90 seconds to
answer each question.
When a follow-up is necessary,
the candidate will be given 30
seconds.
No one has been given the questions
in advance.
Let's start with opening statements.
Mr. Clark, your first.
Well thank you and Dan thank you
for moderating and to WJFW
thank you for hosting this important
event and for all of your viewers
who are here today thanks for taking
time out of your day to learn about
this election.
You know it was never my dream to go
to Washington but
I spent a lot of
time last summer and thought long
and hard about what we need from
our congress and what
thousands of people across northern
wisconsin deserve and expect from
washington and i talked
to a lot people i trusted i
knew this race would be a
tough uphill battle and i knew for a
democrat to win here in the seventh
congressional district would take a
candidate and a lot of work and
I decided that I had what it took
to enter this election.
I think people in northern Wisconsin
right now are fed up with the
chaos that's going on in Washington,
and they're being affected directly
by the actions of this
administration in so many
different ways, in healthcare, with
this tariff war, with affordability.
And what I've learned in my career
as a forester, my career is a
community leader, and my career,
as a state rural representative,
is that our small communities work
when everybody works together.
I want to bring that same
spirit to Washington, D.C.
And represent the people of northern
Wisconsin.
I would love to have your support.
I look forward to this debate.
This is Murray.
Your opening statement.
Thank you.
Thank you to all
of you for hosting us today.
Thank you, most importantly,
voters for paying attention and
listening to us today, my
name is Ginger Murray, and I'm
running to be your next
Congresswoman in
District 7.
I am the only female running on the
Democratic ticket.
This is a vast district,
26 counties, and I believe the
people here deserve to
have a representative who listens
to learn.
And who will get you results
in return for your vote of
confidence, shown by voting for me
on August 11th.
This district is ready to flip,
and I'm not just talking about
Republican and Democrat, I'm talking
about the haves and the have nots.
You'll remember Dave Opie had this
district for 40 years, one of the
best of the good boys we ever had.
But do you see what's happening now?
Have you watched as this district
voted in Susan Crawford?
Have you watch as this districts
flipped over the 50%
mark to bring in Chris Taylor?
Well, I too am
a fellow lady
leader lawyer.
And I'm looking for that same
movement that you were willing to
make for Chris Taylor to make her
a Supreme Court judge here in
the state of Wisconsin to make,
to allow me to be your first
Congresswoman.
District seven.
I was born in Eau Claire, raised in
Forest County, served as city
attorney of Crandon, town attorney
of Leona, family court commissioner,
and I'm happy to be your candidate
Mr. Armstrong, your opening
statement.
Well, howdy folks, Chris Armstrong
from Richmond in St. Croix County.
I grew up of Northist Star Prairie
on the Apple River.
I went to school in Amory and got
my degree in astrophysics from the
University of Minnesota.
I started programming computers when
I was 13 years old and had been
running my own IT company for
30 years.
And I got activated after
Trump's second inauguration with
the flurry of illegal, un-American,
unconstitutional executive orders
and Elon Musk taking a sledgehammer
of the federal government, and I
couldn't believe that anybody,
nobody was doing anything about it.
So I took to the
streets in my hometown in Richmond
and started protesting by myself
at the busiest intersection in town
at rush hour And it was
shortly after that that I founded
new Richmond indivisible with
other local organizers
But you know with the upcoming
April election of
Susan Crawford I felt I needed to do
more than just you know sit on my
butt and hope that you know cross my
fingers put up a Sign and
and hope it would all work out
So I started working
with the St. Croix County and Polk
County Democrats, knocking on
doors in my local community.
And it was shortly after that, in
April 2025, that I declared
my candidacy.
I was the first candidate from
either party in
April, 2025.
And I'm going, you know,
we're going back to Congress because
we need to hold this administration
accountable and get Congress back to
doing the work for the people.
This question will go to Mrs. Murray
first.
Democrats haven't won this seat
since 2008, and to be
honest, ever since, it hasn't been
close. So my question to the
candidates, why do you give
Democrats the best chance to win in
November?
Mrs.
Thank you.
Yes, Dave. Obie was an amazing human
being and a great representative for
the folks of this district After
that, we have some gerrymandered
boundaries.
We lost all of our college towns,
and that definitely gave Sean Duffy
and Tom Tiffany an advantage.
However, as I indicated in my
opening statement, since then, the
lady lawyer leaders have been
killing it, crushing it, and getting
the support of this community.
Most notably, Susan
Crawford pushed this district
over the 50% mark
and showed that counties
that haven't voted blue in the
longest time
They are looking for a progressive
candidate, they are tired
of the corruption that is
happening in Washington D.C.,
they want people who are listening
and showing up, talking to
the folks here and who will stand
for justice.
As a lawyer, that's been my entire
career, defending the Constitution.
I studied it, I defend it.
It is time to get back to the rule
of law, and that is what I do
best. I believe that the
voters in this district are
absolutely looking for someone
to take the reins.
There are 96 other women in the
Democratic caucus who are waiting
for more women to join them to
hold people accountable in
Washington, D.C., and I
fit that bill.
I sure hope they'll send me to D.
C. So I can take care of business
for them there. No retainers,
no lawyer fees.
Mr. Armstrong, why do you give
Democrats the best chance to win?
Uh, well, you know, I have a good
question. I am just a normal
guy, you know.
I grew up here, went to school
here, raised my family here, started
my company here.
Um, you know, a foreigner
grassroots organization in my
community. And I think what people
are looking for is just normal
people, um, that are going
to get up there and advocate for
them and really hold this
administration accountable and
start, you know, advocating for
policies that are really going to
make a difference in people's lives.
What I've heard across the
district, not just in Richmond,
is it's not just Democrats, but it's
also independents and
Republicans that are really
sick of the status quo.
They're really frustrated with
this administration being
corrupt and criminal,
not being held accountable, not
following the Constitution.
And I think we need a fresh
perspective, new people to
represent us here in the 7th
Mr. Clark, same question.
Yeah, and what I'm bringing
to this job is
my experience as a small business
owner and also as a I'm the only
candidate in this race who's had
experience as a rural elected
representative. I served in a
Wisconsin State Assembly
representing parts of Sauk, Columbia
and Marquette counties between 2009
and 2014 and something
that I learned then.
In that experience was that in order
to be effective in your job as a
representative in a district that's
very mixed politically, you have
to commit to working with everybody.
And you have commit to engaging
every person you represent with
respect and with listening and
with the willingness to find
solutions.
I used to tell the people that I
worked with, I don't care whether
you voted for me or not, it's my job
to represent you and I'm going to do
that to the best of my ability.
So in this campaign, I'm
reaching out to voters with the same
proposition, that this election is
more about character than it is
about party.
On the ride over to farm technology
days in the wagon today, I ended up
speaking with a farmer for
about five minutes who told me,
are you a Democrat?
And I said, yes, I am.
I'm a proud Democrat.
And he said, well, I haven't voted
for a Democrat since Jimmy Carter.
I don't know if I'm gonna vote for
you.
But we ended up talking for another
four minutes about his dairy
herd, about his knee replacements.
And about what life is like
managing a small farm.
And it's exactly the commitment that
I want to bring to everybody in the
Seventh Congressional District, the
representation that works for
everybody.
Our next question goes to Mr.
Armstrong first.
Health care remains one of the
biggest issues facing.
I asked for a rebuttal.
Yeah, I'm going to be issuing the
rebuttals, not you.
Oh, I am sorry. The next question goes
to Mr. Armstrong first.
Healthcare remains one of the
biggest issues facing Americans, and
in rural areas like the Seventh, it
can verge on inaccessible.
Within the Democratic Party, there's
disagreement about the best path
forward.
Some support Medicare for all.
Others want to build on the
Affordable Care Act.
If elected to Congress,
what approach would you support Mr.
Armstrong first?
Well, I think the Affordable
Care Act and Patient Protection
Act, which of course got rid of
the prerequisites and preconditions,
I think is a bridge to
a different program.
I don't admit to be a health care
policy expert, but Medicare
for all sure seems to be something
that is viable.
You know, I if we
look at the other side it appears as
if uh, healthcare is
something that they believe you have
to work for in order to
get, and I think that's completely
backwards.
You have to be, you know, physically
and mentally healthy to be
able to work.
And we're the, you know, the richest
country in the world in the history
of this planet.
And there's just no excuse that
we can't deliver high quality
health care for everybody in this
district. Where again it's very
challenging given the
low population density.
We shouldn't have to be able to you
know drive an hour or two to get the
health care we need.
You know be able to have birthing
centers. We need to be to be be able
attract you know physicians and
providers here. So there's a lot of
work to do but you know with
the innovation and know-how and the
right kind of support I'm sure that
we can deliver that for the 7th
district.
Mr. Clark, your healthcare solution.
Well right now in northern Wisconsin
we are facing a health care
crisis and let's be clear
their health care system didn't work
perfectly by a long shot before 2025
but what this administration
and this Congress has done by
eliminating the Affordable Care Act
tax credits and by cutting
almost a trillion dollars out of
our national Medicaid program which
will take effect at the end of this
year they have precipitated
a crisis that is going to
Now there are rural clinics and
rural hospitals in northern
Wisconsin that depend on
more than fifty to sixty percent
of their revenue from Medicaid,
which in Wisconsin is our badger
care program.
Those clinics are going to lose
millions of dollars of revenue,
thousands of Wisconsinites are going
lose coverage, it's going to
affect their health and their
welfare.
But those clinics, those
hospitals, more than will close,
more providers will leave our area
in what's already a very thinly
stretched rural health care system.
And that will affect every single
one of us in northern Wisconsin,
regardless of where we get our
coverage, because we'll lose
access to care that we need.
The first thing Congress needs to do
is restore those cuts and
restore the funding for Medicaid.
And then we need to look forward.
To how we find health care that
works for everybody.
I support strengthening Medicare, I
support lowering Medicare enrollment
age, and I support creating
a public option that will make
affordable health care run by
the Medicare program available to
everyone at any age for a fair
price.
Mrs. Murray same question to you
question. Yes thank you that's an
excellent question I know health
care is on the mind of everyone I've
talked to in the district- I've
noticed that different places where
they leave questionnaires or
surveys consistently.
Health care concerns are number one
for the constituents of the district
number seven.
Medicare for All, Affordable Care
Act, Public Option, those
are all improvements from
where we sit today.
This administration has taken us
backwards as it relates to
healthcare for all.
I am for universal healthcare.
I do not over, I
don't overestimate
my impact or influence.
I will be one of 435
people who would be voting on this
issue in the House of
Representatives.
I come at it from a different
perspective as an attorney who
settles 90 percent of my cases.
I look at what the problem is I
figure out what answer is it that we
need and the work is
how do we get there?
And so I will work with the other
members in the house of
representatives Whether it's
medicare for all whether it's
improvements on the affordable
care act or public
option As long as we're making
progress I'm in favor of
it as long as we get results not
empty promises to our people They
need real results and they need them
really quick and I can't imagine
any elected official Actually
being able to say that their
constituents don't need help in this
area. So I hope that we will be able
to get it done immediately.
Let's move on to some individualized
questions. We'll start with Mr.
Clark. Mr. Clarke, you're portraying
yourself as a middle-of-the-road
candidate.
It's a similar playbook to your
successful runs for assembly.
But let's go back to Act 10 in 2011.
You attempted to unseat a state
senator in a highly-charged recall
election.
Are you really as bipartisan and
independently-minded as you say you
are.
That's a great question.
I appreciate that.
So I served from
2009 to 2014 in
the state assembly.
My own state senator Luther Olson
was somebody who I worked who was
a Republican, who I've
worked with closely on many issues
and we had a strong working
relationship.
Unfortunately, during Scott Walker's
first term in office, his signature
piece of legislation, Act 10,
basically stripped away the
rights for public employee unions
throughout the state.
And that unfortunately divided
Wisconsin in a way that we haven't
seen probably since the Civil War.
I made a decision then to
run against Senator Olson
in one of the recall elections.
And I'll tell you that that was one
of the most intense campaigns
I've ever experienced.
And unfortunately it
was something that Wisconsin
became divided over so
unnecessarily.
But you you mentioned me as a
middle-of-the-road candidate I'll
re-characterize that.
I'm willing to work with anybody
who's willing to work with me to
help get things done for the people
that I represent, but I'm not going
to sacrifice my values as
a candidate committed to fairness
and equity and having
government work in a way that
benefits all of us.
And what happened here in Act 10,
unfortunately divided this state.
We need unity more than ever,
but I won't sacrifice my values in
order to get that.
I'm going to follow up with you, Mr.
Clark. In 2011, in that recall
election, you called a female voter
and she hung up on you.
You said, quote, I feel like calling
her back and smacking her around,
end quote.
And this was caught on her
voicemail. Can you address this
exchange?
I sure will and I have addressed it
and I'll address that anytime.
It was a very unfortunate
conversation at a point
where I thought the phone had hung
up and the woman had said something
to me that offended to me.
She was completely within her rights
to say that and I made a statement
that was completely indefensible
when I thought I was in private.
When I learned that she had heard
that, I called her immediately and
I apologized And I
sent her a letter of apology which
she accepted.
Something more important is that I
learned from that is that our
words matter and
who we're speaking about and how we
speak about others matters and
it matters whether you're alone or
whether you are talking to someone
or about someone and I took
some important lessons from that
experience that have
really served me well in
the 15 years since then.
Thank you, Mr. Clark.
Now to Mrs. Murray, you said in an
interview with Up North News that
quote, I could not for one
second think of anything that
President Trump has done that I
would aspire to do, end quote.
Do you stand by what you said and
you'll probably need some Trump
voters to vote for you to win this
election?
Is that the right message?
Thank you.
I also had an interview with Dale
Ryman where he asked me what is it
that President Trump has done that
you appreciate?
And the clarification that I was
able to bring during that interview
is that we have some of the same
thoughts. It's his execution
that I don't agree with.
For example, there can be
a reason to have tariffs when
you're trying to make our domestic
manufacturers more competitive.
However, the way that he did it and
the way it's like a mystery to folks
what the
I just don't believe in the way
that he's executing the plans that
he wanted.
I believe in America first.
I don't belief in the ways he's
doing it.
It's unconstitutional to start a war
unless we're under attack or
there's an imminent threat.
And yet he took us to war without
getting the permission of Congress
which is required by Article 1.
I don't appreciate that he has
given agents the right to
violate due process and use
lethal force to kill agents
who are costing
and murdering citizens
who are out there using their first
amendment right for freedom of
speech and assembly.
They are engaging in a violation of
fourth amendment freedom from
unreasonable search and seizures and
he's doing nothing about it and we
just had two more people killed in
the last 48 hours.
The president is supposed to
lead from the top and show us how to
do things right by example He
is unleashing chaos into
our communities and that needs to
end
So there's still nothing that you
would agree with that the president
has done, according
to your statement.
Is there nothing that he's done?
Um, there is not very much
that I appreciate that he
has done. When I think about
President Trump, he got elected.
So I give him credit for getting
people to the polls that had never
been to the polls before.
And I will take that as
a lesson. He reached out to folks
who had given up or never cared
about government and he figured out
how to get them to the poles.
He has learned how to do his
messaging so people pay attention.
I will give him credit for that.
And I am trying to learn to be
more concise in my words.
Thank you, Mr. Murray.
Now to Mr. Armstrong.
You've never run for office before.
That could be an asset, but it can
also be a liability.
As we saw in Maine just recently, it
can completely derail an election.
So Mr.Armstrong, are there any
skeletons in your closet that you'd
like to get off your chest?
Uh, no.
And you know, I don't think that
you know what happened in Maine I
think didn't have anything to do
with Mr. Platner's
lack of experience that had to do
with judgment apparently in
in the past, you know if you look at
the US Constitution Qualifications
for you know holding the seat in the
US representatives are pretty simple
gonna be 25 years old Doesn't
say anything about having to have
held political office before and
in fact You know as everyone
knows the house turns over
in its entirety every two
years. So that tells me
that the founders expected that
the entire, you know, representative
of the
states might turn over 100 percent.
So, you know, I think what people
are looking for is a fresh
perspective.
They're looking for bold,
fearless, relentless leaders
that are willing to go to the mat
for the people.
And that's what I'm going to do for
the people of the 7th District.
Your two fellow candidates on the
stage have held elected office.
They arguably would know more about
how government works, or people,
should they be worried that you
might not know how to get things
done in Washington D.C.
I don't think so.
You know, my job is a enterprise
architect and a systems engineer
and a big part of that is something
called governance.
And the whole idea is that we want
to be able to, you know,
provide facts and information to
make things fair, transparent,
you know, accountable.
And so I've got a lot of experience
in the consulting work that I've
done for state and federal
government agencies and large
organizations about what means to
try to govern.
Your business strategy and your IT
portfolio.
Okay, back to our normally scheduled
questions.
Our next question goes to Mr. Clark
first.
If Democrats win the House, there is
a decent chance some members will
again pursue articles of impeachment
against Donald Trump.
Would you support this, Mr. Clarke?
So right now what
we see from Washington is what
any of us can read in the newspapers
and the
outright and overt violations
of the law including
the emoluments clause of the
constitution including any number
of corrupt actions
that are clearly illegal on their
face is something that we can
all read about and and members of
this administration have actually
been open about uh
that they're doing but the
role of impeachment in
our congress is a critical
role that needs to be approached
solemnly I believe the
first step...
Is investigations and I think
the House of Representatives is the
body that needs to begin those
investigations to determine and
document violations of the law.
And from there the House would make
a decision about whether to
file articles of impeachment and
pursue an impeachment investigation
and bring that to the Senate.
So I can't tell you how I would
vote on that but what I can tell you
is that the investigations need to
that we have all the evidence
that we need.
For violations of the law and
corrupt activities that Americans
of all political persuasions
are seeing and they're appalled
by. And our Congress needs to
be the first body of the federal
government that reverses that
and holds the people that have done
that to account.
And I will be part of that process.
Now to Mrs. Murray, would you
support articles of impeachment?
Thank you for that question.
We get asked that all the time at
our town hall meetings and at our
forums We have already
impeached this president twice
if the fellow members the
other 434 members
of the House of Representatives if
there is a majority that thinks that
that's what we need to do to
Do what's right for the folks who
come on government to take action
and hold someone accountable.
I would absolutely support it
um what I also want to say is there
are other moves that are being made.
Some people play chess, some
people play checkers, um
there are other folks that I watch
um specifically congresswoman
um Melanie Stansbury.
I know that there are other things
that they are looking at.
They've called the question as to
whether or not we should have the
other group that's available under
amendment 25 that allows for
impeachment there.
I think back to the days of
Nixon.
There was a special investigation
that was required then.
Dick Cates was the attorney who was
a special investigator and Hillary
Rodham was his assistant.
I worked for Lawton and Cates for
some time.
I am aware of the work that Dick
Cate's did for our country
at that time.
I agree with my colleague
Fred Clark that an investigation is
necessary.
I also think it won't take very long
considering all the information that
we already have.
I I also think the fastest way to
remove the current administration is
to get to the bottom of the Epstein
files.
The women,
we'll talk about that more later.
That is fine.
Mr. Armstrong, same question.
The answer is absolutely.
I mean, it is actually the primary
foundation of my campaign,
which is we need to hold
this administration accountable.
It breaks the law
and does not follow the
Constitution every single
day.
And the fact is that, you know,
Trump admits it publicly,
you know. So he is certainly the
most transparent, corrupt criminal
politician we ever seen.
There is a preponderance of
evidence. However, I'll defer to
Ginger and her expertise in trials
on the proper procedures.
But the first thing I'm going to do
when I get seated in the next
Congress is work with my fellow
members, both Democrats and
Republicans, to introduce
articles of impeachment.
Because the thing I think viewers
want to, I think, understand
is today is the worst day of
the Trump administration until
tomorrow.
So this administration knows
no depth of the cruelty
in criminality.
What's the point of passing
any new legislation
when they currently don't obey
any of the laws that we already
have?
So it's not easy.
It's not simple.
But it's something we have to do.
I will take an oath to protect and
defend the Constitution, and it
is the constitutional remedy.
For taking care of a president
who abuses his power.
We will start with Mrs. Murray for
this next question.
Across northern Wisconsin, employers
say one of their biggest challenges
isn't finding jobs,
it's finding housing for workers.
In communities across this district,
teachers, nurses, police officers,
and young families are struggling to
find homes they can't afford.
What role should the federal
government play in addressing this
housing shortage?
Mrs.Murray.
Yes, thank you affordable
housing most definitely is an issue,
especially in the Northwoods
I see that in line with
many other things that we also have
affordability issues with.
We've talked about healthcare and
talking with farmers and loggers.
They're also worried about how to
bring in that next generation or
have a successor plan in place.
I think that the federal government
needs to find funds
that are available without
going into further debt.
So we need to have funding that's
available to assist with
people who are interested in buying
a home somewhat like the student
loans that I had where you can have
interest free or very low interest
at the beginning and Then you can,
have graduated payments when folks
are just starting a, new, job
or in relocating it
is a very expensive Time in their
life it's an uncertain time that you
have to move that costs money you're
starting at a job you might Be there
as a probationary employee and
so i think just how We treat
student loans, we should have that
available for people starting jobs
instead of going to school that
we should have financing
available where the government will
get paid back, but that we help
folks who are trying to
prosper and grow our rural
communities by having subsidized
or assistance in financing
through the federal government.
That would apply towards farmers and
foresters, as well as people trying
to buy that first time house.
We know statistics say right now,
you're almost 40 years old before
you're buying a house. That needs to
change.
Now to Mr. Armstrong, same question.
What should the federal government
do about the housing shortage?
Well, of course, you know, this is a
challenge that, you know, transcends
multiple jurisdictions.
So there's certainly state and
local, you know, permitting issues
about being able to build
multi-dwelling small houses.
You know, a lot of people in
the North would use mobile
homes or prefab homes that are
subjected to some unnecessary
restrictions.
I know that, you know, my wife,
she was the beneficiary
of having a very low
down payment due to a program from
President Obama.
I think programs like that are
pretty essential.
But we also have to deal with the
fact that everything
is more expensive right
now.
So the cost of building a house
because of the insane tariffs,
who are the people they're going to
build this.
The cost of electricity to
operate it.
So there's a lot of different
dimensions, but I think the
federal government definitely has a
role in trying to give people a
leg up and trying to pursue
the American dream of
home ownership.
And I think there's lot that we
could do in Congress.
Now to Mr. Clark, same question.
Well, this is one of those problems
that's it's multifaceted and
it's going to require both the
federal government along with state
governments, local governments and
community leaders to address.
There's not a single solution.
It's one of the silver buckshot
problems.
I will tell you that one of things I
agree with our president about is
that he allowed to pass into law
a bipartisan housing bill that was
one of the first significant
legislative achievements around
housing in at least 20
years. So credit where credit
is due.
But we need to look at the cost of
housing for homeowners.
And a 7% mortgage,
that's almost impossible for many
people to leave the home that
they're in and move to another one,
even if they want to move to a
smaller home. But for many
homeowners today, property taxes
is another burden on
affordability and the ability to
stay in their homes.
But the cost of building a house is
exorbitant right now.
And it's so much higher than it was
even 20 years ago.
We need a workforce that can help
build those houses.
Chris mentioned it.
We need to invest and allow,
create rules that allow efficiently
built manufactured
housing to lower the cost of
getting into a house.
We've got to provide incentives for
developers to provide housing
that's affordable for working
people.
And then we've got put the limits on
commercial investors who want to buy
up hundreds of single-family homes
and turn them into rental units.
And those homes are no longer
available for people to own that
home and start building their
equity, which is what the American
dream used to be.
We'll go to Mr. Armstrong first on
this one.
It's a very straightforward
question.
What's one promise you're making
tonight that voters can hold
you accountable for if you're
elected?
Mr.Armstrong.
Well, I'll be real.
I'll tell you the truth.
I will work tirelessly
for you.
You know, the representatives that
we've had here for 16 years,
I look at, you know,
are we more prosperous?
Are, is there more opportunity?
Do we have better jobs?
You know is healthcare cheaper?
Are you healthier?
Is the air cleaner?
Is the water cleaner?
You know, having grown up
here and had the wonderful
experience of knowing what it's like
to be
a part of this part of the
country, I'm
committed, because
of me and my family growing up
here, and my daughter
and my grandson growing up, that
I'm commited to making this
the best possible place in
the United States to live, because
it is a unique place
amongst all across the world.
Mr. Clark.
One promise you can make to voters?
Well, the promise I can make to
voters is that I will be
in every county in this
district every year in
order to do the job that voters
should expect and demand from their
representative in Congress.
And then we'll start by showing up
and listening and engaging voters
and citizens with respect that
they deserve and a willingness
to find solutions that
get outside our normal political
boundaries.
One of the issues that will be a
signature issue for me is how
we revitalize our
Northern Wisconsin economy.
And for so many years, the
Northwoods has been really
held up and our prosperity has been
so dependent on our forest resource
and our recreation economy.
And right now we're
suffering and so many Northern
Wisconsin communities are suffering.
The federal government has a role to
play to help restore a
prosperous forest-based economy that
will drive jobs.
And will drive the right kind of
development in order
to create the opportunity for
the children of people who live in
northern Wisconsin to stay in these
communities and contribute
to the prosperity and the vitality
that so many people have enjoyed
here for so many generations.
Mrs. Murray, a promise you can make
to voters.
Thank you my
promise is to not stand
on promises or
platforms but to focus on results.
I think that this district
number one has felt ignored
for far too long and
when folks aren't coming in to
gather information and to learn
about what's needed you cannot
get the job done for folks so I am
results oriented and
to be able to get those results
number one I have to be accountable
to folks and show up once
in each
that's available so every time
there's a vote going up folks can
chime in and tell me what their
thoughts are about the votes that
I'll be taking.
Number two um to
be accountable to what I what
I stand for which is following the
law and holding other people
accountable when they're not
following the law and number
three to hold me accountable
for getting results so that we have
progress in the northwoods
on the affordability of housing on
quality health care that's available
to all people in the
northern district so that you don't
have to cross county lines to get
to OB-GYN that you don't
have to go to two different doctors
in order to have appointments for
the next appointment.
So, results-oriented,
holding me accountable to everything
that I say tonight, to everything
that I've said to anyone during this
campaign, results oriented,
hold me accountable.
Our next question will go to Mr.
Clark next.
Just in the past 24 hours,
tensions with Iran have escalated
again, with the U.S.
Carrying out additional military
strikes.
If these tensions continue, Congress
may be asked to authorize military
action, approve additional
funding, or weigh in on the
president's war powers.
So if elected, what role should the
United States play in confronting
Iran? Mr. Clarke.
Well, we are in a very
difficult situation in Iran right
now, and there is a reason
that U.S.
Presidents, Republican and Democrat,
going back to Jimmy Carter,
have realized that attacking Iran
would be a mistake that
would bring risks that
would threaten both the U.
S. And the global economy.
This administration, unfortunately,
never learned that lesson and
took us to war with No oversight
and no consultation with the U.S.
Congress.
With a lack of
planning that has resulted in
what right now we can only
characterize as a quagmire and
and the president sending his
son-in-law and his buddy over
to negotiate with the Iranians who
are hard-nosed smart
people was was almost
guaranteed to result in
a deal that fell
apart and put the United States
in one of the weakest positions
we've been in global affairs in
many, many years.
Congress needs to first re-assume
the authority over war powers,
and this administration needs to be
talking to Congress right now for
any new authority for hostilities
against Iran.
And we need to figure out a way to
bring stability to this region,
including stability to our oil
markets, because every single
American right now is
paying more because
of what this war has caused,
and the president seems to be
uninterested in figuring out to
solve it.
Mrs. Murray, same question.
Thank you.
Talking about the war is just
difficult from the get-go.
You know, so I have
seen my dad with his friends who
were in Vietnam and what happened to
them from what they saw when they
were there.
I have friends and cousins who
were in Iraq when
I was off in college.
And to imagine us
increasing it, you have
to realize we're gonna be looking at
boots on the ground.
This was an unconstitutional
war to begin with.
Our president failed to do what he
was supposed to do.
I'm opposed to this war.
Not only is it a bad choice and
it's unconstitutional, we don't
have what a country should have if
you're going to declare war.
We don't our allies.
This administration has
burned so many bridges with
the people that we have always been
able to count on as
our allies, we need
to be rebuilding relationships.
Not bombing schools
full of children, not bombing
colleges full of researchers.
I can remember with the next morning
we were told that this is about a
change of regime.
Then the next day the message was,
we just have to make sure that they
don't have a nuclear weapon.
And we have weapons that have
laser precision aim.
And yet we're responsible for
the death of 150 children in a
school. This needs to come to an
end. I would vote against
giving more money for this war.
And finally, Mr. Armstrong.
Yeah, this puts the, you know, the
Congress and the American people, I
think, in a pretty tough position.
I mean, you gotta hand it to
President Trump.
You know, most presidents,
or a lot of presidents, are engaged
by affordability and the price
of gas. And to be quite honest,
the policies of the
administration, of any
administration in Congress, really
don't have a lot to do with that.
And it's just remarkable that
President Trump did the one thing.
That was going to guarantee to
increase gas prices,
fertilizer and chemical prices.
It's just astounding how stupid
and imbecilic this move
has been.
And one of the big problems is not
only did he
not consult Congress, which
as Ginger and Fred said is a
constitutional responsibility,
because again, this was not an
imminent attack.
This was not a provocation.
This was totally a
a war of choice
and you know we
did it alone and
you know so you know Trump gets
pissed off because you know wants
to cut off trade to Spain because
you know they didn't allow our
airplanes to refuel
at their air bases.
Well I don't blame them.
We didn't talk to Spain.
We didn't tell anybody in NATO about
what was going on.
How are we going to get out of this?
I'm not really sure.
I don't know.
It's going to be really tough for
America to save
face in this incredible debacle.
But I'm sure there's something we
can do about it.
It's time for us to take a short
break. We'll be back in about eight
minutes.
During our break, our chief
meteorologist, Jeff Weller, will
have a forecast for you.
We will return with more questions
with the candidates shortly.
I believe you have everything
it takes.
I've always wanted to do this.
AGT, tonight on NBC in
Pink.
Where
I'm watching now, oh my god.
Tonight, it's the Real Housewives
of Password finale.
Make it nice.
What if there was a place where
every kid got a chance to be
great?
There is a place and there's
no other place like it
It's my school Milton Hershey
school Our
founders were Milton Hershee the
famous chocolate maker and his wife
Catherine They wanted to
help children who didn't have much
To create a place that was
safe The Hershey's
believe learnings shouldn't have a
price So we don't pay
anything to go to school here.
Everything we need is taken care
of.
Even a place to live with other
students, our eight, with
caring house parents to watch over
us.
In our homes, we learn to
accept and appreciate one another.
Because the things that make us
different bring us together.
Our classrooms, they have no
walls.
We learn by doing through programs
that give us an early start on
college and our careers.
You're saying we're more than a
school. We're a community,
we change lives.
I know because this place changed
mine.
Milton Hershey once said that if
he could provide for 100 kids,
it would be worth it.
But look at us now, more
than a century of memories.
And there's still more good to do.
Because here, we have the
chance to be great.
And you, you can be next.
All right we are in can you
find a cloud mode across the area
today plenty of sunshine high
temperatures back in the 90s
tomorrow those more clouds across
the region and slightly
cooler tomorrow the average
high 80 either average low 55
will have lows tonight down near 70
after high stay in the mid 90s
across the air that record high 102
back in 1936 and
the sun sets now at 8 45 these
days okay going forward though so
slightly cooler tomorrow the
high of 92 for us on
Thursday, 85 for Friday, but look,
there's some 70s back in the 70
forecast, but they are, of
course, a week away.
All right, not just heat, also
incredibly humid outside dew points,
upper 60s, low 70s.
It's like Key West tropical out
there. We have the heat, the
humidity.
Also, there is not a big breeze in
the area at all, the coolest down,
likely going calm again tonight.
So as temperatures meet the dew
points tonight, we'll likely get
some dense fog once again.
If you're out driving, you know, 3,
4, 5, 6 a.m., likely that
dense fog in the area before
sunrise tomorrow morning.
Okay, we're going forward though, so
outside now, lots of clear skies for
us, but looking to the west, this
ridge, this big heat dome
ridge, is eventually gonna break
down, beginning as soon as late
tomorrow, but more so throughout the
day, on Thursday into Friday, and
finally some rainfall is back in the
forecast for us especially on
Friday. So tomorrow, increasing
clouds throughout the days, tomorrow
evening, some showers north of our
area, and then really by Thursday it
begins to kind of sag down our
direction and there is definitely
some good rain in the forecast for
us on Friday.
Our forecast going forward though
look at this right cooler
temperatures are on the way just
hold on a slight chance for rain
showers on Thursday a pretty
good chance for storms on Friday
into Saturday morning then Sunday
looks great probably cloudy skies
and high temperatures back in the
mid 80s.
The other guys say they cover local
news, but their focus is everywhere
else.
At NewsWatch 12, local isn't a
slogan, it's a promise.
News from where you live, because we
mean it.
I believe you have everything
it takes.
I've always wanted to do this.
AGT, tonight on NBC and
Peacock.
I swear.
Watch it now, oh my god.
Tonight, it's the Real Housewives
of Password Finale.
Reunions, we're ready to make
it nice.
Last word tonight on NBC and
Peacock.
I'm Ginger Murray,
born and raised in Wisconsin.
I grew up here in the Northwoods.
I've spent my entire career
advocating for children and
families. Like many of you,
I am fed up with the federal
government cutting taxes
for billionaires while cutting
services for the people who need it
in the northwoods, I'm a straight
shooter.
It's past time to blast
tax breaks for billionaries.
I'm Ginger Murray.
I approve this ad. I hope to earn
your vote. No actual animals were
harmed during this ad Bam!
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Primary debate.
Our first question will go to Mrs.
Murray.
The Trump administration has called
for increasing timber production
on federal lands.
While many in the industry argue
that the bigger problem isn't the
timber supply, it's the loss
of paper and pulp mills like
the ones in Wisconsin Rapids and
Park Falls that process it.
Which should Congress focus on?
Increasing logging on public
plans, investing in new
wood processing facilities.
Or something else.
This is Murray.
Thank you, Dan.
That is something that has
been on my radar for a very long
time. Having grown up in Forest
County, I have many
cousins that rely on Timber Harvest
as their means of supporting
their families.
Those cousins who used to like have
fun with me and let me hang out as
one of the guys in the group.
When I was at a fundraiser for
the shooting range
kids at the school.
My cousin said to me,
Jennifer, we're facing bankruptcy in
about three years.
And I said, are you kidding me?
Like, your family has always done so
well in the forestry business.
And he said, no, the mills
are shutting down. We don't have a
place to take our our wood.
And that not only affects the folks
who are in the woods cutting it, but
also then my other cousin who drives
truck to haul the
wood out of the forest
are in trouble.
So I have been
trying to figure out what can
Congress do to help the folks that I
call family in Forest County and
across the district.
So we have the cross-laminated
timber which is now a product that
can be used in substitute for the
steel beams.
I know they're looking for ways to
use this the biomass pulp
for like fuel.
They were looking at you know
creating clean fuel from
from the remnants.
It is about finding places that
will use it.
And we talked today about perhaps
data centers could be using
biomass fuel from the
timber industry for their energy.
Mr. Armstrong, same question.
I see well you know generally
speaking you know when when I'm
seated in Congress I
will certainly defer to Fred and
be given him a call on forestry
policies since that is his expertise
so
you know I you know learning lessons
from the past you know
there's virtually no you know old
growth forest left in Wisconsin so
I do not believe that doing
more Timber
in our national forests is
the right answer you're doing that,
you know responsibly as it relates
to The environment
is absolutely essential.
I think the
Repealing of the roadless rule
is going to cause, you, know
widespread devastation to our
ecosystem Uh, that being said,
you know, Ginger also brought up
some good points.
You know, I think, uh, you, I really
don't know why the
wood pulp processing plants are
closing and guess it has something
to do with economics and supply
chains, but you know if there's
opportunities to diversify that
industry, I think we should explore
them. And like Ginger said,
uh there is some investment going on
in the Hayward area around, uh
using the, uh The
remnants of the sawdust and scraps
for sustainable aviation fuel,
that's I think a real big
opportunity because most of the
world's airlines have committed to
transitioning to that by
I think 2040 or so,
as well as again, laminated
wood products.
So timber is still gonna be a part
of Wisconsin's history, just we got
to figure out how to make it
economically viable and sustainable.
Now to Mr. Clark, same question.
I've spent most of my career
thinking about forests, managing
forests, and try to make that
entire forest sector work.
And right now, we
don't have a supply
problem.
We already grow a tremendous amount
of timber in this state.
We have a demand problem.
And the president's executive order
to increase timber supply will do
nothing to help the forest sector
that makes up.
About fifteen percent of the
gross domestic product of northern
wisconsin this is the single
biggest economic sector that we have
and it's declining as
ginger and chris both pointed out
the pulp and paper sector which
wisconsin has been number one in
has been declining year after year
for the last 20 years.
And with those mills goes jobs, and
with those mills, goes the ability
to manage forest by the states,
the counties, and the Schwalming and
Nicolet National Forest, which is
actually one of the most productive
timber forests in the country.
So what's the solution?
Well, we need to invest
in new product development.
Something has got to replace pulp
and paper.
Biofuels is one excellent example.
There's concerns about what biofuels
would mean.
I organized a meeting last
month between members of the Lakuta
Ray Tribe in Hayward and
folks seeking to develop a biofuel
plant in Haywood to help bridge
understanding and bring people
together to better understand what
that opportunity means and how we
can secure that investment without
threatening the sustainability of
the resource. That's really what
it's all about, but I want to bring
that experience to Congress.
I want bring that to experience to
northern Wisconsin.
Mr. Clark, we're going to go right
back to you for this question.
Snowmobile season has become shorter
and less reliable in northern
Wisconsin, creating challenges for
businesses that depend on winter
tourism.
What should Congress do, if
anything, to address climate change
and protect communities whose
economies rely on winter recreation,
while keeping in mind energy prices
have never been higher?
Mr. Clarke?
It's a great question and you
know in the last year and a half
climate change has sort of gone
away from the conversation but
we're talking about it and thinking
about it in lots of different ways
and for for people selling
snowmobiles or riding snowmobile
that shorter winter season is
something that affects everybody and
people are talking about and
everybody can remember one or two
seasons back when we had a winter
with almost no snow.
Likewise in the logging industry
that shorter winter season means
loggers can operate for a shorter
period of year in the winter That
makes them less efficient.
It makes it much more difficult for
them to be profitable if you're
farming if you are growing apples
If you're a community that's been
subjected to flash flooding
or subjected to high extreme
heat like we're experiencing right
now. Climate change is touching
our communities, it's touching our
land and water, it is touching our
people in so many different ways.
We can't ignore this problem.
The federal government needs to move
back to a commitment to reduce
greenhouse gasses and then we need
to make the investments to help our
communities be ready for the
changing effects of the climate.
That includes watershed management
includes better farming.
It includes climate-oriented
forest management and it includes
helping our recreational industries
like snowmobiling and skiing prepare
for seasons that are
going to be very different than what
we've all grown up with and been
used to.
And I've spent a lot of my career
working on climate change and I want
to become part of that.
And Mrs. Murray, same question.
What should the federal government
do about climate change, if
anything?
Thank you, Dan.
So something not a lot of folks know
about me, while I was in law school,
I studied environmental law.
In fact, I was the president of the
Environmental Law Club for two
years, and I received a scholarship
to go to the ALIABI
Conference in Washington, DC,
my third year in law School.
First of all, let's just use the
laws that have been on the books for
a long time, Clean Air Act, the
Clean Water Act, and allow
the EPA, the Environmental
Protection Agency, to do the work
they were intended to do.
What's happened is those laws have
been stripped back so that folks
don't have the enforcement rights
that we used to have.
And I know that that causes some
manufacturers to be worried.
Today I was talking to the big truck
guys who sell semis,
and we talked about their concern
about emission control.
But when you look at these new rigs,
they're already so far advanced from
what the old diesel trucks used to
have that I think that there's
a way to bring folks together so we
don't have to negatively impact
folks who are in those businesses in
order to be able to take care of our
environment.
Also, we need to turn away from
fossil fuels and being so dependent
on them and turn towards
nature.
Solar, wind, hydro energy
is the wave of the future.
And we can do that without
negatively impacting our farmers.
We don't need to be putting those
things in places where there's
nutrient rich soil.
It requires collaboration across
industries to be able to take care
of our climate while still allowing
for people who need resources for
their economy to still stay in
business.
And same question to you, Mr.
Armstrong.
Well, I don't know about you guys,
you know, having grown up here, but
I swear when I was a kid, you
know, the snow was like this high
or this high.
And now, of course, that might have
been I was that tall, too.
But, you know, winters seem to start
like the end of October into
November, you go deer hunting, you
could track your deer.
You could go start ice fishing.
But, you know, we've seen with our
own eyes.
You know, the ice
is coming in later.
It's going out earlier.
It's not snowing as much.
We're lucky if we have that snow
cover, you know, for Christmas or
New Year's.
And, you know to all the people
out there that might be denying
climate change.
You know I have a background in
science and engineering and
I believe in these things called
facts.
And you know there you know if we
think about gravity for example you
know gravity does not care if you
don't believe in it if you jump off
of a 10-story building you will fall
to the earth and hurdle to your
death so you know this is
a real thing there are no quick
solutions and this is one of the
things that is really really
challenging to be able to have the
commitment to get over this on
you know two-year congressional
election cycles four-year
presidential election cycles but
you know for god sakes if we put,
you know, a man on the moon.
If we can build an atomic bomb,
we certainly can harness the
innovation and hard work of the
American people to solve this
problem. But it requires some
serious investment in
renewable energy and
joining the world in trying to turn
this around.
Mrs. Murray, this question will go
to you first.
President Trump has called for the
largest deportation operation
in US history.
Supporters say it's to protect the
rule of law and save Americans'
jobs.
But Wisconsin agriculture, tourism,
and manufacturing all rely on
immigrant labor to varying degrees.
How should Congress balance stronger
immigration enforcement with the
workforce needs in Wisconsin?
Mrs. Marie.
Yes thank you Dan.
So again it's give and take
and taking a look at the big
picture.
So what we need to look at is reform
on both ends of the
spectrum. Number one,
we need to, as I already mentioned,
talk about our enforcement agency
following the rules when
they're trying to protect our
borders.
But the other side of it is we need
to figure out a process by
which people can actually, in a
reasonable time frame,
have their paperwork processed
so that they can be legally here.
I definitely, on the west
side of the state more
noticeably, is suffering from the
lack of labor.
And they are talking specifically
about not being able to keep the
immigrants who are here with the
proper paperwork here.
And if they go home, they can't come
back.
There is a way for us to allow
folks to come to this country.
That is what this country is built
on. We are all immigrants.
We all came from somewhere else,
unless you're one of our indigenous
friends.
So we need to continue to be a
welcoming community.
However, we need to enforce laws
where someone is here illegally
or they have.
Engaged in crimes while they're
here. But most notably,
when folks talk about it as the
folks who help their business, then
they want their immigrants to stay
here.
We just need a better process.
And Palmyra Jayapal,
I hope I said that right, has done
an amazing job in leading discussion
and I'll follow her lead for that
reform.
Same question out of Mr. Armstrong.
Hi, can you picture it again?
Yeah, so the question is about the
president's deportation efforts.
Do you support his immigration
agenda, or what would you tweak with
it?
Absolutely not.
I mean, it is just inhumane,
cruel, and fundamentally
anti-American.
I mean as Ginger said, the United
States, we are a nation
of immigrants.
And not only do, you know,
many parts of the Seventh District's
economy depend on immigrant
workforce, immigrants are
actually the greatest source of
entrepreneurs and starters of new
business of any population.
You know, so it's a big part of the
lifeblood of our economy.
And undocumented immigrants, you
know, they pay taxes, even
though they're never, ever gonna see
any payback from
that as it relates to what is
given to citizens.
So, you now, immigration is
essential.
You know, what happened back in
January in Minneapolis, what
just happened a couple of days ago
in Texas and
Maine is atrocious.
It is, you that these people must
be held accountable. And it reminds
me of a.
Solicited unsolicited email.
I got from a gentleman in Eagle
River said, you know, what do you
think of?
President Trump's leadership and
what ice and CBP are doing and this
was back in January and I said
Well, not a big fan of Trump's
Leadership and when ice and cbp
are regularly violating people's
first second fourth fifth eighth
tenth and fourteenth amendment
rights These
people need to be held accountable
for their crimes against the
American people and he said, You
know, I voted for Trump and I'm
voting for you because I need
someone who's gonna stand up for the
rule of law and the Constitution.
Same question to Mr. Clark.
Yeah, as Chris and Ginger pointed
out, we're a nation of immigrants,
and the vast majority of immigrants
in America are people
who are trying to provide for their
families, to create a better life,
and are hardworking, and who
contribute to our economy.
And there's no question that we need
a secure border, and there's not
question that we need immigration
enforcement that identifies
immigrants who break the law, and
when appropriate deports them.
But what this administration
has done is to create a
reign of terror and American
communities that's not making us
safer, but has led
millions of law-abiding
people to hide in their homes
because of fear of the federal
government.
And when can you name the last time
the federal government was not a
source of stability and peace, but
was a source of chaos and terror in
our communities?
It's not only immoral,
but it's unconstitutional, as my two
colleagues have pointed out.
But if we're talking, we talked
about housing.
We talked about our economy.
We talked about health care.
Well, every one of those sectors is
dependent on immigrants who help
provide the services that we all
need. So, if this administration is
successful in deporting millions
of people who are working in this
country and would like to do so
legally, we are all going
to suffer from the economic loss
and all the
other things that will come with
that. This Congress needs to start
with visa reform that would be the
single Simplest most
impactful solution that we could be
good into it to allow law abiding
people to work in this country
legally and fill American jobs and
employers need
This question will go to Mr.
Armstrong first.
Democratic socialism has become a
larger part of the national
political conversation with
several of their candidates winning
high profile primaries this year.
Francesca Hong, a democratic
socialist, is a front runner in
winning the party's nomination to be
governor.
Is this a positive or negative
direction for the party?
Mr.Armstrong.
Well, I think parties
need to lead
people to where
this country needs to go.
I'm a big fan of
Fran and certainly very
supportive of all of our other
gubernatorial candidates.
I just don't really think it makes
a lot of sense to get caught up in
all the trappings of different
labels. I mean if we if we're
talking about policies that
are good for normal people
You know, the policies of
many administrations, not just the
Trump administration, have favored
the well-connected, the
super-rich.
And, you know, like I said at the
very beginning, we need to be
getting back to the work
of the people.
I really don't care what label you
put on it, as long as we're
following the
state model of Wisconsin forward.
Mr. Clark, democratic socialism,
what are your thoughts on it?
Yeah, I think it's an interesting
label. I'd never even heard their
label until a few months ago.
But if you want to pull apart
what different candidates are
talking about, on both sides
of the eye, it comes
down to things we've already talked
about today.
How can we afford to live in our
communities?
How can find housing that's
affordable and available?
How do we find health care that's
affordable and unavailable?
And how do we create an economy
where everyone can prosper and
fulfill some kind of a dream for
their lives And, and.
Have a secure life.
And there's a role for government
in helping make sure that those
things can happen.
And if you want to go back to look
at Republican presidents like
Dwight Eisenhower, a lot
of the things that his
administration was talking about are
things that people on the other side
of the aisle would call socialist or
communist today.
So I don't think the labels are
doing us any good.
The conversations I want to have and
I I'm having.
Are about how we help people
afford to live and lead healthy,
prosperous lives, have roads that
work, have education that works
for us and for our kids, and allows
people to have a dignified
retirement.
And there is a role for government
there, and I want to make sure
government does the work to make
that possible for all of us.
And finally, same question to Mrs.
Murray.
Thank you.
So I've had the pleasure of being at
many locations with Francesca
as well as with Kelda, Sarah and
other gubernatorial candidates.
I think what FRAN stands for when it
resonates with me is this is
no longer about left and right.
I thinK Tom Tiffany is doing his
best to label it in a way to try and
again do the divisive
tactics that this administration
has done.
What I take away from what she has
to say is we are now about the haves
and have nots.
During the break we got to see my
commercial where I said that's it.
It's enough of giving tax breaks to
billionaires while we take away
resources to the people live here.
Our government is set up to support
billionaires.
Our Government allows for
money to come dark money coming into
this community to support folks
who have never lived here before as
candidate.
We need to take care of
Number one, cutting taxes for
billionaires.
Number two, term limits.
Number three, Citizens vs.
United. First it was the Montana
plan. They had to pause,
Colorado moved forward but didn't
get it over the finish line.
Hawaii actually got it done.
Corporations are not people and
money is not speech.
We need to stop with this ridiculous
million dollar campaigns when
we're talking to people about
affordable housing, healthcare,
and enough gas to get to work.
That we need to
be real and stop talking about
labels and talk about results.
Mr. Clark, you're first on this one.
Congress is expected to take up
another farm bill.
It touches everything from crop
insurance and conservation programs
to nutrition assistance and
broadband.
But many Wisconsin farmers say
they're facing shrinking profit
margins, rising input costs,
labor shortages, and uncertainty
over trade policy.
If elected to Congress, what is the
single biggest change you would
fight for in the next farm bill to
help Wisconsin farmers remain
profitable?
Mr. Clarke.
The farm bill is something we're
supposed to pass every five years
and it's a big comprehensive piece
of legislation that really defines
and drives a lot of American
agriculture and it needs
reform.
Unfortunately right now there are
far too many farmers here in the
Midwest are
growing in corn and beans because
that's where the incentives are to
produce those crops.
But too many are losing money
on those crops every year
because of a pricing system that
doesn't work.
And because.
We've allowed the agribusiness
corporations to get so big and
exercise so much control over our
farm sector that it can be almost
impossible, especially for small and
medium sized farmers to survive.
So what I want to see our next farm
bill do is, number one,
restore funding for nutrition
assistance programs that directly
goes into the mouths of children and
families who need it the most.
Number two to strengthen
our enforcement of antitrust
laws and and prevent
the biggest corporations in
agribusiness from preventing farmers
from actually getting a price for
their product that allows them to
stay in business.
Number three, we need to
basically diversify
and help farmers diversify by
incentivizing things like value
added, incentivizing other
crops, incentivize
grass-based agriculture and
tying together the environmental
outcomes of farming with
the economic outcomes that benefit
all of us from healthier food.
And those things can work together
right now government is working
across purposes.
We need to realign government
programs around agriculture
Mrs. Murray, same question, how can
the federal government support
farmers in Wisconsin?
Thank you, and so I thought I heard
the question originally was the
single most I appreciate Fred having
many examples I'm
teetering between single most or
many but I think the single
Thing to do is to take care
of how can we help farmers
financially?
I would much prefer to invest in
farmers than to have our funds to
help when there's a cleanup or a
problem Mother Nature is
going to do what Mother Nature does
and we need to be there to help
farmers if their crops are taken out
by a storm or a
flood As I was saying before,
I think just like students can get
financial aid from the federal
government, I think especially our
newer farmers and our
newest generation farmers
need that assistance to
boost them while they're getting
their feet underneath them
and getting that solid base that
they need.
Fred also talked about antitrust and
what I learned is when there's a
barrier to entry, that's a problem.
And I think the government needs to
tackle that. Right now at the tech,
the farm tech, where we were at
earlier today.
You can see how this equipment
can really make a difference.
You don't need as much labor if you
can get the big tractors that can
drive themselves.
But the smaller mom and pop farms or
the new person in the next
generation can't afford them.
So we need to be able to support
them on the front end so that they
can be competitive.
If they're in that subsidized
financing program, I also think
that any federal facility that's
buying product from farms should buy
it from the farmers that we're
lending money to, to help give them
that boost. I have lots of ideas.
But those, that's the top.
Now to Mr. Armstrong, same question.
What do you wanna see in the next
farm bill to help farmers?
I think you'll unsurprisingly
find some similarity between our
answers. I think reinvesting
in food assistance, SNAP benefits,
USAID was one of the most
valuable programs in
getting U.S.
Agricultural products across the
world doing wonderful,
humane work.
It's pretty darn tough to be
a farmer from the friends that I
have that are farming.
You know the thing that's remarkable
is that you know, these are people
that love Working the
land working with their animals and
their commitment to it is just
astounding and I just can't imagine
What it's like to
go into a growing season knowing
that your you know equipment prices
your fertilizer Input
seed prices land prices
are going up up up
And then the federal government is
deliberately putting its finger on
the scale and really
catastrophizing the world
markets.
What it must be like to go into that
going, am I gonna be able to even
make money?
And then getting some
payments from the federal
government, where a lot of those
payments go to the
debts that they are servicing.
So it goes into all
of the suppliers.
So we need some radical
reform, like Fred
suggested.
Diversification, I think, is a big
part of it. But that's not easy,
because the US egg infrastructure is
really set up for corn and soybean.
So you know.
This is where the United States
started from hundreds of years ago,
and we still have the opportunity to
be the best producer of the best
products in the world.
We will go to Mrs. Murray first on
this question.
Wisconsin is competing for major
data center projects that promise
jobs and investment, but they also
raise concerns about electricity
demand, water use, and impacts
on nearby communities.
If elected, what role should the
federal government play in
regulating these large data centers?
Mrs.Murray.
Yes, Dan. And isn't that what
everybody is asking us these days?
These data centers are still a
bit of a mystery.
And I think that we shouldn't be
going into business when the
business is a bit of a.
Mystery.
I'm not supporting a moratorium,
but I think from the federal level,
we need to go back to the rules that
we had with the clean air and clean
water act.
I think there should be independent
studies done to talk about
the environmental impact
that would come from whatever
proposal is being presented to a
community.
My concern is, much
like the mine when it was trying to
come to Cranen, just as I came back
from law school, they entice
leaders of small communities with
these big price tags on what they're
willing to pay to put their
facility on your land and
your community.
However, you have to talk about
what insurance is coming in,
what funds are coming in to
pre-fund whatever cleanup might
be needed because of that kind of
facility now coming into your
community.
Also, we need to talk about other
ways to bring in energy.
Could they put solar panels on the
top of their buildings?
Could they be using the biomass
fuel for their
energy source?
Whatever they do, I don't want them
on nutrient-rich soil.
So it needs to be collaborative
that we're looking at the
environmental and economical impact
of the proposal that's being
presented to a community.
From the federal level, I think it's
about the big laws, Clean Air, Clean
Water Act.
Otherwise, local communities need to
do their local government checks.
Mr. Armstrong, your thoughts on
federal government regulating data
centers.
Well, I've got a unique perspective
to offer, having been in the IT
industry for over 30 years.
And I've gotta tell you, I have seen
the latest and greatest technology
trends come and go
over and over and over again.
And the same thing's happening,
particularly with AI, in my opinion.
We're over-promising,
over-spending, over-investing.
In the end, is there going to be
some benefit?
Possibly.
But, you know, my concern...
Is when a new
industry comes along,
and as many of your viewers may have
heard, and a couple of
hyperscale data centers by
themselves are gonna consume
the amount of energy of
all houses in Wisconsin,
I think we need to stop and
take a look around and say, what the
heck is going on?
Because we're talking about a
dramatic transformation of
the electrical grid.
Electric, you know, power generation
at the time.
When power and
energy prices are skyrocketing.
So Ginger made a good suggestion
that others have, which is if you're
gonna build a data center, apart
from having environmental impact,
community impact,
require them to provide their
own power through green energy.
But I think we wanna keep in mind
that these are all investments that
are being done locally for the
benefit of making the tech,
burlagarks even richer.
And I'm just not sure what the value
is to our local communities.
Mr. Clark, same question to you.
Yeah, so it used to be that when
there was a bust in the tech sector,
a bunch of people in Silicon Valley
lost their jobs.
Today, with the buildout of data
centers driving the AI revolution,
what we're seeing is some of the
wealthiest corporations and the
wealthest people in the world are
basically in an arms race
or a war to build out
computing capacity as fast as they
can in as many communities as they
can with the
prospect.
Of eventually making a profit, but
we need to understand that none of
this sector is profitable today.
There's a huge bubble going on
in the AI and tech
sector today, and that
means that these developments are
at risk, and we don't know the
long-term viability of this entire
sector. We don't how many of these
data centers are going to be sitting
empty a year from
now. So there is an important
role for state and federal
government here.
At the federal government level,
we need to make sure.
Those companies are financially
solvent and viable for the
investments that they're going to
make so communities aren't on the
hook.
We need to ensure that
communities can ask for and demand
enough payments from these companies
to benefit everybody in that
community so that that community is
not paying higher rates and not
paying for the the
disastrous effects of some of these
developments.
And we need to treat these elements
of public utilities.
Federal law needs to authorize
that so that states public utility
commissions can actually regulate
data centers.
We are nearing the end of the
debate. So I want to know about an
issue we haven't spoke about
tonight.
So we'll go to Mr. Armstrong first.
Mr.Armstrong, what have we not
talked about tonight that is
important to you?
Well, yeah, you've done a pretty
good job, pretty good job, Dan.
Kind of grasping for straws here.
I think, you know,
one of the things that makes the
United States one of
most unique nations in the world
is we're not defined by
nationality. We're not define by
ethnicity. We're defined by
language. We're define by culture,
religion.
The strength of the United
States, you know, from it.
A motto, e pluribus unum,
out of many one,
is really a unique
perspective on how
groups of people from across the
world can come together and
build something fantastic.
And as we move into
the 250th
year and anniversary
of the United States, what I'm
asking is for everybody,
we are different, and that's okay,
and that one of our strengths, But
we need to come together
around those things that
we
hold dear, and that thing is
the U.S.
Constitution. So I'm asking for
everybody to, you know, renew
our covenant with one another as
we seek to make this, you now, the
greatest country on earth free to
pursue happiness and liberty.
In life
Thank You mr.
Armstrong on a mr.
Clark something we haven't spoke
about this evening that you'd like
to touch on
Well, I think citizens across
northern Wisconsin are realizing in
the last year and a half how
important the federal government
actually is.
And we have an administration right
now in Washington that's really
good at breaking things.
And we a Congress that has
sat back and been silent
after so many of those
things have been broken.
And whether it's the president
tearing down the east wing of the
White House, it's
one federal agency after another
where many of the federal agencies
that do important work across this
country have lost 20, 30,
40 percent of their
career federal employees who knew
how to do the work that the public
needed are now gone and
many of them are replaced with
loyalists who don't have
qualifications who don't understand
the work of those agencies but
they're 100 percent loyal to this
administration that is
a recipe for a disaster.
So the next Congress...
Is going to have a tremendous amount
of work to do to begin the
rebuilding of a federal government
that works for all of us.
Whether that's foreign aid that was
destroyed with the elimination of
USCID or restoring integrity
in our Department of Justice or
restoring capacity in the U.S.
Forest Service so they can manage
the public lands that we all benefit
from. We've got years and
years and year of rebuilding ahead
of us and people
of northern Wisconsin need
to elect somebody who's willing to
go to work.
And envision what the federal
government needs to be in the
future.
And now to you, Mrs. Murray.
Thank you.
You did a wonderful job covering
most of the topics that I wanted to
talk about, so I appreciate that.
I will say that as I've been going
to places where they're allowing for
the visitors to keep tabs of
what interests are most important to
them, health care by far is the
number one.
Yesterday when we were at a forum,
number two was the right to vote,
and I think that goes to a bigger
picture which is defending
democracy.
And while maybe in years past
being a lawyer and asking for your
vote to go to Washington DC,
folks would have responded, that's
all we need is another lawyer in DC.
Times have changed.
Right now our democracy is under
attack.
The fact that the number two concern
was the right to vote tells us
that there's something significantly
wrong with our government when
folks fear whether or not they'll
have their right to the vote.
And so I am asking to
be elected as your next
congresswoman, the first
congresswoman in this district, to
go to Washington D.C.
To defend that oath that
everyone took, including this
president, to defend the
Constitution of the United States,
to make sure that people know that
they will have their right to vote,
to let them know that it means
something when we say you have
freedom of speech, freedom of
press, freedom of religion.
It means something when it says
you should be safe from unreasonable
search and seizures.
It means something when we say
we have due process in America.
We need folks who are willing to
stand up when a government
oversteps the boundaries
and the authority that they've been
given. I'm ready to do that.
We now move to our closing
statements. Mr. Clark, you have the
floor.
You know, what I learned
in my career as a forester
and a business owner and in
my three terms as a rural state
legislator is that
for small communities to work,
everybody has to work together and
that means setting political
differences aside to
coach the high school sports team or
to help man the ambulance crew
or to organize the fair
that goes on every year.
Those communities can afford to let
politics divide them because
everybody's got to work together to
make things in that town work.
And people are so hungry right now
to get away from the divisive,
extremist politics that has
made it impossible for our federal
government and our Congress
especially to do its job and
influence it even more strongly by
the money in politics.
So what I'm bringing to this race.
Is the commitment and the experience
of somebody who's made a career out
of working with everybody to find
solutions that are practical without
giving up my values.
And I've also made a commitment in
this race not to take any
public, excuse me, political action
committee money and any special
interest money because people know
that the money in politics is
part of what's prevented Republicans
and Democrats from solving some of
our biggest problems.
I'm looking forward to a new kind of
politics that helps.
Us recognize that we have
way more in common than we have that
divides us. And I look forward to
going to Washington next year to
help do that work for everyone in
the 7th Congressional District.
Now to Mrs. Murray, your closing
statement.
Thank you.
I appreciate the voters and the
confidence that they've given to my
fellow lady leader
lawyers.
First of all, I'm a lady, I am a
female. I was the first female
city attorney of Crandon, first
female town attorney of
Leona, first female family
court commissioner in Forest County,
as well as family court Commissioner
in Oneida County.
Some of those are elected positions,
so thank you for Dan for giving me
an opportunity to address that here.
Um, also...
As a lady and a mom,
my children have decided as
of now they have no interest in
raising their own children.
If that was their choice, I would
have no issue with it.
I defend a women's
choice on whether or not they want
to have children.
My girls don't want to kids because
my environmental scientist doesn't
think Mother Earth can support us.
My other one thinks that it's not
affordable.
I am a leader.
I act.
I get results.
Lawyers are judged on results.
I am a 30 year award winning
attorney and I'm offering that to
the folks here.
As a lawyer, as a city attorney, I
brought in money the city never had
by creating new ordinances and
creating a TIF district.
At the county level, I brought in
federal funds that had never been
brought in before.
I grew my voice as the only female
sitting in those meetings, and I am
ready to go and join the ladies who
are going to unveil the Epstein
files.
The women in the Democratic caucus
as well as the Republican caucus are
calling it a reckoning and I'm ready
to.
And finally, Mr. Armstrong, your
closing statement.
Well, you know, one of the big
reasons I'm doing this is,
you know I'm a grandfather for the
first time.
And I envisioned a time, you
now sometime in the future, you know
talking with my grandson and he's
like, you know gee grandpa,
I heard things were pretty crazy
when I was growing up.
What did you do to try to
make a difference? And I wanna be
able to look him in the eye
and say I did everything I
possibly could to make this a better
place for you, your family
and our communities.
You know, we, like I said earlier,
you know, we were privileged to grow
up in one of the most beautiful
places on earth and we owe it, you
know to those that brought us here
and to future generations to leave
it in a better, you know, better
shape than we found it.
You know I, I don't need this
job. I'm not looking for something
to do. I have a job, you know, I
love it, but you know I just can't
sit in my living room and
do nothing.
When you know we are demanding
to need, you know, fearless,
bold.
Relentless leadership to hold this
administration accountable and do
the work for the people.
You know, how are we know if this is
gonna be getting any better?
When our children and our
grandchildren, you know, can afford
to live here, find a good job,
get good healthcare, breathe the
air, drink the water, and be able to
enjoy the wonderful opportunities
that the 7th District has to offer.
You know I'm not doing this for me,
I'm doing this you, and to all my
volunteers and supporters out there,
you are my inspiration every
day, the wind beneath my wings.
And 2026.
Is the Year of the People.
There is nothing we cannot do
together to demand change.
As we wrap up tonight's debate, I
want to thank all three candidates
for taking part in this very
important conversation and thank you
at home for joining us.
If you missed our Republican primary
debate, it is viewable on the WJFW
YouTube page.
The actual primary election is on
Tuesday, August 11th.
We encourage everyone to research
the candidates, make a plan to vote,
and most importantly, participate
in our democracy.
On behalf of everyone at WJW,
thank you for watching.
Have a great evening.