Incumbent Feingold faces competition in Senate race

Four candidates are on ballots Tuesday for a Wisconsin U.S. Senate seat.

Incumbent Russ Feingold (D)is running for his third term as a U.S. Senator. He was elected to the Senate in 1992 and re-elected in 1998.

Prior to serving as a U.S. senator, Feingold served in the Wisconsin state Senate for 10 years.

"He's someone who certainly has experience getting the job done for Wisconsin," said John Kraus, a spokesman for the Feingold campaign.

Feingold was the only senator to vote against the USA Patriot Act in 2002.

He has worked to increase funding for Federal Pell Grants, which give money to college undergraduate students based on need, and Medicare reimbursements to Wisconsin. He has held more than 864 listening sessions with Wisconsinites and has visited every Wisconsin county every year, Kraus said.

Kraus said if Feingold is re-elected, he will continue to stand up to protect Wisconsin jobs from unfair trade practices, fight the war on terrorism and work for health care.

Feingold faces three challengers, including Tim Michels (R).

Michels, vice president and co-owner of the construction company Michels Corp., ran for the state Senate in 1998 and was defeated in the primary.

Amy St. John, spokesperson for the Michels campaign, said the 12 years Michels spent in the Army from 1982 to1994 and his experience as a small business owner qualifies him for the position.

The three main points of Michel's platform are jobs and the economy, health care and homeland security.

Arif Khan is running on the Libertarian ticket. Khan is the vice president of the management consulting firm The Catalyst Group. He said he is concerned about Wisconsin jobs.

"We're losing jobs to other states," Khan said. "We have to take a look at what we are doing to our economy."

The Libertarian Party said individual liberties are more important than the government, Khan said.

The fourth candidate is Eugene Hem, who is running as an Independent. He ran for the U.S. Senate in 1998 and 2000, and he was a presidential candidate in 1992.

Hem is a retired teacher who taught science in Milwaukee for 35 years.

In an Oct. 14 interview with Joy Cardin on Wisconsin Public Radio, Hem said he is against the war in Iraq and thinks the United States should pull out in less than six months.

"With lives being lost by very dedicated patriotic people, we should pull out of Iraq as soon as can be," Hem said.

Hem said he supports Bush and is concerned about Wisconsin jobs going to illegal immigrants.

He also said he thinks people should have access to health care regardless of how much money they have.