Dan Kohl aims to buck district’s GOP history and Glenn Grothman winning record
Those factors create long odds for his Democratic challenger,
Yet
Grothman also isn't counting Kohl out. Kohl's personal wealth and robust campaign fundraising, plus a 2018 electoral climate likely to favor
"I am always very concerned when running against somebody with access to so much money," Grothman said in a recent
To pull off the upset,
"People are sick and tired of politics as usual. I think it explains why
Seeking a third term in
Grothman has been a staunch opponent of illegal immigration -- sometimes more so than Trump -- and an advocate for cutting welfare programs and expanding workforce training for his district's many manufacturers.
Going from the northern
Kohl previously worked as an executive with the
Kohl also ran unsuccessfully for the state Legislature in 2008. More recently he worked as a federal lobbyist, including for the Major
Kohl told the
So far, Kohl has outpaced Grothman in fundraising. That helped prompt the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee to put the race on its "Red to Blue" list, inclusion on which gives the candidate "organizational and fundraising support and guidance."
Grothman disputed the "moderate" label for Kohl, saying he is linked to Democratic mega-donor
Kohl said Soros "has no association with my campaign whatsoever."
But
Trade and tariffs
Kohl said President
"We need members of
The economy of the
Grothman contends he has been willing to "buck" Trump, primarily on tariffs, by relaying his concerns to the president's advisers.
"For the good of negotiations, you don't want to undermine the president's position," Grothman said.
So where else has Grothman bucked Trump?
"To be effective, I think he should tweet a little bit less, and I've told that to him personally," Grothman said.
Health care
Kohl said he would defend the federal law known as Obamacare from
Unlike some
"We should be working to broaden coverage and reduce costs, but I do not support single-payer," Kohl said.
Grothman voted for the American Health Care Act, a plan to repeal Obamacare that did not become law. If it had, the measure would have rolled back Obamacare taxes on the wealthy and the health care industry that helped finance expanded coverage for millions; permitted states to opt out of current requirements that insurers cover basic health benefits, and allowed insurers to charge more to cover people with pre-existing health conditions if that person had a break in coverage.
It also would have slashed funding for Medicaid, the health-coverage program for the poor, elderly or disabled, by more than
Looking ahead, Grothman said "market-based reforms" are needed, including to help individuals and small businesses better control costs as he said large companies have done.
Immigration
Kohl said he supports creating a comprehensive immigration overhaul that includes a pathway to citizenship for people living in the
At least a few congressional
"I don't think that in our country, young children should be ripped from their parents' arms. But the policy -- it comes from the top, and they're carrying out a policy," Kohl said.
Grothman has emerged as a conservative hardliner on immigration. He defied Trump by voting earlier this year against an immigration compromise that would have given so-called Dreamers, or people brought to the
Taxes
Grothman said he and other
"I think our economy is booming, and there's no question one of the reasons our economy is booming is the tax bill," Grothman said.
Kohl opposes the tax law, noting studies that show the large majority of the cuts benefit the wealthy and large corporations. He said Grothman's support for the measure was "payback to a lot of big-money donors."
The bill also cut middle-class income taxes. But Kohl said tax cuts for large corporations aren't helping average people.
"These huge corporate tax cuts, they're not resulting in higher wages. What they're resulting in, principally, are stock buybacks and CEO pay going higher and higher," Kohl said.
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