NORTHERN WISCONSIN – Five candidates seeking Wisconsin’s 7th Congressional District seat, currently held by gubernatorial candidate Tom Tiffany, sparred over election security, war powers, federal spending and rural healthcare access during a Tuesday, July 21 candidate forum hosted by the League of Women Voters of Wisconsin.
The forum was held at North Central Technical College in Wausau and broadcast to six other locations, including Nicolet College in Rhinelander and the Kalmar Center in Eagle River.
Approximately 30 people attended the watch party at Nicolet. They listened intently as Democratic candidates Fred Clark, Chris Armstrong and Ginger Murray and Republican candidates Kevin Hermening and Niina Baum answered questions from moderator Debra Cronmiller on topics ranging from voter ID requirements to healthcare affordability.
Republican candidates Jessi Ebben and Michael Alfonso were invited but did not attend.
Candidates outline their backgrounds
Clark, a forester, business owner and former state legislator, told the audience the country is in a “pivotal, transformative moment” and said he decided to run after watching what he described as a breakdown in government accountability over the past year and a half.
Armstrong, of New Richmond, described himself as a longtime information technology business owner with a background in astrophysics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the University of Minnesota. He said he got involved in politics in Feb. 2025 in response to actions by the Trump administration and Elon Musk, eventually founding a local Indivisible chapter before entering the race.
Baum said she grew up on a dairy farm in Price County and watched small local institutions – a school, a bank, a grocery store – disappear over the years. She said she graduated from Northland College in Ashland, settled in Rhinelander, co-founded a young professionals networking group, and serves on her town’s planning commission. She also cited her background as a competitive dog musher for Team USA and said she recently completed a roughly 400-mile bicycle ride across nine counties and more than 20 communities in the district to meet with voters.
Murray, an Eau Claire native and former Rhinelander resident with roots in Forest County, said she has spent her career as an attorney, including as city attorney in Crandon, town attorney in Laona and as a family court commissioner. She said she has drawn endorsements from Republicans, Democrats and independents.
Hermening, a Wausau resident and 37-year financial advisor, described himself as a former U.S. Marine who was held hostage for 444 days during the Iran hostage crisis. He said he has served 16 years on the Mosinee school board and cited his record navigating union negotiations and steering the district’s COVID-19 policies as evidence of his experience in public office.
Voter ID and election security
Asked about proposals requiring documentary proof of citizenship to register or vote, the candidates split along party lines.
Armstrong called the idea “a solution in search of a problem,” saying documented cases of noncitizen voting are exceedingly rare and warning that a federal role in administering elections would be unconstitutional. He said he supports making Election Day a national holiday and expanding mail-in voting.
Baum said she favors leaving the decision to individual states, citing Wisconsin’s existing voter ID law and an audit in Michigan that she said found minimal fraud.
Murray said she views proof-of-citizenship requirements as effectively suppressing turnout among women and others who lack easy access to documents such as birth certificates or updated identification after a name change. She cited Article I of the Constitution in arguing that states, not Congress, set the manner of elections.
Hermening said he supports the SAVE Act, arguing that voter ID is a reasonable requirement given how commonly identification is required in everyday life. He also raised concerns about the length of time deceased voters can remain on Wisconsin’s rolls.
Clark said proof-of-citizenship requirements would disenfranchise voters, particularly women, and praised the work of local election clerks and poll workers, calling the current system secure. He also raised concerns about a potential federal law enforcement presence at polling places in November.
War powers and recent military action
Candidates were also asked whether the War Powers Act adequately protects Congress’s authority to declare war, a question that prompted several references to ongoing U.S. military action involving Iran.
Baum said she believes the law lacks enforcement teeth and that Congress has ceded its constitutional war-declaration authority to the executive branch over successive administrations.
Murray, drawing on her legal background, said the 1973 War Powers Resolution limits unilateral presidential military action to two circumstances – an ongoing attack or evidence of an imminent one – and argued neither applied to the recent action in Iran.
Hermening said Congress’s primary check is its power over funding and noted that presidents of both parties have taken unilateral military action during his lifetime.
Clark and Armstrong were both sharply critical of the administration’s decision-making, with Clark calling it evidence of “the grossest erosion of constitutional balance of power” in his lifetime and Armstrong describing the action as unconstitutional.
Federal spending priorities
Asked about their top spending priorities and what they would cut, candidates again diverged.
Murray named healthcare as her top priority, citing informal polling she said she’s conducted at campaign events across the district’s 26 counties, and said she supports repealing recent administration policy changes. She said she would look to fund priorities by raising taxes on wealthy individuals and eliminating what she called a Social Security payroll tax cap.
Hermening said he would prioritize what he called core government functions – national security, promises made to veterans and seniors, and infrastructure – and alleged that Wisconsin’s 7th District receives about 30% less federal funding than Minnesota’s 7th District despite comparable need. He was critical of large omnibus spending bills.
Clark pointed to a recent budget bill he said added more than $3 trillion to the national debt and called for scrutinizing military spending, investing in infrastructure and closing tax loopholes for wealthy individuals and corporations.
Armstrong said healthcare, housing and energy affordability should be top priorities, criticized tariffs as a hidden tax on consumers, and called for greater investment in renewable energy.
Baum said she has run a low-budget campaign by comparison to her opponents and called for greater congressional accountability.
Rural healthcare access
On rural healthcare shortages, several candidates cited the need for better incentives to attract and retain doctors and other providers in northern Wisconsin.
Clark called for expanded loan forgiveness programs and criticized the administration’s immigration policies, saying they’ve made it harder for foreign-trained healthcare workers to practice in the U.S.
Armstrong echoed the concern about licensing barriers for immigrant physicians and called for better pay for emergency medical technicians and long-term care workers, many of whom are volunteers.
Baum pointed to burnout and long hours in medical training as a root cause of provider shortages and said fostering community connections – citing her experience with a young professionals network – has helped retain young workers in the region.
Murray described a mentorship and scholarship program used by the State Bar of Wisconsin to recruit young attorneys to underserved areas and suggested a similar model could help recruit healthcare providers.
Hermening pushed back on blaming Republicans alone for the expiration of enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies, noting Democrats controlled Congress and the White House in 2021-22 and did not make the subsidies permanent. He said he opposes a Medicare for All-style overhaul but supports price transparency in healthcare and reforming pharmacy benefit managers, which he said are squeezing independent pharmacies. He also shared a personal story about a $180,000 medical bill he paid off over 18 years before he had insurance.
Clark and Murray both voiced support for strengthening Medicare, lowering the eligibility age, and pursuing a public option, while Baum called universal healthcare difficult to implement given the size of the U.S. compared to countries that have adopted it.
Environment, climate and rural land use
On protecting forests, wetlands and farmland amid climate change, Armstrong pointed to a recent federal reinterpretation of Endangered Species Act habitat protections and called climate change “real,” citing his science background. He also called for a moratorium on new data center construction until their energy consumption impact is better understood – an issue Baum also raised, saying she is the only Republican candidate in the race calling for a federal moratorium on AI data center construction. She cited a decision by the National Science Foundation not to renew a decades-long research funding call at the UW Trout Lake Station in Boulder Junction as evidence that federal research priorities have shifted away from environmental science.
Murray called for reinvestment in enforcement of the Clean Water Act and Clean Air Act.
Hermening said rural communities can protect natural resources without sacrificing jobs in the timber, farming and resource industries, and said federal environmental mandates should come with funding, citing PFAS contamination response costs in Wausau as an example of unfunded mandates.
Clark, a forester and conservationist, cited recent wildfire smoke pollution as evidence of climate change’s local impact and called for reinvestment in climate and natural resources research, wetland restoration, and support for farmers to diversify away from corn and soybeans.
Closing statements
In closing remarks, candidates reiterated their central campaign themes: Baum called for reducing corporate influence in politics; Murray emphasized her record of “getting results” over “promises”; Hermening highlighted his experience as a longtime school board member and financial advisor; Clark touted his campaign’s grassroots donor base and pledge not to accept corporate contributions; and Armstrong closed with a personal appeal about wanting to leave the district better for his newborn grandson.
The moderator closed the forum by encouraging attendees to vote in the Aug. 11 partisan primary.
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