Dave Westlake is still making it a race in the Republican primary for Russ Feingold’s U.S. Senate seat. The Watertown small business owner and U.S. Army veteran says his number one task is to shrink the size of government and cut taxes by combating fraud, waste and abuse. “If you want to see a great example of people taking advantage of government programs, and fraud, waste and abuse, watch what happens when BP starts paying out money for this (oil spill) remediation program,” Westlake said. “We saw it first hand in Katrina. Wes still have people in Louisiana living in FEMA trailers.”
Westlake, who espouses a can-do philosophy of ‘American Exceptionalism,’ is the sole remaining Republican challenger to well-financed Oshkosh businessman Ron Johnson. Westlake’s campaign is more grass roots. “The message has been so popular with people who’ve never been involved in politics before,” Westlake said during an interview at WRN’s Madison studios. “We’re not appealing to just one party, and we’re not going to say that we are okay with money buying a campaign, or buying an election.” The winner of the September Republican primary will face Feingold, the Democratic incumbent, in November.