The Republican running for lieutenant governor was in Menasha Thursday to talk to students at U-W Fox Valley about the November election. Rebecca Kleefisch also responded to questions about why she won’t debate the Democrat in the lieutenant governor’s race, Assembly Majority Leader Tom Nelson. Kleefisch said Nelson’s calls for debate are “the last refuge of a desperate campaign.” She also said she isn’t sure if lieutenant governor candidates usually participate in debates. “I don’t know what the standard is,” Kleefisch told WHBY. “This is my first political campaign. I guess I don’t know what is standard and what is not when it comes to something like this.”
The office of Lieutenant Governor Barbara Lawton said Thursday that Lawton and her Republican opponent, state Representative Jean Hundertmark, debated twice during the 2006 campaign. Kleefisch, a former television news anchor from the Milwaukee area, said Nelson has been “incredibly negative,” and that she would rather talk to people individually than sit through a debate. “I don’t have any desire to sit in a sterile area with lights and cameras when I could be out actually talking to voters about issues.”
AUDIO: Rebecca Kleefisch (:45)
WHBY