Mark Neumann Joins Tea Party Express for Final Push in Senate Race

With just five days before the primary election, U.S. Senate candidate Mark Neumann continued his trip around Wisconsin Thursday with the Tea Party Express bus, making a stop in Waukesha County.

Neumann's first stop of the day-long tour was at the Country Springs Hotel Thursday morning where, in front of a modest crowd of supporters, he outlined the three key issues he’ll address if elected to the open Senate seat.

“The first thing that we need to do to restore this great nation is we need to restore the government to the principles that are in the constitution of the United States of America,” Neumann said.

According to Neumann, that includes the right to bear arms. Second, he says he fully intends to repeal the Affordable Care Act and any funding associated with it. Finally, and most importantly to the candidate, Neumann intends to fix the national deficit with a plan he presented at the rally.

“He understands Washington is the problem, not the answer… Mark will be the next senator from Wisconsin. I firmly believe that.”

“We have written a plan to balance the federal budget, so the third part of my plan is to pass a balanced budget for the United States of America,” Neumann said.

The candidate was joined by Tea Party Express Chairman Amy Kremer, who said Neumann is the first candidate she has personally contributed to.

“Mark Neumann is a proven fiscal conservative,” said Kremer, who founded the organization that is now the the nation’s largest tea party political action committee. “He understands Washington is the problem, not the answer… Mark will be the next senator from Wisconsin. I firmly believe that.”

However, the people of Wisconsin may not agree with Kremer. According to , former Gov. Tommy Thompson is favored by 28 percent of the respondents, while businessman and political newcomer Eric Hovde comes in at 20 percent. Neumann was backed by 18 percent, while Assembly Speaker Jeff Fitzgerald garnered 13 percent.

Neumann and the Tea Party Express bus are making stops in Fond du Lac, Appleton and De Pere on Thursday.

In other developments in the Senate campaign Thursday:

• Public Policy Polling released its final poll before the primary, showing similar results to its last, with a slight lead for Hovde (27 percent). This poll shows him trailed by Thompson (25 percent) and Neumann (24 percent).
  
  "The Wisconsin Republican Senate primary continues to look like a three way toss up," PPP President Dean Debnam said. "The candidates are incredibly close to each other and there’s a plausible path to victory for any of them in the closing stretch of this campaign."
  
  This latest poll has a margin of error of 4.2 percentage points.
  
  
• State Senator Glenn Grothman (R-West Bend)  Thursday, citing Hovde's business expertise and "understanding of the moral decline" in the United States. Grothman also lauded Hovde's knowledge of the United States' monetary system.
  
   
• Thompson picked up the endorsement of former state Sen. Van Wanggaard (R-Racine), who was ousted in the June recall election.
  
  "Thompson is the best-prepared and positioned candidate to defeat liberal congresswoman Tammy Baldwin and provide the U.S. Senate with the needed majority to put our country back on track," Wanggaard said. "In addition, Tommy was a partner to the Senate Republicans who were facing unwarranted recalls."