Last week, there were two political debates hosted by UW-La Crosse in Port O’Call Lounge. Those debates were for the 94th and 96th Assembly District. This past week on Oct. 28, the third debate took place. This debate was between U.S. Representative Ron Kind and the Republican opponent, Tony Kurtz.

Kurtz and Kind are running for the Representative for Wisconsin’s 3rd congressional district.

Ron Kind was born and raised in La Crosse, Wisconsin and is now raising his own two children who are a junior and senior at Logan High School in La Crosse. Kind attended Harvard for his secondary schooling and went on to get a master’s and law degree from the University of Minnesota. He was first elected to represent Wisconsin in 1996 and has been re-elected since.

Tony Kurtz, the Republican opponent, was second to introduce himself and told his own life story. He joined the army after graduating from high school and fought in both Iraq wars. He retired from the army in 2005 and started a farm in 2006. In 1991, he met his future wife, who is from Westby, WI. He now lives in Prairie Du Chien and has two children. He decided to get involved in politics when he realized how many voters were as “frustrated” as he was.

The first question given to the two candidates was about their opinions on congress becoming involved in immigration.

Kind responded with an argument that, “Too many international students are coming here and getting degrees, and instead of giving them a green card, they’re sent back home to compete against us.”

However, both opponents agreed that it is important to secure the border.

In this debate, the question of who should regulate ‘frac’ sand mining came up. Kurtz said that it should be discussed amongst state and local officials.

He also stated that we should “use resources given to us but keep environment in mind.”

Kind agreed with keeping the discussion amongst state and local officials saying, “In the federal government, (they) aren’t aware of the situation.”

Another question asked by the panel was about the, “two favorite D’s in politics: debt and deficit.” In the past 18 years, the overall debt in the United States has gone from 5 trillion dollars to 18 trillion dollars, which is $56,000 per person if it were to be paid off. Kurtz argued that fact by pointing out that Kind has been in office for 18 years, and that is how much the debt has increased.

1.2 trillion dollars of the overall debt is from higher education, which evens out to about $28,000 per student.

They both argued the importance of higher education but Kurtz brought up the fact that, “75 percent of jobs are 2-year technical college degrees,” and thinks it is important to push that fact.

Kurtz said in his closing statement, “We have some stark contrast, and I’m sure you’ve noticed that.”