Contact: Brad Bainum, bradb@wisdems.org
Following right-wing, corporate special interest groups’ lead, Vukmir and Nicholson say they would’ve voted against the federal government funding bill that allocated more than $3.3 billion for combatting the opioid epidemic
MADISON — All of a sudden, Leah Vukmir and Kevin Nicholson’s commitment to fighting the opioid crisis is in question, with both Republican U.S. Senate candidates indicating that they would have voted against the President Trump-signed federal government spending bill that, among other things, appropriated $3.3 billion in funding to combat the opioid epidemic.
- Kevin Nicholson on Thursday morning criticized the spending bill, opioid spending and all, definitively telling WTAQ radio’s John Muir that he would’ve opposed the measure: “I would have voted against it.”
- Leah Vukmir was similarly critical of the spending bill, last week, telling conservative radio host Jay Weber: “I would’ve voted against it… $1.3 trillion is unacceptable.”
U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin worked on a bipartisan basis to “secure a $3 billion increase in federal funding” in the omnibus bill to fight the opioid epidemic in Wisconsin and across the country. But out-of-state, right-wing corporate special interest groups such as the Club for Growth and FreedomWorks — both of which are supporting Kevin Nicholson — nevertheless pressured politicians that they support to oppose the measure. And so Kevin Nicholson, like Leah Vukmir, came out against the bill.
“Right-wing corporate special interests told Leah Vukmir and Kevin Nicholson to oppose the federal government spending bill and its $3.3 billion investment toward addressing the opioid crisis, so they did; Vukmir and Nicholson simply can’t be trusted to ever put Wisconsin first,” said Brad Bainum, Democratic Party of Wisconsin spokesperson for the 2018 U.S. Senate race.
