U.S. Senate candidates keep sparring

Republican Senate candidate Eric Hovde is questioning the ability of fellow contender Tommy Thompson to understand some complex financial problems facing the U.S.

All four Republican Senate candidates spoke to a conservative group in Milwaukee, but the news media were not allowed to electronically record the remarks. So, the Senate hopefuls also met briefly with reporters. Polls show Madison business executive Eric Hovde and former Gov. Tommy Thompson leading the GOP primary. Hovde says he has a better grasp of complex financial markets than does Thompson.

State Assembly Speaker Jeff Fitzgerald continues to tout his experience working on balancing the state budget, but says he also has a private sector financial background.

Millionaire homebuilder Mark Neumann says from his time as a Congressman in the 1990s, he saw up close that the federal government wastes money, and Neumann says he'll continue to highlight that waste.

Neumann says Thompson is not the right person to turn the nation around financially, and Neumann says Hovde is not the fiscal conservative that Hovde portrays in his TV commercials.