Hakola did not respond to requests for an interview.

Election Day is Nov. 5, but absentee balloting already is underway.

U.S. reps serve two-year terms that begin in January.

All of the candidates agreed that times are tough for families because of rising costs for things like groceries, housing, utilities, and gasoline.

Callie Barr

Bergman — seeking his fifth term representing the 1st Congressional District covering all of the Upper Peninsula and northern Lower Peninsula — said many people have had to rely on credit cards to pay their bills, putting them further in the hole when credit card payments come due.

“If people have to take on debt just to pay their bills, then something is very wrong,” Bergman said. “There are many basic items people need to buy, and, right now, they have to pick and choose what they need and what they have to leave on the shelf. People are mad, and I can’t blame them.”

Bergman said lowering energy costs is key, because that would lower the cost of shipping and trucking, allowing businesses to lower prices for consumers.

Barr, the Democratic candidate, said she understands that families in the district are struggling financially and aren’t seeing the progress made on the economy that the media reports. She said voters judge the economy on how much money they have in their bank account and how much food they have in their cupboards.

“It has been so difficult for so many, and people hear from the national news that the economy is doing better, but the reality on the ground is, when you go to the grocery store, it is not,” Barr said. “It has been a long journey, and we are still in it. Things like child tax credits are a good thing for families.”

Andrew Gale

Gale, the Libertarian, said that, to get finances in order across the country, the federal government needs more frugality in its spending. He said tax rates are still too high for most Americans, and leaders in the nation’s capital need to budget the same way citizens are forced to today.

“We all pay all of this money to the government, and still they overspend,” Gale said. “Sure, there will be things that are cut, and it will hurt, but we have to find a way to be more responsible. We can’t keep paying more and putting this all on the backs of the middle class.”

Over the last several months, the war between Ukraine and Russia has escalated as Ukraine uses weapons received from the U.S. and other countries to bombard Russia’s homeland.

Gale said he wants the U.S. to play a larger role in supporting victims of the war and get less involved militarily.

“We want to see a peaceful future for Ukraine, but I don’t want to see the U.S. be the world’s police,” he said. “I need diplomacy. That is hard to do when you have bad actors like Russia. However, when you begin to launch things into Russia and are quite literally poking the bear — we need to support our ally, but we need to make sure what it is doing isn’t escalating things.”

Barr said she understands the risks of American weapons being used against Russia on Russian soil. However, she said many of the bombings in Russia have been against military targets, and that is a sign Ukraine is being proactive in protecting itself.

“Obviously, we don’t want World War III, but that is one of the reasons why we are supporting Ukraine right now,” Barr said. “To me, taking out an ammunition depot 300 miles from the Ukrainian border … that is still defensive in a lot of ways, and I support that.”

Bergman, who chairs the U.S. House Subcommittee on Intelligence and Special Operations, said he supports Ukraine but still wants accountability for how Ukraine uses American money and American weapons.

“We have things we can’t share with the public, but my support for Ukraine is unchanged,” Bergman said. “But we need to hold everyone involved accountable so our citizens know that what we are doing is for the right reasons and nothing nefarious is going on.”

Steve Schulwitz can be reached at 989-358-5689 or sschulwitz@thealpenanews.com. Follow him on Twitter @ss_alpenanews.com.