Republicans in the 4th Congressional District will be faced with a choice in the Aug. 13 primary, but it’s one of style and not substance.
Two candidates looking for the nomination to battle Rep. Jim Himes, (D) 4th, agree on many of the issues. They disagree, though, on how to handle a campaign.
Endorsed candidate Bob MacGuffie says Republicans haven’t been aggressive enough since Himes flipped the district for Democrats in 2008.
“Nobody’s really taken the case aggressively to Jim Himes,” he said.
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Challenger Michael Goldstein says that approach hasn’t worked for past Republicans, many of whom MacGuffie worked with on the campaign trail.
"My opponent is a guy who’s primary thing is about yelling at Jim Himes and I'm much more about problem solving,” Goldstein said.
The two candidates share a lot of the same priorities, including tougher policies for immigration on the Southern border and for crime.
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They also want the nation to produce more oil and natural gas to achieve energy independence and jump-start the economy.
Other areas of agreement include giving parents more of a say in curriculum in schools, expressing concern that some educational materials aren’t appropriate for students.
One area of disagreement is foreign policy.
MacGuffie believes the U.S. should take less of a lead role on the global stage, instead pushing other countries near war zones to get more involved.
“With the Ukraine fight, the Europeans should have stepped up big time there, we shouldn’t be into it yet,” he said.
Goldstein agrees other countries to contribute, but says the U.S. needs to be a strong partner with allies like Israel and NATO.
He also wants the country to look for new strategic partnerships to counter potential new enemies, namely China.
“We tried the isolationist policy between World War I and World War II and it didn’t work,” he said.
