Fitzgerald: Wisconsin collective bargaining changes are national model

MADISON (AP) - Republican candidate for U.S. Senate Jeff Fitzgerald says collective bargaining restrictions he helped push through the state Assembly as speaker are models for changes that need to be made nationally.

Fitzgerald spoke Thursday at a candidate forum at the annual Wisconsin Newspaper Association/Associated Press meeting.

He is vying for the Republican nomination against former Gov. Tommy Thompson and former U.S. Rep. Mark Neumann. The only Democrat in the race is U.S. Rep. Tammy Baldwin.

Fitzgerald was a strong backer of Gov. Scott Walker's collective bargaining changes. Fitzgerald said Thursday that "Collective bargaining reforms directly reflect what on the national level is going to have to happen with entitlement reform."

Fitzgerald is running to replace Democratic Sen. Herb Kohl, who is retiring.