Story originally printed in the La Crosse Tribune or online at www.lacrossetribune.com

Published - Thursday, April 17, 2008

Kapanke to run for re-election

By REID MAGNEY | La Crosse Tribune

State Sen. Dan Kapanke said Wednesday he wants another four years in Madison to work on growing the local economy.

“So much work needs to be done. I hope I’ve earned the right to go back,” said the Republican from French Island, who kicked off his re-election campaign with announcements in La Crosse, Viroqua and Prairie du Chien.

“We have to grow the economy,” said Kapanke. “We can’t raise taxes.”

Kapanke faces a challenge from La Crosse County Board Supervisor Tara Johnson, a Democrat from the town of Shelby. Johnson hasn’t formally announced she plans to run, but Senate Majority Leader Russ Decker has already started fundraising on her behalf and announced District 32 is the Senate Democrats’ top targeted race in 2008.

Kapanke promised to run a positive campaign and told groups who might run independent ads, “If you go negative, I want you out.”

Speaking at University of Wisconsin-La Crosse’s Cleary Center, Kapanke talked at length about UW-L and the importance of the campus, calling it one of the area’s “economic engines.”

He also defended his vote against public financing for Wisconsin Supreme Court

justice elections, saying the $3 million in taxpayer funds it would have required should be spent on helping children on medical assistance get access to dental care.

Health care also is likely to be a major issue in the campaign, especially the Healthy Wisconsin health insurance program passed by Senate Democrats. That plan is going nowhere in the Republican-controlled Assembly, and Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle is at best ambivalent about it.

Kapanke said Wisconsin already has a relatively small percentage of citizens who don’t have health insurance. “We can’t turn the whole system upside down for 4 to 5 percent” of people without insurance, he said, adding the state needs to work on getting them coverage.

Assembly Speaker Mike Huebsch, R-West Salem, introduced Kapanke in La Crosse.

“Here’s a man who’s as comfortable on the state Senate floor fighting for the issues and needs of western Wisconsin as he is in a field helping a farmer get a greater yield for his corn crop or as he as he is throwing us a bag of peanuts at a Loggers game,” Huebsch said.

Kapanke, 60, started his political career on the town of Campbell’s board and served as its chairman for seven years. He ran for the open District 32 state Senate seat in 2000, losing to Democrat Mark Meyer, who served one term. Kapanke ran again in 2004, defeating Democrat Brad Pfaff.

Kapanke and his wife, Ruth, are owners of the La Crosse Loggers summer league baseball team, which they started in 2003. He also has worked as a regional sales manager for Kaltenberg Seed Farms.

UW-L political scientist Joe Heim said a Kapanke-Johnson race should be interesting because Kapanke won by such a close margin (52.46 percent) in 2004 and the district is trending Democratic, especially in presidential elections.

However, Kapanke has four years of experience and being an incumbent gives him an advantage, Heim said.

Reid Magney can be reached at (608) 791-8211 or rmagney@lacrossetribune.com.