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WEST SALEM -- Democrat Tara Johnson formally launched her campaign May 10 to unseat state Sen. Dan Kapanke, R-La Crosse, in the 32nd District.

“We need a state senator who has a proven track record of passing balanced budgets and wisely investing taxpayers’ money,” said Johnson, a La Crosse County supervisor from the town of Shelby.

Johnson called her race against Kapanke “tough, but very winnable.” She said she intends to spend the campaign talking to residents of the 32nd District to “hear what matters most to them.”

“Their values will be the values that I vote for on the floor of the state Senate,” said Johnson. “This is our campaign for change, and the contrast could not be more clear. Ours is a campaign of working hard, of innovation, collaboration and solving problems. Theirs is a legacy of status-quo, delays, partisanship, and inaction. Ours is a campaign of getting things done.”

Johnson has served on the La Crosse County Board for eight years, and has chaired the county’s Health & Human Services Board until recently. Johnson made her announcement at the Lakeview Business Park, a cooperative venture between La Crosse County and the village of West Salem, where 200 new jobs have been created.

At the announcement, Shilling introduced Johnson and called her a “community problem-solver ... who likes to get things done.”

The 32nd state Senate District includes all of La Crosse, Vernon and Crawford counties, and parts of Monroe and Richland counties.

Kapanke, who lives in the town of Campbell and is co-owner of the La Crosse Loggers baseball team, was elected in 2004, and has already announced his re-election plans.