Running on a platform of greater economic development and getting tangible results for area residents Democrat Tara Johnson formally launched her campaign Monday to unseat state Sen. Dan Kapanke (R-La Crosse) in the 32nd District.

Johnson stopped in Viroqua Monday afternoon and was enthusiastic about her campaign.

“I’m excited and ready to go,” she said. “I’m a person who is used to getting things done and I intend to show the residents of the district results.”

Her key complaint with Kapanke is that he has not gotten results in Madison to benefit area residents.

“I think he’s a good businessman,” she said. Then she paused and smiled, “I know he likes baseball.”

Kapanke and his wife own the La Crosse Loggers semi-pro baseball team. Kapanke has already announced he plans to run for re-election.

“He’s not getting the job done in Madison,” she said. “I just don’t see a long list of accomplishments for people in the district.”

Johnson has served on the La Crosse County Board for eight years, and has chaired the county’s Health and 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.

“The work done in West Salem is an example of what I’d like to continue throughout the district,” she said.

Johnson and her husband, Tim Padesky, own TD Padesky Electric Inc., an electrical contracting company in La Crosse. They have two children, Nicholas and Layna.

Johnson was executive director of the La Crosse Area United Way from 1993 until 2000, when she left United Way to raise her family. She also was elected to the La Crosse County Board in 2000, and has risen to be vice chair of the board.

The 32nd District race has been “targeted” by the State Senate Democratic Com-mittee, but Johnson said she does not know how much financial support she will get from the party.

In 2004, Kapanke spent $325,000 on the race and received 52.5 percent of the vote, compared to $160,000 spent by Democrat Brad Pfaff, according to the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign.

Johnson’s plan for her campaign was fairly simple.

“Door, door, door, door — I plan to knock on a lot of doors,” she said. “I’m used to visiting between 900-1,100 each year serving on the county board in La Crosse. I just look at this as a period where I’ll knock on a lot more doors.”

Johnson said she’s good at building relationships between individuals in different units of government. She offered for an example a multi-county agreement to use Lakeview Health Center in West Salem as a regional center for sending patients in need of mental health treatment. She said that the counties involved, including Vernon, all became non-stock corporation partners, which ensured the partners that there would be beds available for patients from those counties who needed aid.

In the end, that partnership has saved counties money, because they have not had to send patients to much more expensive facilities.

“People are hungry for change,” Johnson said. “They want to put a senator in Madison who will show results. I’ll do that.”