Democratic candidates for 96th Assembly District hold forum ahead of primary

LA CROSSE, Wis. (WLCX) – The two Democratic candidates, Steve Campbell and Tara Johnson, for the 96th Assembly District held a virtual forum on Wednesday for voters.

The forum was hosted by The League of Women Voters in the La Crosse Area.

Campbell and Johnson are running to unseat Republican incumbent Loren Oldenburg of Viroqua.

Campbell, a business owner in Viroqua, and Johnson, the former chair of the La Crosse County Board, generally agreed on most of the questions asked during the hour-long forum.

A recurring topic during the forum was on health care and reproductive rights, which both candidates spoke strongly in favor of restoring to Wisconsin women.

Johnson said her daughters had fewer rights than she did in regards to reproductive care, and Campbell said his daughter has fewer rights for reproductive care than her mother or grandparents had. Johnson said she would work to restore those rights in Wisconsin.

“I make a commitment to working for and voting for a state law that codifies Roe v. Wade,” Johnson said.

A topic that crosses partisan lines is saving family farms in the Coulee Region. Each candidate lamented the trend of large, industrial farms growing in number and the loss of smaller, family-owned dairy farms.

Rep. Oldenburg had a bill passed into law this session that increased the farmland preservation tax credit and lowered the time needed for the program’s agreements.

Campbell said that the prices of farm products haven’t changed much in decades and there needs to be more done to preserve family farms and the land that they work.

“We need to work with farmers,” Campbell said. “How do we help ensure that the land is here?”

Both candidates also spoke extensively on the state of public education in Wisconsin, saying that public schools, including technical colleges and public universities, needed better funding and that the state legislature wasn’t doing its job to make sure schools had enough money to operate.

They also said that the state should end its voucher school program. Campbell said that Illinois ended theirs, and Wisconsin should too, while Johnson argued that the state’s funding of two school systems was “devastating” for public education.

“The voucher program is a complete embarrassment in this state,” Johnson said. “It is a completely inequitable system that siphons money away from public schools.”

Other political topics, such as election integrity and transparency for public officials and government, came up during the forum. The candidates also provided their takes on potential gun control legislation.

Campbell said he is a hunter and doesn’t want to take away guns, but said more needs to be done to make sure that guns are sold to responsible people.

“If we’re going to do something to help save lives, then we have to use our common sense,” Campbell said.

The winner of the Democratic primary on August 13 will face Oldenburg, who is seeking a fourth term in the Assembly.

In addition to partisan primaries on the ballot, including in Wisconsin’s 3rd and 8th Congressional Districts, voters will be asked on August 13 to consider a pair of state constitutional amendments that would transfer the power of distributing federal funding from the governor to the state legislature.

You can see your voter registration information, status, or where you can register to vote, see sample ballots, and see who your current elected officials, and the length of their terms, on MyVote Wisconsin’s website.

For more information about Wisconsin elections, you can visit the Wisconsin Elections Commission website.