Democratic incumbent state Senator Brad Pfaff (D-Onalaska) and Republican challenger Stacey Klein have both agreed to a debate hosted by UW-La Crosse, the La Crosse Area Chamber of Commerce and the League of Women Voters of the La Crosse Area.
The event will take place at 2:30 on Wednesday, Oct. 16. While the event will not be open to the public it will be livestreamed on WKBT and WXOW. An unedited recording will be made available for later viewing at lwvlacrosse.org/forums.
Klein is a Trempealeau County Board member who graduated from Arcadia High School and serves as the secretary for the Trempealeau County Republican Party. Klein previously announced her candidacy for Tammy Baldwin’s U.S. Senate seat in Sept. 2023, but dropped out or that race after Eric Hovde announced his candidacy. She then pivoted to running for the 32nd Senate seat. Klein currently does not live in the 32nd Senate District but has said she has plans to move into the District.
Pfaff is seeking a second term in the state Senate. He won his first term by beating incumbent Republican State Senator Dan Kapanke after Republicans in the State Senate rejected his confirmation as secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection in November 2019. Pfaff currently serves on the Senate Committee on Agriculture and Tourism. He previously served as the deputy chief of staff to U.S. Representative Ron Kind and as the executive director of the U.S. Department of Agriculture Farm Service Agency in the Obama Administration.
Pfaff also ran for the 3rd congressional seat vacated by Congressman Kind two years ago but was defeated in that race by Republican Derrick Van Orden (R-Prairie du Chien) by about 3.5 points.
Republicans in all three La Crosse area state Assembly districts have declined to debate this cycle, citing “scheduling conflicts.”
Republican state Rep. Loren Oldenburg (R-Viroqua) of the 96th Assembly District, along with his GOP candidates, Ryan Huebsch (Onalaska – 94th District) and Cedric Schnitzler (La Crosse – 95th District), have all declined to debate their Democratic opponents. Democratic incumbents Jill Billings (95th) and Steve Doyle (94th) and candidate Tara Johnson (96th) had all agreed to participate in debates.
It seems unlikely that the two candidates for the 3rd Congressional District, incumbent Republican Rep. Derrick Van Orden or Democratic challenger Rebecca Cooke, will debate. Both candidates have accused each other of refusing to debate. Van Orden refused to debate Pfaff two years ago when he was running for an open seat against Pfaff.
Both Cooke and Van Orden will attend individual forums scheduled with the La Crosse Chamber of Commerce in October, with Van Orden’s set for Oct. 21, and Cooke’s on Oct. 23.
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