Recall survivor, newcomer battle in state senate race

14th district only state senate race in play in Madison area

LODI, Wis. — In the only contested state senate race in the Madison area, recall survivor Luther Olsen is up against Democratic challenger Margaret Worthington in the 14th district.

Though she’s a rookie to state politics, Worthington has been darting across the district with her campaign.

“It’s time for ordinary people to step up and take their part in democracy,” said Worthington.

From the town of Susie all the way to Ripon, map space in the 14th district is covered in open fields.

“Most of the district is actually rural with smaller cities that were left in, but nothing really large,” said Worthington.

Of campaigning in the area, Sen. Olsen says, “It’s a lot of driving time. It’s a lot more rural.”

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Republican incumbent Luther Olsen said he’s ready to take on a boundary change, along with the usual campaign hot topics such as the economy and unemployment.

“Nothing works in the state and state government, local government, unless people are working and getting good paying jobs, and so that’s what we’re really talking about,” said Olsen.

The two-term state senator said it’s about helping and not hindering people who want to build business.

“We’re trying to change those things so that it is, we are proactive rather than saying, ‘well, you can’t do this because of this reason and that reason,'” said Olsen.

Worthington said the heart of recovery comes from growing tech schools and job opportunities in rural regions.

“It is part of the solution, trying to bring more new employers to those areas,” said Worthington.

As the campaigns push to Tuesday, the Democratic challenger wants less time wasted on Act 10.

“It wasn’t good for the state,” said Worthington. “It was pushed through very quickly, and it really divided the state.”

Meanwhile, Olsen still stands his ground on the law.

“I think at the end of the day, it will be ruled constitutional, and if parts of it aren’t, we’ll have to make some adjustments,” said Olsen.

Worthington also wants to see infrastructure, like roads and high speed internet services, improved in the less populated parts of the district.

Olsen said with a balanced budget at the state level, he looks forward to investing more in education if he wins on Tuesday.