Daniel E. Kapanke is an American politician who was a former Republican member of the Wisconsin Senate,representing the 32nd District from 2005 until losing his seat to Jennifer Shilling in the 2011 Wisconsin Senate recall elections.
Kapanke was born in La Crosse,Wisconsin on August 21,1947. He graduated from Luther High School in Onalaska in 1965. He later graduated from the University of Wisconsin–La Crosse,where he earned a B.S. in 1975 and a M.E.P.D. in Education in 1987. He served in the United States Marine Corps Reserve and in the Wisconsin National Guard. He also served on the Town of Campbell Board. He is the founding owner of the La Crosse Loggers Northwoods League baseball team and was a district sales manager at Kaltenberg Seed Farms for 30 years. [1]
Kapanke won election to the Wisconsin State Senate twice,first in 2004 against LaCrosse County Board Supervisor Brad Pfaff,and again in 2008 against La Crosse County Supervisor Tara Johnson.
Kapanke served as chair of the Senate Committee on Agriculture,Forestry,and Higher Education,and was also a member of the committees on Energy,Biotechnology,and Consumer Protection,on Financial Institutions and Rural Issues,and on Workforce Development,Small Business,and Tourism. He was also co-chair of the Joint Survey Committee on Retirement Systems. [2]
Kapanke had been criticized for ethics violations,including using $32,000 [3] from a lobbyist-funded charity to pay off personal debt,and violating the state's open records law,causing taxpayers to pay $38,000 in legal bills. [4] According to Kapanke,the violations were unintentional. [5]
During the 2011 Wisconsin protests,Kapanke reported that he had received death threats from his vote,and claimed that the windshield of his car had been vandalized,causing him to cancel public appearances. However,a police report had previously concluded that the damage was instead caused by a stray rock. [6] Nevertheless,Kapanke persisted in publicly blaming it on protesters;according to PolitiFact,"Kapanke allowed the myth of the smashed windshield to run wild and uncorrected for almost three weeks after he knew it was not true." [7]
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Republican | Dan Kapanke | 46,416 | 52.46% | ||
Democratic | Brad Pfaff | 41,928 | 47.39% | ||
Scattering | 139 | .15% |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Republican | Dan Kapanke | 45,154 | 51.38% | ||
Democratic | Tara Johnson | 42,647 | 48.53% | ||
Scattering | 80 | .09% |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Democratic | Ron Kind | 126,380 | 50.28% | ||
Republican | Dan Kapanke | 116,838 | 46.49% | ||
Independent | Michael Krsiean | 8,001 | 3.18% | ||
Scattering | 121 | .05% |
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