By GENE KEMMETER
of The Gazette
State Sen. Kevin Shibilski, D-Stevens Point, is officially a candidate for lieutenant governor of Wisconsin in 2002.
Shibilski ended rumors of his candidacy Wednesday night, June 13, by making the announcement during a fund-raiser at the Sky Club in Plover.
"Help me bring our values -common sense and hard work, a commitment to education, appreciation of our environment, and respect for seniors - to the office of lieutenant governor," Shibilski said.
Education, the environment and jobs will be the key issues in his campaign, Shibilski said, calling them important to the central Wisconsin district he has represented since 1995 and to the state as a whole.
Shibilski, 39, was elected to the State Senate in a special election in May 1995 to fill the vacancy created when David Helbach resigned. He started in governmental service after being elected to the Portage County Board from 1982 to 1987 and then was the county register of deeds from 1987 to 1995.
He said he thought about a slogan to use during the campaign and referred to his 1995 Senate campaign when he and others wore blue shirts, now faded, that said "Shibilski for Senate. Our Values, Our Voice."
"I never treated it as a slogan," he said. "I treated it as a job description."
He was the first person in his family to graduate from high school, after four previous generations had left school to work in a paper mill, he said. He then earned a degree in English from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point.
"That explains why education has been my priority in the Legislature," he said, citing his sponsorship of SAGE, a program to reduce class size, and support for better teacher salaries to attract and retain quality educators. "Some of my teachers dramatically changed my life," he said.
Access to education is a key issue, Shibilski said, saying the public school system must provide a quality education for all children, no matter where they live or how much their parents earn.
"We are in danger of making higher education available only to the elite," he said. "We must not let that happen."
Shibilski and his wife, Sue, are avid hunters and fishers and he said he is an environmentalist who wrote the state's mining moratorium law and authored the new Stewardship Program to preserve more public land and access. He also is a main sponsor of the constitutional amendment to protect hunting and fishing rights.
Calling for programs to allow seniors to retire with "the comfort and dignity they deserve" Shibilski rewrote the elderly nutrition law to provide hot, healthy meals to needy seniors and is fighting for passage of a prescription drug plan to ensure seniors can afford the medicine they need.
Although rumored for months to be a possible lieutenant governor candidate because he represented an area outside Milwaukee and Madison, Shibilski declined to announce his intentions.
Lately, Joe Parisi, Dane County clerk, has been working on a possible candidacy for lieutenant, and Shibilski said he feels Parisi is definitely running.
"I want to bring my resume to this election. I think the governor needs someone with strong legislative experience," he said. "We have to negotiate laws with the Legislature."