The Times had each of the Democratic candidates respond to questions this week and today is publishing those answers in their entirety.

1. What change in state government would be your top priority in your first term, and how would you work to accomplish it?

Wisnefske: My top priority as your state representative will be working for real solutions to the broken health care system. As a nurse for over 30 years, I've seen the health care crisis first-hand. I think that it is wrong for anyone who works hard, pays taxes and plays by the rules to go without decent, affordable health care. People ought to be able to take their kids to a doctor, and those who are retired, ill or temporarily out of work shouldn't risk losing their life savings because someone in their family gets sick.

We deserve to have choices among plans so we can decide what's best for our own families, including the choice to keep our current doctor. I will work across the aisle and with business owners, health care professionals, farmers and people from across Wisconsin to find a solution that fits the needs of everyone in Wisconsin.

Waelti: Top policy priority is to reform K-12 funding formula (see question 3). Top priority for change in state government would be to change the way in which our state Supreme Court justices are seated. The ability to raise huge sums of money should not be a requirement to attain a seat on the court. And a sitting justice should not have to be preoccupied with raising a campaign war chest to retain his/her seat. I prefer a merit system similar to that of Missouri. Second best would be public financing of Supreme Court elections. As a freshman assemblyman, I would work with like-minded more senior legislators to accomplish this change that is desperately needed to retain confidence in our judicial system.

2. What specific changes can state government make to improve the financial situations of your constituents, and how will you help facilitate those changes?

Wisnefske: The rising price of gas and groceries, property taxes and job loss are seriously affecting families in our community and throughout the state. The middle class is being squeezed and many are struggling to make ends meet. Unfortunately, Brett Davis and the Republican Assembly have made tough times even tougher.

Unlike our current representative, I support forcing big oil companies to pay their fair share of taxes, as they enjoy record profits at the expense of consumers. I support a plan to cut property taxes by about $584 on the average home by exempting the first $60,000 on a home's value. I will fight to ban companies that receive state contracts from sending Wisconsin jobs overseas and I will work to create good jobs that support families.

Waelti: In the short run, we need to take pressure off property taxes, especially for senior citizens (see question 3) and relieve financial anxiety of people regarding health care (question 4). Longer-run financial opportunity relates to jobs and regional economic development. Agriculture and related industry, including the best cheese factories, retail outlets and breweries in the nation, and manufacture and sale of agricultural inputs, is the historic economic base of this region. Health care is an expanding sector of our national economy, and we are fortunate to have in this region some of the premier health facilities in the nation.

We build on our strengths. With our proximity to Madison and lower living costs, there is no reason why technology and biotech firms related to agriculture and health care cannot be located in the 80th Assembly District. We attract these enterprises and people who staff them by providing excellent schools and fully funding our excellent technical college system - and by encouraging and supporting our many local organizations and public spirited citizens in their efforts to make our cities, towns and villages even more desirable places in which to live.

3. How, specifically, should state government reform education funding and what role would you play in that effort?

Wisnefske: The current school funding formula is outdated and pits property taxpayers against schools. Tight budget caps leave little or no space for skyrocketing fuel, food and health care costs let alone increased funding for school safety.

I support legislation that has been introduced to set a timeline for the Legislature to address this problem. The Republican-controlled Assembly refused to pass this bill and they have offered no solutions of their own for over a decade. I believe the Legislature needs to hold itself accountable for reforming this system.

School funding should be based on the needs of individual school districts instead of an arbitrary formula with winners and losers. Any solution should use a combination of state funds and a reduced level of local property taxes derived and distributed in a manner that treats taxpayers fairly.

Waelti: The goal is to reduce the need for periodic divisive referenda simply to maintain existing programs. And it must be accomplished in a way to take pressure off property taxes. As there is no free lunch, where do we get the dough?

For starters, let's make sure Fortune 500 corporations doing business in Wisconsin ante up their share of taxes that finance public services from which they benefit. And exemptions from sales taxes need to be reviewed. To accomplish school funding reform, stakeholders and key legislators from both sides of the aisle must be involved in its formulation, and have a sense of "ownership" of any proposal that is brought before the Legislature. The Wisconsin Alliance for Excellent Schools (WAES) is a working coalition of stakeholders that has already done much of the groundwork. The legislative leadership should create the environment for it to be done, and insist that a credible plan be hammered out and brought up for action by the end of next session.

4. What specific changes in policy would you support to increase the number of Wisconsin residents covered by health insurance and to reduce the costs of health care?

Wisnefske: It isn't right that people have to think twice before switching jobs or starting a business because they're worried they won't be able to get health insurance. We need comprehensive health care reform, not just a Band-aid. That means putting government to work for taxpayers again, not for special interests, by requiring insurance companies to put more investments into patient care and less into efforts to deny care.

I support legislation that prevents insurance companies from excluding patients because of "pre-existing conditions." I believe small businesses want to provide health care to their employees, but the costs can be crippling in these tough economic times. That is why I support giving small businesses and individuals the opportunity to purchase the same health care that our legislators give themselves. There are a wide range of ideas worth examining as to how we solve the health care crisis and I intend to bring over 30 years of experience as a nurse to the table in Madison.

Waelti: There are too many people who are uninsured or underinsured who fear financial ruin through accident or illness - and too many people who fear losing the insurance they already have. This issue should have been addressed at the federal level long ago and, at the least, should be addressed by the next president and the Congress. Absent this, what can we do at the state level? So-called "health savings accounts" are NOT the answer. A revised "Healthy Wisconsin" plan, structured in a way that benefits small business is a logical place to start. Preventive measures should be included. Assurance of accessible, affordable health care would provide greater financial stability to individuals and to the broader economy and, as is all too evident, such stability is urgently needed in these times.

5. What, specifically, distinguishes you from your primary opponent and makes you a stronger challenger to Brett Davis in November?

Wisnefske: My husband and I have lived, worked and raised our children in Green County over the past 29 years. I understand the issues facing working families and as your state representative I will bring REAL change to Madison. My leadership in the community has been recognized locally with the Green County Quality of Life Award and statewide with the Rural Wisconsin Health Cooperative Ambassador Award in honor of my work in rural communities to promote health and wellness.

As I visit doors throughout communities in the district, I hear time and again the need for access to high-quality, affordable health care. Our current representative has done nothing to solve this major crisis. He has rejected legislation that would allow employees of small businesses access to the same health care that he has received for years as a legislator. In fact, Brett Davis and the Republican-controlled Assembly have repeatedly blocked any kind of real reform.

I have 30 years of experience as a nurse that I will bring with me to Madison. I am committed to bringing forward real solutions to the health care crisis and other problems we face in today's economy.

Waelti: Those signs immediately north of Monroe promoting my candidacy are planted on farmsteads of friends and neighbors where I once worked on threshing crews. The one on the home farm is in the very field in which, in an earlier life, I loaded countless hay bales. I combine these native roots with broad experience, ranging from three years as an enlisted Marine, to a career as an economist that has taken me across the nation and to much of the world, including two years in Kenya and four years in the Middle East. Fourteen of those years were as an academic department head, during which I worked with students, faculty and administrators to solve problems.

Experience in government ranges from service on a town committee in the Monroe town hall located 25 yards from the land I worked as a kid, to a year in the Pentagon as economic advisor to the assistant secretary of the Army (Civil Works). With that broad experience, I am comfortable with people in all walks of life - farmers and working people of all varieties, enlisted military personnel, business and professional personnel, politicians, academics - you name it. One of my strengths is the predilection and ability to find areas of agreement in complex situations, an essential trait of an effective legislator. By nature, I'm more cooperative than competitive. But if I'm the nominee, win or lose, Brett will know he's been in a race.

6. How much money have you raised and spent on this campaign, and how and where have you spent it? How much of your campaign funding has come from individuals within the district, and how much has come from "special interests?"

Wisnefske: I am proud to have a broad base of support from contributors that agree with my stance on issues and trust my leadership, including over 100 individuals from across our district. Communicating with the thousands of voters in this district could not be done without the generous donations of my supporters. My campaign has spent about $7,000.

Waelti: We have raised just over $11,000, predominantly consisting of modest contributions from a lot of supporters in this district. Approximately 10 percent has come from friends and former colleagues out of district. We have spent most of this, around $10,000, on this primary race, mainly on literature, signage and advertising, postage and mailing. We have received ZERO money from special interests.

Editor's Note: Detailed campaign finance information for all state candidates can be accessed at the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign Web site, www.wisdc.org.