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Competition for the 32nd District seat in the Wisconsin State Senate is heating up, with a challenger to incumbent Senate Minority Leader Jennifer Shilling, D-La Crosse, filing papers and an independent candidate also announcing his run.

Democrat Jared Landry of La Farge filed papers to run in an Aug. 9 primary for the district, which covers La Crosse, Crawford and Vernon counties, as well as parts of Monroe and Richland counties. Winning the seat would be his launching pad toward the presidency, he said.

Tossing his hat into the ring as an independent is Chip DeNure of La Crosse, a retired probation agent who lost a 2006 primary challenge to U.S. Rep. Ron Kind, D-La Crosse, as well as a mayoral run in 2001.

The primary winner and DeNure would square off in the Nov. 8 general election against Republican candidate Dan Kapanke, whom Shilling unseated in a 2011 recall election and who announced his quest to reclaim the seat on April 18.

Landry, 37, a former private investigator who said he plans to campaign full time, balked at criticizing Shilling, saying, “I don’t believe that’s the direction to go, so I wouldn’t criticize anybody.”

Landry argued against property taxes, saying instead that land should be taxed when it is bought and sold.