Corrine Hendrickson rolled out her campaign Wednesday for the Democratic nomination in the state Senate 17th District. (Campaign photo courtesy of Hendrickson)

Calling affordability the top issue, child care provider and advocate Corrine Hendrickson launched her bid Wednesday to be the Democratic nominee for the state Senate’s 17th District seat in 2026.

“A lot of people are getting priced out of their homes because property taxes are too high, because our state refuses to invest in the local school districts, the local fire districts, municipalities, highways, counties — and so the local people have to absorb the cost themselves or go without the services,” Hendrickson said in an interview.

“And so communities that are doing OK are increasing their own property taxes, but it’s pricing people out of their houses,” she added. “Other communities can’t do that.”

The 17th District encompasses Crawford, Grant, Green, Iowa and LaFayette counties and the southwestern corner of Dane County. Sen. Howard Marklein (R-Spring Green) currently represents the district.

Hendrickson formally filed to run Sept. 2, but rolled out her campaign Wednesday with an announcement in a local park in her hometown of New Glarus.

Two other Democrats have announced campaigns in the district: State Rep. Jenna Jacobson (D-Oregon) and Lisa White of Potosi, a small business owner.

Hendrickson said most of the counties in the district have lost population — a symptom of unmet needs in rural Wisconsin.

“Something that we really need to look at is the infrastructure of our communities and how do we bring businesses and people back in and how do we make them vibrant again,” she said. “And we really just need to start investing — and that means fair taxation.”

It also means funding services such as quality child care, Hendrickson said, rather than saddling parents with the entire cost.

Hendrickson has been steeped in the child care issue, operating a home-based family child care business for 18 years, and founding with her friend and care provider colleague, Brooke Legler, the advocacy organization WECAN to push for more state child care funding. The name stands for Wisconsin Early Childhood Action Needed.

While the 2025-27 state budget included some direct child care funding for the first time, Hendrickson is among providers who were frustrated that the amount — $110 million for one year — fell short of the nearly $500 million that providers spent months campaigning for. After the budget was signed, she closed her child care operation at the end of August because she felt the state support wasn’t enough to sustain it.

While virtually every Democratic hopeful for the state Legislature has mentioned child care support as a talking point, Hendrickson said she brings to the subject “the personal lived experience” of a care provider.

But she said she has also gained knowledge from care providers and child care experts across the country and studied how states such as Vermont and New Mexico have begun to include broad support for child care in their state budgets.

“I have the opportunity to talk to people within the actual field and bring the ideas to them and say, ‘how does this actually work for you in your business?’” Hendrickson said.

As a candidate her agenda is broader than child care, and as an elected official, she would consult the expertise of others on public policy, she said.

“We shouldn’t have to be experts in everything,” Hendrickson said. “We should know experts in everything that we can then turn to and ask — whether they voted for us or not — like, is this a good idea? Does it solve the problem? Does it create new problems?”

Hendrickson served one term on the New Glarus school board from 2020 to 2023. She also has been involved in her community, leading Cub Scouts, active in parent-teacher organizations and building WECAN with Legler, she said.