LAKESIDE — A third candidate is seeking the 73rd Assembly District seat being vacated by Nick Milroy.
Scott Luostari of Lakeside is running as a republican. An active member of Carpenters Local 361, Luostari, 60, grew up on his family’s dairy and beef farm in Maple. He said he’s been mulling the idea of serving in state government for years, and decided to run when the seat opened up.
“I’m not a lifetime politician. I’m not that, And I don’t want to be. I want to do ... what I need to do or do my best that I can do for a while and then the next person should step up,” said Luostari, who currently represents the 16th District on the Douglas County Board of Supervisors.
Top priorities for the Lakeside man include transportation—improving funding for the county and state highway system.
“Because that’s our tourism ... If they can’t get here on the roads, well, they’re not going to come here,” Luostari said.
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He’d like to continue protecting the environment; supporting business growth; and seeing the port stay open and active.
“To keep our businesses here and growing so our kids coming out of school can stay in the area, they’ll have the jobs and the education system that they can stay in the area if they would like,” Luostari said.
Bringing the area’s agriculture system back into play is also one of his high-level priorities.
Luostari brings both a business owner’s perspective and that of a union employee to the task. He earned a degree in welding from what is now Northwood Technical College and joined the boilermaker’s union before going into residential construction. He ran his own construction company, Scott Luostari Construction, for 25 years.
Another thing the candidate offers is a working knowledge of local government and how state regulations and rules affect it.
Luostari traces his public service career back to the late 1990s when he got involved with the Douglas County Beef Improvement Association, then became a member of the Douglas County 4-H Board. He served as president of the board for years, overseeing maintenance, event planning, budgeting and more.
In 2010, Luostari was appointed as a supervisor for the town of Lakeside. He was elected to the position in 2011 and has served on the board for four terms, currently as town chairman. His wife of 36 years, Vicki, serves as town treasurer.
The Lakeside man was elected to the Douglas County Board of Supervisors in 2018. He was recently reelected to a third term representing the towns of Brule, Cloverland, Lakeside and Maple.
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He’s served on numerous committees at the county level, including land and development, transportation/infrastructure, zoning, and the Northwest Regional Planning Committee.
Luostari said his desire to serve the public was fostered by his mother, an avid volunteer who taught public school for 50 years, and his father, who is both a town and county official.
In addition to his wife Vicki, Luostari has one son and four grandchildren. He remains active in the community as a certified WIAA high school sports official, Douglas County 4-H leader, youth sports coach and member of the Douglas County Chapter of the Wisconsin Farmers Union.
Luostari will contend with fellow Republican Angie Sapik and Democrat Laura Gapske for the seat. The ballot status for all three was listed as pending on Tuesday, May 24, according to the Wisconsin Elections Commission. Nomination papers are due by Wednesday, June 1.
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