Trek Bicycle executive and former Wisconsin commerce secretary Mary Burke announced her run for governor of Wisconsin on Monday, PostCrescent.com reported.
"I know that Wisconsin workers can compete with anyone in the world. That's why when you look around at places like Minnesota, Indiana and Ohio, whose economies are creating more jobs than ours, you wonder what the heck's going on?" Burke said in a campaign video.
"Wisconsin ranks 45th out of 50 states in projected job growth. We're fifth from the bottom. I'm running for Governor because we can do better than that. A lot better. But to do it, we've got to make some real changes in Madison," she said.
Burke, a Democrat, is a Harvard graduate with a resume full of different business positions at Trek Bicycle, a company her father founded in 1976. She left the company in 2005 when then-Gov. Jim Doyle asked her to serve as commerce secretary, a position she fulfilled for two years.
Joe Fadness, executive director of the Republican Party of Wisconsin, said Burke has a history of raising taxes on "hard-working families" while working in the Doyle administration.
"A vote for Mary Burke is a vote to take Wisconsin backward," Fadness said in a statement on Monday. "Burke was part of the team that left Wisconsin with a $3.6 billion budget deficit, big tax hikes, and massive job loss - a mess that was fixed by Governor Scott Walker."
Current Gov. Walker, a Republican, is seeking re-election in 2014. He won the race in 2010 and survived a recall last year.
In addition to a successful business career, Burke has dedicated her efforts toward charity projects. She served as president of the Boys and Girls Club of Dane County for nine years and donated about $2.6 million to the district's AVID/TOPS program, along with the Burke Foundation. She also gave $2.5 million to help start a Madison charter school in 2011, although the school board decided against it.
