Bethany Wojahn plans to focus on issues affecting South Dakota children and their families in her campaign for the state House of Representatives from District 32 in Rapid City.

"The most important thing to know about me is that as a wife and mother of strong faith, my priorities focus on issues that affect South Dakota's children and their families," Wojahn said. "Politicians habitually say that children are the future of South Dakota, but that view has great shortcomings. Our children do not merely inhabit the future. They live in the here and now," she said. "They go to school here, they participate in the arts here, they go hunting and fishing with their parents here, they enjoy the beautiful Black Hills, and they depend on adults to pave the way for them. On many levels, we are failing our kids in the here and now, and that must change."

Wojahn, a Democrat, served at Emmanuel Episcopal Church for six years as youth group leader and coordinated child and youth ministries.

She resigned her position in 2002 to pursue a degree, graduating from Black Hills State University in 2006 with a degree in human services, with an emphasis in probation and law enforcement.

Wojahn serves as the Black Hills community co-chair of the State Planning Group for HIV/AIDS Prevention, and is an active member of St. Andrew's Episcopal Church in Rapid City. She served on the education subcommittee at the State Democratic Convention in Oacoma and helped draft the language of the education platform.

Wojahn said education funding in South Dakota is a crisis that can no longer be ignored. She believes education must be funded first in Pierre rather than ignored until the last days of the legislative session. She is also deeply concerned about the thousands of people in South Dakota who are uninsured and underinsured for health care, and believes that South Dakota cannot wait for health insurance solutions on national level.

"No parent should have to work two or three jobs in order to make ends meet," she said. "Nearly every decision we make in Pierre is going to affect our kids in one way or another."