Republican state Sen. Dan Kapanke (R) is strongly considering challenging seven-term Rep. Ron Kind (D).

Kapanke said in a phone interview last week that he is close to making an announcement about a Congressional bid.

“I’m more than thinking about it and I haven’t announced yet, but I’m very close,— Kapanke confirmed.

Kind has won re-election by hefty margins since first winning the seat with 52 percent in 1996.

Kapanke, who just won re-election to the state Senate in November, said he believed Kind was vulnerable and that he has come across “a groundswell of people who are concerned about what’s happening at the state level, as well as at the federal level— in the western Wisconsin district.

Kapanke has not met yet with the National Republican Congressional Committee. However, meetings with the committee and other GOP campaign officials are in the works.