Brandy Tollefson
Accounting manager
Democrat
De Pere
Elected Experience
De Pere School Board (2024-present)
Q&A with the Candidate
Why should voters elect you?
I’m a working mom of three kids, treasurer of the De Pere School Board, and have seen first hand how Madison is failing our families. Rising costs are hurting working families. As a school board member, I have worked to protect our schools, listen to families, and stand up for students, teachers, and taxpayers. I know what it is like to navigate a healthcare system that is too expensive and too complicated. I am running to bring hard work and practical leadership to Madison. This district deserves a representative who listens, shows up, and fights for the people who live here.
What is the top issue in your district? How would you address it?
The cost of living is squeezing families across AD 88. Rising costs, including housing, groceries, healthcare, and gas prices are out of control. I'd fight to make healthcare more affordable and accessible, make sure kids have access to healthy school meals in order to lower grocery costs for families, and make sure that we’re building affordable housing.
How should Wisconsin government operate differently than in the past?
Wisconsin government should be more transparent, more responsive, and more focused on solving problems. For too long, too many decisions in Madison have been driven by partisan fights instead of the needs of local communities. I believe legislators should listen first, work across the aisle when possible, and be honest with voters about what they are doing and why. Most importantly, elected officials should remember that they work for the people, not special interests or political insiders. It’s time to put working families and local communities first.
What is your favorite fun Wisconsin history fact?
As we celebrate 250 years of American democracy, I keep coming back to the fact that Wisconsin was the very first state to ratify the 19th Amendment in 1919, helping fulfill the founding promise that all people are created equal. It took 131 years to get there but Wisconsin led the way. Wisconsin has always been at the forefront of progress and I promise to continue that tradition when I get to Madison.
NEW News Lab general election questions
Relevant Experience
I’m a working mom and a member of the Unified School District of De Pere Board of Education. I know how difficult it’s gotten to afford gas, groceries, housing and health care. Republican leadership in Madison isn’t helping families in my community, whether it’s underfunding our public schools, allowing property taxes to soar or prioritizing health insurance companies over patients. My husband and I are proud to raise our kids here and we love our community. I’ll show up for northeast Wisconsin every day and never stop fighting for our families.
Wisconsin has a large budget surplus. What should lawmakers prioritize: tax cuts, increased spending on public services, or something else?
Local communities have long been neglected under the Republican majority in the state Legislature. Cities, towns, villages and school districts have been asked to do more and more with less support from Madison, forcing communities to raise local property taxes, year after year. The state should be reinvesting our nearly $3 billion surplus back in communities so we can alleviate local tax burdens on Wisconsinites. We can do this while increasing spending on public services by reprioritizing current spending and reducing tax breaks for large corporations, like data center developers
What policies are most important to address Wisconsinites’ concerns about cost of living?
Our priorities must reflect what working Wisconsinites think about daily: education, health care, child care and housing we can actually afford. That means greater state investment in public schools so communities aren't stuck passing endless referendums and raising property taxes. It means bringing transparency to drug supply chains and capping the price of insulin. It means a BadgerCare public option and expanded subsidies for child care providers, so affordable health care and child care are within reach for every family. And it means building more housing through flexible zoning, converting commercial spaces and cutting the planning costs and permitting red tape slowing projects down.
Housing costs have risen in many Wisconsin communities. What role should state government play in creating more affordable housing?
Housing prices are beyond reach for too many Wisconsinites. The state should be removing barriers and incentivizing affordable housing development. Promoting flexible zoning would let smaller, affordable housing, like duplexes, go up in existing neighborhoods without years of delay. Builders also need help covering early costs, like architects and permits, so projects don't stall out for years before they break ground. The state should additionally be investing in the training and apprenticeship programs that produce the skilled workers who make these projects possible.
What policies would best address Wisconsinites’ concerns about property taxes?
Please refer to the answer to the budget surplus question.
Funding of public education has been an issue and has been tied to property taxes for years. Schools often rely on local referendums for funding staffing, programs and maintenance. What specific changes would you support to the state’s school funding formula and how would you pay for them?
Constant referendums and higher property taxes aren't a sustainable solution; we need action from Madison. The state's school funding formula was set in 1993 and no longer works for today. How we teach has changed and the requirements have changed, but the formula has not. I support a guaranteed minimum per section investment, indexing per pupil spending with inflation and increasing the special education reimbursement rate from 38% to at least 60%. These reforms can be funded by using surplus dollars, ensuring the ultra-wealthy pay their fair share and phasing out vouchers for unaccountable private schools.
Should the state direct more funding toward voucher and school-choice programs and what evidence supports your position?
I support phasing out private, unaccountable school vouchers. Wisconsin already spends over $700 million a year on vouchers. Voucher schools can reject or expel students they don't want to accommodate, including kids with disabilities, while public schools must accommodate everyone. Public districts have to pay to bus students to those voucher schools, an additional expense for students they're not even educating. But most importantly, there is no accountability for the public funds, no publicly elected board and private schools are able to increase revenue privately.
What steps can the Legislature take to alleviate court backlogs and address the need for more judges, prosecutors and public defenders?
We deserve a justice system that works, and with the staff shortages and delays in Brown County right now, it isn't. Cases pending more than two years have jumped from eight to over 500 because our courtrooms are without the judges, prosecutors and public defenders they need. Republicans have controlled the Legislature for over a decade, and only this year introduced a bill that would have brought more judges and public attorneys to Brown County. However, they let their own bill die without ever reaching a Senate vote. We cannot afford for Republicans to repeat this mistake next session.
How do you feel about the number of prisons in Wisconsin - should there be more? Less? Why?
Wisconsin's system is nearly 6,000 people over designed capacity, with some facilities operating far beyond their limit. That's not safe for the people incarcerated or the staff working there. I believe in closing outdated facilities like Green Bay Correctional (GBCI) and expanding early release for nonviolent offenders who complete substance treatment and who can safely return to society. Overcrowding is a sentencing and reentry problem as much as it is a capacity problem. I am willing to work with anyone in Madison to solve this issue, keep violent offenders behind bars and promote safe and strong communities.
How significant an issue is climate change? What would you advocate for related to climate change if elected?
Climate change is a cost we're already paying for in Wisconsin through higher utility bills and runoff pollution flowing into the Fox River and Green Bay. I want the state to follow through on our Clean Energy Plan and get us to 100% clean electricity by 2050. I'll vote to protect conservation efforts and outdoor recreation by reauthorizing the Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Fund at $72 million a year, protect the Fox River from agricultural runoff and make sure new data centers pay for their own power and water.
Wisconsin’s bipartisan support for a PFAS law to hold polluters accountable and the state's lower maximum contaminant levels for drinking water put it out in front nationally on forever-chemical protections. Some say the best way to prevent PFAS contaminations is to outlaw their use, while others hope to reverse the regulations. How important is this issue? What still needs to be addressed? How should remediation costs be raised?
The $133 million secured last session for PFAS remediation is an important step, but there is more work to do. Many families in our state are still dealing with contaminated wells and uncertain water quality. I fully support continued state investment in well replacement, banning the sale of products that contain PFAS and requiring the DNR to notify county and tribal health departments when PFAS standards are exceeded.
What do you think of the implementation process for the new Medicaid work requirements so far in Wisconsin? What has worked? What could be improved?
Every Wisconsinite deserves access to affordable health care when they need it. This issue is personal to me – when my son was 9 years old, he landed in the ER with a Type 1 diabetes diagnosis. If someone like him is unable to work, denying them care is a death sentence. No one can predict when they may need a safety net, and I’ve heard from voters this requirement is not working when they’ve needed help. Time and again, my opponent has sided with the big insurance and drug companies. I will put patients ahead of profits.
What do you think about funding the 988 crisis line long-term at the state level?
Our 988 line has answered hundreds of thousands of calls; it saves lives and families from the injury or loss of loved ones. Funding for 988 shouldn’t be stalled by partisan majorities. I would advocate for stable and permanent funding. My opponent introduced a bill last session in support of 988 with no funding provisions outlined. Programs as critical as this one requires more than empty legislation.