Meet the candidates for Assembly and Congress and learn their policy positions
Pat Snyder, Yee Leng Xiong, Kyle Kilbourn and Tom Tiffany appeared at a forum in Wausau. We took some notes and sifted through them to find their actual policy positions
The Wisconsin Institute for Public Policy and Service held a nearly two-hour candidate forum Thursday. Candidates for the 7th Congressional District and the 85th Assembly District were asked a series of questions about their policies, mostly related to business (The Greater Wausau Chambers helped organize the forum).
The Wausonian sifted through the two hours of notes and pulled out the main policy arguments each candidate made (trying to zero in on the most concrete policy proposals where possible). We break them down below so you can get a sense of the policies they will actually support when in office. Candidates are grouped by race, and then in order of incumbent and challenger.
The Wausonian also livestreamed the forum on its own YouTube channel, if you would prefer to watch yourself.
Otherwise, The Wausonian believes election content is important and so we always leave it open, not behind a paywall.
85th District, State Assembly
Pat Snyder
Status: Incumbent, 4 terms
Party: Republican
Career or former career: Former conservative radio host
Money raised in last reporting period (July 30-Sept. 23): $206,697
Money raised so far this year: $225,317
Positions
More government efficiency: Snyder said he wanted government to operate more efficiently so that taxpayers could keep more of the money they earned.
Child care: Snyder says he supports child care reform, and that means specifically adopting a model similar to one that passed in Michigan where lawmakers are helping fund start-up costs for small in-home licensed child care operations. Snyder says he believes that would reduce costs for families struggling with affordability of child care while providing another income opportunity to those who might be able to take care of children in their home. He also supports tax incentives for businesses that start child care centers for their employees’ children.
Supports maintaining the manufacturing and agriculture tax credits: Snyder says there have been calls to cut the manufacturing and agricultural tax credits; he says that would be devastating to those industries in Wisconsin and he would like to keep them.
Supports further cuts to property taxes: Snyder said one of the big issues he heard while out talking to voters are concerns about property taxes, especially with the recent news of property re-valuations. Snyder pointed to a recent change in shared revenue in 2024 that he said should provide some relief to property tax burdens. On the business side, he pointed to the elimination of personal property tax for businesses (which was complicated to calculate and involved things like office equipment).
Supports increasing broadband as a way to attract talent: Snyder says he’s starting to learn of people moving to central Wisconsin from the southern part of the state as more jobs become remote; those people are seeking the more outdoor-oriented lifestyle and the lower cost of living that central Wisconsin brings.
Yee Leng Xiong
Status: Challenger
Party: Democrat
Career or former career: Former Executive Director of the Hmong American Center
Money raised in last reporting period (July 30-Sept. 23): $200,868
Money raised so far this year: $323,420
Positions
Supports Greater Wausau Prosperity Partnership’s plans for talent retention: Xiong said he supports the Greater Wausau Prosperity Partnership’s prescription for talent attraction and retention, which include investing in higher education, and addressing problems in child care and housing, while also supporting recreation activities. He pointed to a lack of state effort in the child care crisis and says Marathon County took on the task itself investing $200,000 to add 240 more child care slots.
Supports public and private partnerships: In order to ensure economic development is strong in urban and rural communities, Xiong says he supports public and private partnerships, citing the county’s partnership with Bug Tussel to build broadband in rural Marathon County.
Supports the state living up to its promises to municipalities: Xiong says the state hasn’t been living up to its promise to fund municipalities - he points to the state promising 30% road aid but in reality only providing 18%. And shared revenue finally increased in 2024 but that was after 15 years of stagnation. He also points to the funding of courts, expecting counties to cover more costs than they should.
Supports accepting Medicaid Expansion dollars: Xiong says he supports the state accepting federal Medicaid Expansion dollars, which would bring in $1 billion into Wisconsin’s economy.
Wisconsin Seventh District, Congress
Tom Tiffany
Status: Incumbent, in office since 2020
Party: Republican
Career or former Career: Former owner of Wilderness Cruises
Money raised: $1,142,440
Money spent: $1,168,030
Positions
Supports securing the border: Tiffany said that the border is the No. 1 issue facing America right now and he supports securing the border as a priority. He also supports streamlining a “sane” legal immigration. (Tiffany spoke about having a work requirement, but it was unclear who that was for or in what context and I can’t find a reference to it on his platform or in interviews he’s done.)
Supports a balanced budget: Tiffany cited his time in the state legislature passing balanced budgets and said he wants to push for that in Washington DC as well as deficits climb.
Supports energy independence: Tiffany said that the country needs to get back to energy independence, and that means supporting clean and affordable energy inside the country with less red tape. He cited a natural gas plant in Superior that he said made it through all of the federal regulations only to be stopped by the city of Superior’s city council.
Supports rail upgrades: One of the more specific proposals Tiffany made was to support railroads upgrading their lines, which he believes will assist economic development by making it easier for companies to ship goods.
Supports challenging the credit card duopoly: Tiffany says he co-authored legislation that would have challenged the credit card duopoly of Visa and Mastercard, saying the fees have gotten so bad that businesses have been forced to offer two sets of prices for credit card payers and cash payers.
Supports reforming the National Environmental Protection Act: Tiffany said the Environmental Protection Act was an important piece of legislation to protect the environment in the 60s, but now it’s weaponized by people who want to stop progress. He also supported revamping the Endangered Species Act, citing how wolves are still on the list despite their population recovering.
Supports tax reform: Tiffany said he supports extending the Trump tax cuts otherwise taxpayers will see a major increase in 2025, and he does not support the Harris campaign’s plan to increase inheritance tax.
Kyle Kilbourn
Status: Challenger
Party: Democrat
Career or former career: Product designer for Fortune 500 companies, professor
Money raised: $214,631
Money spent: $179,619
Positions
Supports the Child Care for Every Community Act: Kilbourn mentioned supporting this piece of legislation, in which the Department of Health and Human Services would support community child care and early learning services for families. It provides a child care subsidy for low-income households.
Supports the Rebuilding Rural America Act: Kilbourn also said he supported the Rebuilding Rural America Act, which would invest $50 billion into economic development, schools, small businesses, infrastructure and hospitals in small communities. He also supports rebuilding town centers, expanding broadband nationwide and stopping the selling off of rural land to mining companies.
Supports Right to Repair: Kilbourn says he supports Right to Repair legislation that would enable consumers to fix their products while requiring companies to provide tools and instructions to do so.
Doesn’t support the 2017 tax cuts: Kilbourn said he believes that the tax cuts passed in 2017 made it easier for companies to send jobs overseas. He called it a “gut punch” to industries in Wisconsin. Instead, he supports education as well as hands-on learning programs.
Supports expanding the small business deduction: Right now that deduction is $5,000 - Kilbourn says he supports expanding it to $50,000. He says that means supporting businesses that add to culture as well, including bars, supper clubs, theaters, music venues and more.