First-term Democrat Ryan Spaude wants to phase out Wisconsin's voucher program. Republican challenger Bobby Lindsey wants to keep it. Here's where the 89th Assembly District candidates stand.
Voters on Green Bay's west side and in Ashwaubenon will choose between a first-term Democrat who wants to phase out Wisconsin's voucher program and a Republican who wants to keep it, in an Assembly seat both parties are treating as a battleground. Rep. Ryan Spaude, a 32-year-old former Brown County prosecutor, faces Bobby Lindsey, a 61-year-old retired Milwaukee police officer and Marine Corps veteran, in the 89th Assembly District, according to candidate surveys published by the Northeast Wisconsin News Lab.
The two agree on more than their parties might suggest. Both told the News Lab the state should put part of its surplus into public schools, that Brown County's courts need more prosecutors and public defenders, and that Green Bay Correctional Institution should close. They split on school choice, taxes, climate policy and the federal Medicaid work requirements that take effect in January.
Spaude won the open seat in 2024 by 826 votes out of about 29,500 cast, beating Republican Patrick Buckley 51.3% to 48.5%, and announced his run for a second term in March. The Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee lists the district as a target race and says Democrats need a net gain of five Assembly seats to take the majority.
Both campaigns run largely on party money. Transparency USA's tally of Spaude's committee shows about $1.97 million raised, roughly $1.66 million of it from the Assembly Democratic Campaign Committee's segregated fund. A Better Wisconsin Together, a liberal advocacy group, said in an Oct. 2 release that $613,928 tied to the Uihlein family and Diane Hendricks has reached Lindsey's campaign through contributions, transfers and in-kind spending by Republican legislative committees. The group also said less than 1% of his July-to-September money came from individuals.
Ryan Spaude spent about three years in the Brown County District Attorney's office prosecuting drunk drivers before his 2024 run. His sharpest position is on vouchers. He told the News Lab he supports sunsetting the statewide program gradually, arguing that private schools taking public money aren't held to the same standards and can turn away students with disabilities. He said underfunding public schools pushes districts to referendums, which he described as voters raising "our own darn property taxes."
On cost of living, Spaude introduced a prescription drug bill in January 2025 as part of a Democratic package that would cap insulin copays at $35 under some plans and create a state Office of Prescription Affordability. He told the News Lab that Republican leaders never gave the package a hearing. He also wants the state to let municipalities regulate short-term rentals, which he blames for squeezing Green Bay's housing supply. Green Bay's short-term rentals grew from about 120 in 2022 to roughly 430 by October 2025, and state law bars cities from capping licenses or zoning the rentals out of neighborhoods, WPR reported.
His public safety work tracks his prosecutor background. He unveiled a bill in February with Mothers Against Drunk Driving to close OWI loopholes and expand ignition interlock devices, and he proposed crypto ATM rules with Sen. Kelda Roys that would cap deposits at $1,000 a day and require operators to refund scam victims.
Spaude was one of 10 Assembly Democrats who voted in May for a surplus deal between Gov. Tony Evers and Republican leaders that paired $870 million in income tax rebates with roughly $600 million for special education and property tax relief. After speaking with other elected officials across the state, The Fox Watershed was able to conclude a large reason for Democrats voting against the surplus bill was to prevent a deficit in our next budget cycle. The state Senate killed it, with Democrats and three Republicans voting no. He also supports permanent state funding for the 988 crisis line, and he told the News Lab climate change is real and that he co-sponsored a bill to curb carbon emissions.
Bobby Lindsey spent 25 years in policing before retiring in 2015 and now teaches criminal justice courses, according to his campaign announcement, which promised "common sense" fiscal policy and said district voters aren't focused on divisive identity politics. His campaign site calls for building more homes to bring down prices and returning surplus money to taxpayers, who he says were overcharged.
On schools, Lindsey told the News Lab he supports school choice while keeping public schools a priority, since most Wisconsin students attend them. He'd put part of the surplus toward school funding, restructure the state aid formula around district needs and repeal the 400-year school revenue increase. It is worth noting that this veto does not force districts to increase taxes but merely allows them to increase the mill rate. That increase came from Evers' 2023 partial veto, which lets districts raise per-pupil revenue by $325 a year through 2425 and which the Wisconsin Supreme Court upheld 4-3 in April 2025. His survey answers didn't say how districts would make up that revenue.
He wants lower property and income taxes and says the state should keep insurers and pharmacy benefit managers from taking advantage of residents. On housing, he'd cut regulation and red tape to lower construction costs without overriding local control, and he told the News Lab more government spending isn't the answer. His site backs a market-driven health care system with more price transparency while prioritizing coverage for people with pre-existing conditions and low-income postpartum mothers.
Lindsey supports the Medicaid work requirements in principle, saying public assistance shouldn't replace a paycheck, but he said no one should lose coverage over paperwork. Spaude blamed the requirements on the federal budget law President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans passed last year and said he voted to give the state health department money to carry them out. On climate, Lindsey said both parties want clean air and water and argued for state support programs without heavy regulation of manufacturers and farmers. On PFAS, he said identifiable polluters should pay for cleanup.
Both want GBCI closed. Spaude said current inmates should finish their sentences at other state prisons, and Lindsey called the prison outdated and overpopulated and said he'd support funding its closure and relocation with the next governor. The last state budget set a 2029 closure date before Evers partially vetoed it, and Reps. Ben Franklin and David Steffen are drafting a bill that would close the prison four years after it's signed, WBAY reported in September.
Both also back more resources for Brown County's backlogged courts. Spaude said he voted for a bill adding judges, prosecutors and public defenders there that cleared the Assembly but stalled in the Senate. Both support continued funding for 988, with Lindsey adding that it should work alongside local police and EMS.
The Pentagon used an emergency process to remove a checkbox for Americans abroad who've never lived in the U.S. Democrats have sued. Wisconsin told its clerks the change doesn't affect who can vote here.
Incumbent Tammy Weckler-Sternard, Republican Curt Vandertie and independent Randy Wagner agree Door County shouldn't sign a 287(g) agreement. The campaign has turned on a union no-confidence vote and released personnel files.
Federal refund checks are going to marketplace enrollees who paid full price this year, a small slice of the market. Wisconsin insurers want about 21% more for 2027, and open enrollment starts Nov. 1.
Federal prosecutors have charged three Wisconsin residents with illegal voting since Sept. 2, part of a midterm-season push by the Justice Department. State records show how rare the crime is here.
Join for free and unsubscribe at anyime
.jpg){kind=link}