| Jeremy Thiesfeldt | |
| State: | Wisconsin |
| State Assembly: | Wisconsin |
| District: | 52nd |
| Term Start: | January 3, 2011 |
| Term End: | January 2, 2023 |
| Predecessor: | John F. Townsend |
| Successor: | Jerry L. O'Connor |
| Office1: | Member of the Fond du Lac City Council |
| Term Start1: | April 2005 |
| Term End1: | April 2010 |
| Party: | Republican |
| Birth Date: | November 22, 1966 |
| Birth Place: | Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, U.S. |
| Alma Mater: | Martin Luther College |
| Profession: | Politician |
| Residence: | Fond du Lac, Wisconsin |
| Website: | Official website |
Jeremy Thiesfeldt (born November 22, 1966) is an American educator and politician from Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. He was a member of the Wisconsin State Assembly for 12 years, representing Wisconsin's 52nd Assembly district from 2011 through 2022. He also previously served on the Fond du Lac city council.[1]
Born in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin on November 22, 1966, Thiesfeldt graduated with a B.S. in elementary education from Martin Luther College in 1989.[1]
Thiesfeldt is a former teacher,[2] having previously taught at Winnebago Lutheran Academy.[3] As of 2018 he was interim principal at Redeemer Lutheran School in Fond du Lac.[4]
Thiesfeldt was a member of the Fond du Lac city council from 2005 to 2010, and was first elected to the Wisconsin State Assembly in 2010 as a Republican.[1] Thiesfeldt is the assemblyman for the 52nd Assembly District,[3] [5] which encompasses Fond du Lac city, Fond du Lac town, Byron, Empire, Oakfield, and Taycheedah, and Oakfield, as well as part of Calumet.[3] He was reelected in 2012 with 60.65% of the vote, defeating Democratic nominee Paul G. Czisny;[6] was reelected in 2014 without opposition;[7] was reelected in 2016 with 63.76% of the vote, defeating Democratic nominee Czisny,[8] and was reelected in 2018 with 61.63% of the vote, defeating Democratic nominee Kevin Booth.[9] On December 9, 2021, he announced that he would not seek re-election.[10]
Thiesfeldt chairs the Assembly Education Committee,[4] [11] [12] and a member of the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction Standards Review Council,[12] In 2012, Thiesfeldt sponsored legislation, passed by the Republican-controlled Assembly, that would allow schools to teach abstinence-only sex education, as opposed to comprehensive sex education.[13] Thiesfeldt opposed Common Core State Standards.[14] [15] and in 2015 sponsored legislation allowing parents to opt-out from state standardized testing for their children.[15] In 2019, Thiesfeldt introduced a bill in the state Assembly that would compel Wisconsin public schools and charter schools to teach cursive handwriting, at an estimated annual cost of $1.7 million to $5.95 million in student materials and some additional sum for teacher training.[2] [12]
In 2018, the day after 17 students and staff members were fatally shot at a high school in Florida, Thiesfeldt posted a tweet linking to an article on the on conservative website PJ Media that romanticized a past era when "high school kids rode the bus with rifles and shot their guns at high school rifle ranges."[4] After a backlash, Thiesfeldt deleted the post, issued an apology for what he called a "poorly timed and insensitive" tweet, and said that he did not believe "that children should be able to bring guns to school."[4]
In the Assembly, Thiesfeldt opposed legislation to repeal a provision allowing parents to send their children to school without vaccinations on grounds of "personal conviction"; Thiesfeldt asserted that the legislation would infringe on parental rights.[16] [17]
In August 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic in Wisconsin, Thiesfeldt signed onto a letter from 49 Republican members of the Assembly urging schools to re-open for in-person instruction.[18]
Thiesfeldt opposes the legalization of marijuana,[19] and in 2013, he and a fellow Fond du Lac Republican lawmaker, state Senator Rick Gudex, introduced a bill that would authorize county and municipal governments to prosecute marijuana possession cases that are dropped by prosecutors.[20] Thiesfeldt and Gudex introduced the legislation after some Wisconsin district attorneys' offices adopted a policy of not pursuing criminal prosecutions for simple possession of small amounts of marijuana.[20] Thiesfeldt states that he supports the "legitimate, regulated medical use of marijuana" and also voted for CBD oil, which he believes "has therapeutic use."[19]
Thiesfeldt opposes legal recognition of same-sex marriage; after the Supreme Court ruled in 2015 that there was a constitutional right to same-sex unions, Thiesfeldt opposed the decision, saying that it was wrongly decided and that "marriage is a state matter."[21]
In 2013, Thiesfeldt proposed legislation to repeal Wisconsin laws on the manufacture, use, and sale of pepper spray.[22]
In 2011, Thiesfeldt proposed legislation to make Wisconsin state income taxpayers ineligible for the state's Homestead Credit if they or any household family member received any federal housing subsidy (such as a Section 8 voucher).[23]
Thiesfeldt supports 2011 Wisconsin Act 10, which weakened public employee unions.[19] He supported controversial state tax incentives for Foxconn's Wisconsin plant.[19]
Thiesfeldt lives in Fond du Lac. He has been married since 1990 and has four children.[1] [19]