Amy Binsfeld

Amy Binsfeld was born Amy Radue in Howards Grove, Wisconsin, and graduated from Manitowoc Lutheran High School in Manitowoc, Wisconsin. Shortly after graduating, she went to work in her family's 100-year-old business, Bitter Neumann Appliance Furniture Mattress, which has been her primary employer ever since.^[1] She returned to school later in life and earned a degree in paralegal studies in 2012.^[2]

In April 2022, incumbent Wisconsin state representative Tyler Vorpagel announced that he would not run for re-election later that year.^[3] A week later, Binsfeld announced her candidacy for the Republican nomination in Vorpagel's heavily Republican 27th Assembly district.^[1] Surprisingly, no other candidates chose to stand for election in the 27th district, and Binsfeld was unopposed in the Republican primary. Another candidate did eventually join the general election race, when retired former five-term Democratic state representative Chester A. Gerlach chose to come out of retirement to try to win the seat as an independent.^[4]

Binsfeld ultimately prevailed in the 2022 general election with 64% of the vote.^[5] She took office in January 2023, at the start of the 106th Wisconsin Legislature.

In 2023 the Wisconsin Supreme Court struck down Wisconsin's legislative maps and new maps were enacted under pressure from the Court. Under the new maps, Binsfeld was drawn out of the 27th district and was drawn into the new 25th Assembly district. In the 25th district, she would have faced an incumbent-vs-incumbent primary election against Paul Tittl, whose home city of Manitowoc anchors the district.^[6] Instead, Binsfeld chose to establish residency in the new 26th Assembly district, where there is no incumbent.^[7] The 26th district comprises all of the city of Sheboygan, which had previously been divided between the 26th and 27th districts to dilute the political power of the Democratic votes of the city. Under the new maps, the 26th district is one of the most politically competitive districts in the state.^[8]

In the 2024 election, Binsfeld faced a challenge from Democrat Joe Sheehan, a former superintendent of Sheboygan schools and executive director of the Sheboygan County Economic Development Corporation.^[9] Binsfeld was defeated by a narrow 900 vote margin.^[10][11]

Amy Radue took the name Binsfeld when she married Nicholas "Lurch" Binsfeld in July 2002. They lived for several years in Plymouth, Wisconsin, before moving to their present home in the town of Mosel. They have two children. Nick works for the Department of Public Works in the city of Sheboygan.^[2]