Tony Wisniewski

Tony Wisniewski: Idaho Republican Incumbent for House District 5B

Tony Wisniewski is a Republican member of the Idaho House of Representatives representing District 5B, which covers part of Post Falls and the surrounding Kootenai County area. Wisniewski lives in Post Falls and is seeking re-election in the May 19, 2026 Republican primary. He is a retired manufacturing engineer and small business owner currently serving his fourth term in the Idaho legislature, per the Idaho Legislature's current membership records.

Background

Tony Wisniewski was born in Los Angeles, California, on April 19, 1951. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Utah State University in 1973, per Wikipedia. He has worked in the nuclear, aerospace, computer, and industrial equipment manufacturing fields across his career, including as a manufacturing engineer for Hotstart Incorporated from 2001 to 2017, as documented by Wikipedia. He and his wife Melody have five children and have lived in Post Falls for more than 22 years. He moved to Idaho from Colorado after his employer closed a plant and relocated its manufacturing to Malaysia, eliminating approximately 1,200 jobs, per his campaign website. Before entering politics, Wisniewski served as chairman of the local Society of Manufacturing Engineers chapter and represented industry on a Career and Technical Education advisory board that coordinated local workforce training needs, per his campaign website. He also served as vice chairman of the Kootenai County Republican Central Committee for eight years, as described on his campaign website and confirmed by Ballotpedia.

Political Career

Wisniewski won election to the Idaho House in November 2018 from the District 3B seat, defeating Democrat Dan Hanks with 70.8% of the vote, per Wikipedia. He won re-election from District 3B in 2020. Following redistricting, he ran in District 5B beginning in 2022 and has won that seat in both the 2022 and 2024 general elections, defeating the same Democratic opponent, Teresa Borrenpohl, in each cycle, as documented by Ballotpedia. Wisniewski currently serves on the Commerce and Human Resources, Education, and Environment, Energy and Technology committees, and holds the vice chair position on Commerce and Human Resources, per the Idaho Legislature's current membership records. In the 2025 legislative session, Wisniewski co-sponsored Senate Bill 1044, which requires all Idaho public school students to achieve proficiency in cursive handwriting by the end of fifth grade. The bill passed the House 58-10 and was signed into law, as reported by Local News 8. Presenting the bill, Wisniewski told the House the state had lost "the art of writing not just in cursive, but just the art of writing itself." In the 2026 session, Wisniewski sponsored House Joint Memorial 17, calling on the U.S. Supreme Court to reverse its 2015 ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges, which legalized same-sex marriage nationwide. Wisniewski argued that the ruling "ultimately resulted in a violation of religious rights of individuals and companies" and that marriage was best left to the states. The memorial passed the House 44-26 and advanced to the Senate, as reported by the Idaho Capital Sun. He also co-sponsored House Bill 557, written by the Idaho Family Policy Center, which would bar local governments from maintaining antidiscrimination ordinances that extend protections beyond those in state law. The bill would effectively preempt more than a dozen Idaho cities with local nondiscrimination policies covering sexual orientation and gender identity, as reported by the Idaho Capital Sun.

Policy Positions

On education, Wisniewski supports school choice and the repeal of Common Core standards, as well as expanded vocational training. He has stated that parents are best positioned to understand their children's abilities and that educational choice allows families to send children to a school that best meets their needs, per his campaign website. On healthcare, his campaign website calls for removing what he describes as artificial constraints on healthcare insurance and eliminating the government as a middleman between consumer and doctor. On natural resources, Wisniewski has stated that Idaho resources must be responsibly put to work to promote jobs while conserving natural resources, and has expressed concern about restrictions on public access to lands and the failure to harvest burned timber as a factor in wildfire risk. On firearms, Wisniewski frames the Second Amendment as a recognition of a pre-existing natural right rather than a government-granted privilege. On abortion, Wisniewski has stated that the primary function of government is to protect the lives of its citizens with equal justice, including the unborn and the elderly.

Political Alignment

Tony Wisniewski is aligned with the conservative activist wing of the Idaho Republican Party. His eight-year service as vice chairman of the Kootenai County Republican Central Committee, documented by Ballotpedia, is a substantive affiliation with an organization whose stated mission is to elect candidates committed to implementing the Idaho Republican Party platform as policy. He is also listed as a member of the Idaho Freedom Caucus, per the Idaho Freedom Caucus website. His co-sponsorship of House Bill 557, written by the Idaho Family Policy Center, and his 2026 sponsorship of House Joint Memorial 17, whose introduction was also supported by an Idaho Family Policy Center analyst as reported by Local News 8, reflect documented ties to that organization's legislative agenda. Taken together, his KCRCC tenure, Freedom Caucus membership, and legislative alignment with Idaho Family Policy Center priorities place him within the Conservative Activist classification.

Campaign and Endorsements

Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Wisniewski in the 2024 election. Democrat Lee Wallace has also filed for the District 5B seat in the 2026 general election, per Ballotpedia. No major organizational endorsements for Wisniewski's 2026 campaign have been publicly reported as of April 2026.