Senate District 5 2026 Election Guide

Website: skylarfynboh.com

Party: DFL

Age on Election Day: 28

Community: Akeley

Employment: IT systems administrator

Please share any prior experience and education that you believe qualifies you for office.

I was a Firefighter EMT for my service years and that gave me a perspective on how important funding is for rural communities. Working in first response in both rural and metro service areas gave me the opportunity to see where problems are, and how we can solve them.
I transitioned to IT because I couldn't afford a first responder salary. And I started by working for a business development non-profit. The work we did informed a lot of my beliefs on how we should be doing business out here. Because of that work I don't take the recruiter's offers for double my salary because I know that working for the company I work for keeps money local and every dollar I save my employer is a dollar that can be reinvested right here in my district.

Why are you running?

I'm running for a lot of reasons but a big reason is because our community deserve another option. Times are tough for all of us, and we deserve representation that understands that and makes data driven decisions. Writing legislation that sounds good in a headline isn't good legislation. I want to see our district putting forth legislation that improves our quality of life. I want our district to be known for putting aside the partisanship and working to make Minnesota number one for quality of life. Minnesota is a phenomenal place to live but it could be so much better for everyone if we look at whats working across the world, and working together to grow opportunity.

Why should voters elect you?

I was raised in this district and I want to build a better future for the next generation here. We can't do that by making short term decisions and I have never been one to sacrifice the future for the present. I value work ethic and I'm willing to put in the hours to get things done. If you hire me to represent you I'm going to make myself available to every member of the community because helping your neighbor is what we do out here. That office in Saint Paul holds the power to improve lives out here and the economic policy put forth by those who have represented this district over the last decade hasn't done that. I want to offer the change that we've been demanding for years.

What are your top three priorities, if elected? Please describe specific policy goals.

Affordability is the goal and that's achieved through healthcare, education, and housing reform. Get these right and quality of life meaningfully improves. That's the work we should be doing and it's an investment in our future. We get education right and our children have more opportunities to build the life they want. We get housing right and people can actually afford to stand on their own two feet. We get healthcare right and people can afford prevention before it becomes something that stresses our healthcare system even more.

All of this work unlocks economic potential in our communities which helps make our communities a better place to live and a place where we can stay in our communities and build our own American dreams.

Name a public leader you admire and explain why.

I truly admire Gov. Floyd Olson. I spent my junior and senior years of high school right off of Floyd Olson Memorial Highway and I didn't understand the importance at the time. He was committed to improving the lives of the people doing the work. In his time as Governor he had to make some hard decisions in no win scenarios, but he did the best he could. That's the type of leadership we should expect from our leaders. The work he did wasn't glamorous but it was good work that improved lives across the state particularly out here in farmer labor country. I don't think most people would choose him, but I think we're at a point where we need more leaders like him.

What natural resources policies do you support?

I support policies that take a full accounting of the internal costs of the industry but also the external ones that affect our communities. We do need to strike a balance like you do with all ecosystems. We need good forest management policy and that includes harvesting in a sustainable way. In our changing world we need minerals to support technical advancement. But none of these policies should sell out a future generation for a good quarter. I'm not against any of these industries but if we're allowing foreign companies to come in and exploit our resources and labor that's something that I think we need to give a full consideration of the consequences we're going to bare the costs of. Mismanagement of any natural resource has devastating effects that radiate out for generations.

What policies do you support to address concerns of widespread fraud in state-run programs?

I support independent non-partisan investigations that lead to prosecutions when deemed appropriate. Fraud isn't a partisan issue and it's something that everyone should oppose. From the research I've done, the community members I've spoken to, we need to look at how we handle reporting so we can identify fraud far quicker than we have in the past. We should be looking at the reasons why we have a hard time identifying fraud and implement solutions that empowers those on the ground to report fraud as well as help our communities with accurate reporting so that we're not seeing false positives or false negatives. Addressing fraud is going to be an investment, but the savings are worth the cost.

What policies would you champion to help alleviate growing property tax burdens on residents at the local government level? 

I would work to ensure that the LGA is funded, mandates are funded, and the companies receiving tax breaks while exploiting our communities are paying their fair share. We do better when we work together and just like the metro needs us, we need the metro. The tax policy my opponent put forward sounds good in a headline but it means that we lose many of the services that our communities rely on. That doesn't make things better in this district for anyone in the short or long term. Those services aren't a handout they're a hand-up, and when we help people get on their feet we build a stronger more self sufficient community.

Editor’s note: LGA stands for Local Government Aid, a legislative program that sends state dollars to cities and townships based on a formula.

What does representative democracy mean to you?

Of the people, by the people, for the people. Our leaders should be listening to and working for everyone in our community and the beauty of our system is that it's designed to grow with the people. We get to decide the future we want and that's something we shouldn't take for granted.

Editor's note: Wiener's answers were submitted as part of KAXE's Primary Election Guide. He did not submit updated answers for the general Election Guide, so some responses may reference or be specific to the primary.

Party: Republican

Age on Election Day: 50

Community: Rural, south of Long Prairie

Employment: Wiener Custom Craft. Owner

Please share any prior experience and education that you believe qualifies you for office.

I served the people of House District 5b as their Representative for the last four years. 20 years ago my wife and I started Wiener Custom Craft a wood processing company that produces animal bedding and Bio -mass. Our business gives me connections with two of the largest industries in our area agriculture and forestry. I also attended toTechnical College for Business Management and Sales

Why are you running?

As the endorsed candidate I'm running for change. The state budget has increased from $35 billion to nearly 70 billion in 10 years. Has your income doubled in the last 10 years? NO. And yet career politicians keep voting for massive omnibus bills which only expand government spending. Massive amounts of fraud in the health and human services committee has continued because politicians work for big pharma and lobbyists not the people. I am the only candidate in this race who does not take money from lobbyists. I work for the people not special interests.

Editor’s note: Minnesota’s spending was $62.4 million in fiscal year 2025, compared to $35.9 billion in FY2015. That includes spending from special revenue funds, permanent trust funds, federal dollars and debt services. Spending from the General Fund, Minnesota’s largest and most flexible fund, has grown to $34 billion from $20.3 billion.

Why should voters elect you?

As the Endorsed candidate receiving 80 percent of the votes at the Republican convention I'm truly honored. It has been a great experience serving in the house, now it's time to take that experience to make change in the Senate. As the author of The articles of impeachment I worked to hold Tim Walz accountable for the fraud in our state. I was one leading the charge to keep our old Minnesota flag. At the same time warning that down shifts from the state would massively increase our property taxes which has happened. Leaders need to take charge, not wait for a gavel to make change. I will work for our future generations for my children your children our grandchildren for a better Minnesota.

What are your top three priorities, if elected? Please describe specific policy goals.

Cut Government spending which lowers taxes.
Fraud, hold corrupt politicians accountable.
Restore our old Minnesota flag

Name a public leader you admire and explain why.

KAXE did not receive a response to this question.

What environment and natural resources policies do you support?

Currently health and human services is where the bulk of the fraud is taking place. The departments gauge their success by number of people served but not results. For instance in the housing funding we have spent billions on homelessness and yet the number of homeless has not decreased. These departments needs to prioritize results and efficiency along with Zero Based budgeting in order to reign in the fraud. When fraudster are convicted of frauding government the the specific area where the fraud came from have to have their budget cut by that amount.

What policies do you support to address concerns of widespread fraud in state-run programs?

Currently health and human services is where the bulk of the fraud is taking place. The departments gauge their success by number of people served but not results. For instance in the housing funding we have spent billions on homelessness and yet the number of homeless has not decreased. These departments needs to prioritize results and efficiency along with Zero Based budgeting in order to reign in the fraud. When fraudster are convicted of frauding government the the specific area where the fraud came from have to have their budget cut by that amount.

What policies would you champion to help alleviate growing property tax burdens on residents at the local government level? What changes, if any, would you support to local government aid?

Since before I was elected I proposed a cap on property taxes. Which would protect our homeowners especially in the rural areas. This has to be tied with no unfunded mandates from the state to be successful. Currently the state shifts tax burden down onto the counties and local entities without funding them. LGA and CPA only help alleviate some of the tax burden. As Ronald Reagan said we don't have a tax problem we have a spending problem. We need to cut spending and with an estimated 9 BILLION in fraud there is plenty of areas we can cut.

Editor’s note: The $9 billion figure comes from an estimate from federal prosecutors at a press conference in December 2025; Gov. Tim Walz and state officials said that was a sensationalized number. The prosecutors and Walz had previously agreed that fraud in state-run Medicaid programs, primarily funded by federal dollars, could exceed $1 billion. KSTP has documented fraud cases totaling less than $500 million as of late August, with $250-300 million of that coming from the Feeding Our Future case.