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Tony Reichenberger (Lakeville Area Board of Education At-large, Minnesota, candidate 2025)

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Tony Reichenberger

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Candidate, Lakeville Area Board of Education At-large

Elections and appointments
Next election

November 4, 2025

Education

High school

Oshkosh West High School

Bachelor's

University of Wisconsin, LaCrosse, 1996

Personal
Birthplace
Oshkosh, Wis.
Profession
Attorney
Contact

Tony Reichenberger is running in a special election to the Lakeville Area Board of Education At-large in Minnesota. He is on the ballot in the special general election on November 4, 2025.[source]

Reichenberger completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2025. Click here to read the survey answers.

[1]

Biography

Tony Reichenberger provided the following biographical information via Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey on October 3, 2025:

  • Birth place: Oshkosh, Wisconsin
  • High school: Oshkosh West High School
  • Bachelor's: University of Wisconsin LaCrosse, 1996
  • Gender: Male
  • Profession: Attorney
  • Incumbent officeholder: No
  • Campaign slogan: Empowering our Future Together
  • Campaign website

Elections

General election

The general election will occur on November 4, 2025.

Special general election for Lakeville Area Board of Education At-large

Brett Nicholson and Tony Reichenberger are running in the special general election for Lakeville Area Board of Education At-large on November 4, 2025.

Candidate
Brett Nicholson (Nonpartisan)
Tony Reichenberger (Nonpartisan) Candidate Connection

Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Endorsements

Reichenberger received the following endorsements. To send us additional endorsements, click here.

Campaign themes

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Candidate Connection

Tony Reichenberger completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2025. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Reichenberger's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

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Hello! My name is Tony Reichenberger and I am a Lakeville resident currently running for ISD 194 School Board. I have undergaduate degrees in Public Administration and Political Science and am a 2005 graduate of William Mitchell College of Law. I've been an attorney for the past 20 years, and now currently work for an AI company in the legal space.

Prior to law school, I worked on Capitol Hill and for a Public Finance firm in Roseville, helping cities and schools fund themselves. I understand the processes and personalities that manage local governance and can be an effective leader in that regard.

My wife and I moved to Lakeville for the schools. Its a wonderful community and the people here are fantastic. But the School Board has been disfunctional for some time now and needs to improve. Our teachers are not respected as much as they should be, our city is growing at a rapid clip I don't think current administration is ready for and there is a lack of interest or impetus in addressing many key concerns. That's why I'm running-- to bring attention to these issues and be an advocate for those that need them addressed as well.
  • I am the Teachers candidate. I have been endorsed by the Teachers Union (EML-LEAF). We ask a lot of our teachers. Yet we are letting good teachers leave-- neighboring cities pay notably more and it doesn't take a genius to figure good teachers will go where they can be appreciated more. That means other teachers must pick up the slack for coverage or get shuffled around leading to a lack of continuity in learning for our young ones. Keeping good teachers is cheaper in the long run, provides better results and improves the situations within the schools. IT JUST MAKES SENSE. It's time.
  • We need to prepare for Lakeville's continued expansion. Lakeville is 8th in size in current enrollment, and it's only going to escalate in size as more development occurs. Our school system is not prepared for this-- we are currently 22nd in the state in resources. We keep trying to do more with less. Good schools increase property values, improve results for students and open opportunities for all. We need to do better.
  • Technology when it comes to education can be both a blessing and a curse; a blessing in that the jobs of the future are going to be tech oriented and require base knowledge on a variety of technological areas. It's why I am very much in favor of the Levy Referendum this election as well. But we can't let technology replace foundational knowledge-- technology is a method/medium over which we work, but does not reflect the logic or critical thinking required to consider or enhance one's intellect. As AI continues to grow, this dichotomy will only get greater-- we need to be sure that we balance the need for fundamental knowledge along with empowering them to understand this important technology.
Public policy in all of it's forms ultimately comes down to financing; both from an administration standpoint and on an initiative standpoint. We need to make sure our underlying financials and future accounting is solid, transparent and reflect the community. We need to prepare now for the strain on our resources that will happen as more development occurs around Lakeville.

What am I passionate about? I'm passionate about good policy for Lakeville and empowering Lakeville residents and students.
We all have teachers who we remember. Third grade was tough for me, because it was the first year after my parents separated. My home life at the time wasn't fun, I was starting to have issues socializing, so I turned to schoolwork. My teacher was Mr. Eiden, a guy who was very interested in getting kids excited for science. Mr. Eiden took all that bundled up 3rd grade energy and anxiety and gave it focus. Unlike other teachers that just kind of accepted the standard of work I was handing in, Mr. Eiden actually challenged me. I learned to push myself and excel. Yes, I was a nerd (and still am) and am proud of it. Mr. Eiden was a big reason why.

When I got to high school, it was Mr. Holliday. He tought social studies, history, contemporary issues and government. But it wasn't just about those things; it was about the underlying issues and ideas that were the sources of much of our societal conflicts. If you wanted to understand why the Palestinian-Israeli conflict in the '80s and '90s was occuring, Mr. Holliday could give you a fair and objective breakdown which would give you an understanding about it without taking a side. I remember having him for a couple classes not long after the Berlin Wall fell and communism collapsed, and he was prescient in telling us that the world is going to completely change for our generation, and we'll view it through an entirely different lens than the Cold War Boomers and Silent Generation did. He was right. When there was County Government Day, he asked for volunteers to take part and encouraged me to do so. I was the only one from our school that went that year. When I got back and asked him why he suggested I go, he said "Because I think you'd make a great leader someday, you'd be good at it." I'm still humbled by that moment.

All of this is to say, we all remember the teachers that make an impact on our lives.
The primary role of a school board member is to be the voice of the residents on the board. The Superintendent and district staff, along with principals and teachers implement and execute policy, but it's the school board that determines what policies are and what issues to focus on.
EML-LEAF (Education Minnesota-Lakeville, Lakeville Education Assistants Federation)
AI is an extremely powerful technology and we are still grappling with understanding it's impact. In no way should it ever replace the personal interaction that a teacher can provide, and it should not be seen as a crutch for younger students learning foundational knowledge. But as the technology advances, teachers and schools will be able to find creative means for incorporating AI into the curriculum.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

See also


External links

Footnotes