Composite 5.91 / 10, weighted per the Constitutional Weight Schedule.
Below the 700 bar, Author's Verdict: not supported.
Thin freshman record (seated November 2024) with no documented Severity-class conduct in either direction, but also no demonstrated stand at personal cost that would carry a high mark. The genuine civic positive is a repeated, explicit denunciation of political violence "regardless of political affiliation," including defense of opponents targeted by "Wanted" posters. Weighed honestly against that are an aggressive personal stock-trading pattern (advisor-managed, no documented duty-overlap, an appearance-concern, not a finding), uncharged 2024 nomination-paper complaints, and criticism for declining to hold open town halls. Honest middle; not yet a supportable record on conduct alone.
No military service on record. Tony Wied is a businessman, founder/owner of the Dino Stop chain of convenience stores and gas stations in Northeast Wisconsin (sold 2022), prior to elected office. No service badge applies; this note exists so the field carries no null values.
The 14 measures
Each measure is scored 0–10 against an anchored example, with a cited source. Hover/expand why? for the reasoning.
| # | Measure | Score | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| M01 | Duty to Constitution & Rule of Law | 6 | why?Seated November 2024 in a special election, could not have signed the December 2020 Texas v. Pennsylvania amicus and was not present for any 2021 certification. No documented process-subversion conduct and no documented constitutional-fidelity stand at cost either. Thin record defaults to the middle; not scored on any impeachment, confirmation, or certification VOTE. [source] |
| M02 | Party Over Country | 6 | why?Led the Wisconsin delegation in a bipartisan letter to the President supporting a state Major Disaster Declaration, a modest cross-aisle institutional act. Tenure is too short for a Lugar Bipartisan Index score; not penalized for caucus alignment. Modest positive on a thin record. [source] |
| M03 | Persons of Equal Worth | 7 | why?Repeatedly and explicitly affirmed opponents' personhood: 'political violence has no place in our country, regardless of your political affiliation,' and condemned 'Wanted' posters targeting elected officials of both parties as 'dehumanizing.' Affirmative defense of equal worth across the aisle, a genuine high-mark instance on an otherwise thin record. [source] |
| M04 | Weaponization of Justice | 6 | why?No documented weaponization of state power against rivals; no criterion-class conduct. Freshman tenure with no relevant documented incidents, default middle. [source] |
| M05 | Incitement / Anti-Belonging | 6 | why?No documented pattern of inflammatory or enemy-making rhetoric; his on-record statements on political violence trend de-escalatory. No documented falsehood-rhetoric drag. Middle for a short record with no demonstrated rhetorical cost paid. [source] |
| M06 | Fiduciary Conduct | 5 | why?Aggressive personal stock-trading volume (~$1.3M in trades in a single month; 25 transactions in one report) is a documented appearance-of-impropriety concern even where advisor-managed and compliant, high volume eventually intersects, or appears to intersect, official duties. Separately, 2024 complaints alleged misleading nomination-paper signature-gathering; uncharged and unresolved, weighed as an appearance-concern, never a finding. Both drag fiduciary perception below the middle. [source] |
| M07 | Duty to Call Out | 5 | why?No documented instance of calling out his own side at cost, the higher active-duty bar. Not penalized for party alignment; simply unproven on a short record. Below middle reflecting absence of demonstrated independent conduct, not a violation. [source] |
| M08 | The Discretion Test | 6 | why?No documented discretion test passed or failed, no incident where private gain was foregone for principle, and no abuse of discretion on record. Default middle. [source] |
| M09 | The No-Camera Test | 6 | why?No documented gap between private conduct and public posture. Insufficient record to mark either direction; default middle. [source] |
| M10 | Constituent-vs-Donor Vote | 5 | why?Documented criticism for not hosting open town halls and for limited engagement across the political spectrum, a real responsiveness/accountability-to-constituents drag. Offset partly by securing district-directed appropriations. Below middle on access, not on a documented breach. [source] |
| M11 | Net-Worth Trajectory | 6 | why?Per the contamination rule, RAW WEALTH (disclosed assets roughly $6M-$13M) is NOT scored. No documented office-attributable enrichment, no self-dealing, family payments, office-information trades, or foreign-government revenue established. Trading appearance-concern is captured at M06, not double-counted here. Default middle absent any documented enrichment-from-office. [source] |
| M12 | Floor Decorum | 6 | why?Strong attendance (missed 7 of 578 roll-call votes, ~1.2%, better than the chamber median) reflects basic institutional diligence. No documented decorum violations. Default-to-slightly-positive middle. [source] |
| M13 | Lying & Misleading | 6 | why?No documented sustained-falsehood pattern on record. Insufficient evidence to mark either direction; default middle. [source] |
| M14 | Knowledge Depth | 6 | why?Secured $12.4M in community funding projects for the district and engaged the appropriations process substantively for a freshman. Limited legislative authorship record given short tenure. Default middle reflecting competent but early substance. [source] |
Why not higher, the points withheld
The standard is the seat; the ceiling is a perfect 10. Every withheld point traces to documented conduct, weighed where the measures and attributes say it belongs, shown openly here, the same way the earned points are.
| Where | Documented conduct | Mitigation weighed |
|---|---|---|
| M06 | Aggressive personal stock-trading volume (~$1.3M in trades in one month; 25 transactions in a single periodic report) flagged by reporting and a bipartisan congressional-trading ban bill ↳ Fiduciary appearance-of-impropriety | Staff state trades are solely managed by an independent advisor and comply with ethics law; no documented overlap with official duties, appearance-concern, not a finding |
| M06 | 2024 complaints alleged misleading nomination-paper signature-gathering ('housing for the homeless' framing) ↳ Appearance-concern (process integrity) | Uncharged and unresolved allegation against canvassers, weighed as appearance only, never a finding; no points added beyond the trading drag |
| M10 | Documented criticism for declining to hold open town halls and for limited engagement across the political spectrum ↳ Constituent-access / responsiveness drag | Secured district-directed appropriations; engagement gap is access, not a documented breach |
| M07 | No documented instance of calling out his own side at cost ↳ Active call-out duty, unproven on short record | Absence of demonstrated conduct, not a violation; freshman tenure |
| Pillar III | Constituent-access gap (Reliability) plus the trading-volume appearance (Stewardship) ↳ Reliability/Stewardship drag | No documented Exploitation; appearance-concerns only |
| Pillar IV | Trading appearance and uncharged signature-gathering complaint as asterisks on an early legacy (Integrity) ↳ Integrity drag | Both unresolved/appearance-level; the cross-aisle anti-violence stance counts positive |
The Four Pillars, worthy to be followed?
A separate axis from the 14 measures. The measures ask did their conduct meet the standard; the Pillars ask is this someone worthy to be elevated and followed at all. The two can diverge, when they do, the divergence is the finding.
| # | Pillar | Score | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| I | Trust & Loyalty
| 6 | why?Attributes: basic institutional diligence (strong attendance) and no documented breach of loyalty to the oath. Held at the middle by an absence of demonstrated courage-at-cost, nothing yet tests Selfless Service or Steadiness Under Pressure either way. |
| II | Aspiration & Integrity
| 6 | why?Attributes: no documented authenticity gap or falsehood pattern. Held at the middle by the trading-volume appearance-concern and the uncharged signature-gathering complaint, balanced against the absence of any established violation. |
| III | Protection & Influence
| 6 | why?Attributes: a genuine positive in the repeated, cross-aisle denunciation of political violence and defense of opponents from 'Wanted' posters (Protection of dignity). Dragged back toward the middle by the constituent-access gap and the trading appearance, no documented Exploitation. |
| IV | Legacy & Virtue
| 6 | why?Attributes: an early record with one real virtue note (Justice/equal-worth in the anti-violence stance) and two appearance-level asterisks (trading, signature complaint). Too short a tenure to establish a durable legacy in either direction. |
| TOTAL: Moderate | 24/40 |
Total 24/40, Adequate-middle. The pillars sit at the center because the record is genuinely thin: one real positive (cross-aisle anti-violence stance), real appearance-concerns (trading, access), and no demonstrated stand at personal cost to lift the marks higher.
What the Four Pillars are & the questions behind each →
In their own words
“Political violence has no place in our country, regardless of your political affiliation.”
Speaking out after a threat directed at his office; condemning political violence across party lines · WBAY-TV · CIVIC · cite
“They don't deserve posters like this or that violent rhetoric against them.”
Responding to 'Wanted' posters targeting elected officials in Green Bay; defending opponents' dignity · WBAY-TV · PRINCIPLED · cite
“The congressman's trades are solely managed by an independent financial advisor, and he complies with all ethics laws and guidelines.”
Staff statement responding to reporting on his high-volume stock trading · The Badger Project · ACCOUNTABILITY · cite
“Secured $12.4 million for Community Funding Projects in Northeast Wisconsin.”
Announcing district-directed appropriations in the FY26 funding bills · wied.house.gov press release · CIVIC · cite
Full personnel file
1. Identity
Tony Wied (born 1976). U.S. Representative for Wisconsin's 8th congressional district since November 2024, elected in a special election to succeed Mike Gallagher and re-elected in November 2024. Republican. Raised in Green Bay; bachelor's degree from St. Norbert College (1998). Businessman: founder and former owner of the Dino Stop chain of dinosaur-themed gas stations and convenience stores in Northeast Wisconsin (six locations, sold 2022). No prior elected office before Congress.
2. Voting / Legislative Profile
Freshman Republican seated November 2024; serving in the 119th Congress on Wisconsin's 8th. Strong roll-call attendance (missed ~1.2% of votes, better than the chamber median). Tenure too short for a Lugar Bipartisan Index score; led a bipartisan Wisconsin-delegation letter supporting a state Major Disaster Declaration. Secured $12.4M in community funding projects for the district in the FY26 appropriations bills. Policy positions are not scored here in either direction, per the framework's refusal to grade contested policy.
3. Constitutional Moments
No high-stakes constitutional-fidelity moment is yet on record. Seated November 2024, Wied could not have signed the December 2020 Texas v. Pennsylvania amicus and was not present for the 2021 electoral-vote certification, neither counts for or against him. No documented process-subversion conduct and no documented stand against his own side at cost. The record is early and largely untested on this axis.
4. Rhetoric & Discourse Profile
On-record rhetoric trends de-escalatory rather than enemy-making. The notable instances are repeated public condemnations of political violence "regardless of political affiliation," including defending opponents targeted by "Wanted" posters as not deserving "violent rhetoric against them." No documented pattern of inflammatory, falsehood-driven, or enemy-making rhetoric. Net: a modest cross-aisle positive on a thin record.
5. Fiduciary Profile
Disclosed assets range roughly $6M-$13M, raw wealth, which is NOT scored. The genuine fiduciary appearance-concern is an aggressive personal stock-trading pattern (~$1.3M of trades in a single month; 25 transactions in one report), flagged amid a bipartisan push to ban member trading; staff state the trades are advisor-managed and compliant, and no overlap with official duties is documented, appearance, not a finding. A separate 2024 complaint alleged misleading nomination-paper signature-gathering by canvassers; uncharged and unresolved, weighed as appearance only. No documented office-attributable enrichment.
6. Severity-Class Conduct
No documented Severity-class conduct under any of the eight criteria. Wied was seated November 2024, after the December 2020 Texas v. Pennsylvania amicus, and is not a signatory; he was not present for the 2021 certification. No enemy-making/incitement pattern, his documented statements run the opposite direction. The trading and signature-gathering items are appearance-level concerns, not severity flags. Flag count: zero.
7. What The Framework Says
An early, thin conduct record. The standard records one real positive, a repeated, explicit, cross-aisle denunciation of political violence, including defense of opponents, and weighs against it the genuine appearance-concerns of high-volume personal stock trading and an uncharged 2024 nomination-paper complaint, plus a documented constituent-access gap. There is no demonstrated stand at personal cost to lift the marks, and no Severity-class conduct to sink them. Honest middle: not yet a supportable record on conduct alone, and not a failing one, simply unproven, with the appearance-concerns counted plainly.
8. Sources & Where To Look Deeper
Tier 1 (primary): Congress.gov member record · U.S. House Clerk member page
Tier 2: Wisconsin Examiner, stock-trading reporting · The Badger Project, trading investigation · WBAY-TV, political violence statements
Research links: Congress.gov member profile · Ballotpedia · GovTrack · House financial disclosures · Wikipedia
Scores derive from the fixed Constitutional Weight Schedule. The bar does not move. Conduct, not party.