District #4 – Travis Bowman vs. David Preisler
Travis Bowman opposes data centers anywhere in Le Sueur County.
David Preisler would welcome data centers in industrial parks.
Travis Bowman believes county regulations and the permit fees are too high.
David Preisler does not see a problem with them.
Travis Bowman sees county government as too big and salaries too high.
David Preisler did a comparison of county staff per department and salaries with other counties when he was first seated as a commissioner in 2023. Staff and salaries have grown each year since. The county administrator’s salary is roughly 25-30% above the state median, placing Le Sueur County the 6th highest in the State, after Hennepin, Dakota, Washington, Olmstead, and Ramsey.
Le Sueur County’s highest salary in 2017 was $138,020.00.* It had 227 employees.
Le Sueur County’s highest salary in 2024 was $190,580.00.* It had 304 employees.
Current 2026 payroll for Le Sueur County employees per two-week period is approximately
One Million Dollars ($1,000,000.00).
*govsalaries.com
The bottom line difference between the two candidates is that Travis Bowman’s ideology follows along the lines of the majority of Le Sueur County citizens. He is of a conservative mindset in spending and preserving the current make-up of our communities. David Preisler follows the habit of big spending and advocates for change in our communities.
Travis Bowman does not have the experience in governance that David Preisler has, and that is precisely why we favor Travis for the role of county commissioner. David Preisler has been tied to big government for a very long time, his connections reach beyond the best interests of Le Sueur County, and his role as a lobbyists brings potential change into the county that should be reserved for larger, more congested communities, not the connected neighborly atmosphere that the citizens of the county enjoy and wish to preserve. Bigger is not always better.
From David Preisler’s campaign ad:
“… my career as an Agriculture Teacher in Halstad, MN where I met my wife, Teri. … Teri has dedicated her career to education, serving as Superintendent of Tri-City United Schools.”
It was at this time the citizens of Le Center were convinced to combine their middle school and
high school with Montgomery and Lonsdale, and lost activities that drew people into town. The
progressive mindset was not a blessing to businesses of Le Center. The current board of
commissioners is now advocating for economic development growth to revitalize the city.
Also from his campaign ad:
“… I worked at the state and national level to support agriculture and successfully advocated for reducing agricultural property taxes.“
The recent Comprehensive Land Use Plan the commissioners adopted in June of 2026, proclaims that agricultural property taxes do not generate a sufficient tax base as compared to residential land. The ordinance that allows rural single family residences and rural residential subdivisions is now being relaxed to permit increased building in agricultural districts for the explicit purpose of increasing the property tax base.
Both incidences above show a clear pattern of creating a problem or need, then creating support for a remedy of the situation that needs fixing. The newly adopted Comprehensive Land Use Plan also projects increased population growth in Le Sueur County. Think about that. The population will not grow by natural means. It can only happen by immigrating people into the county. We support immigrants that will integrate and contribute to the functionality of our communities, yet that is not what we see happening in counties around us. We saw in our city of Le Sueur this past winter, a celebration to welcome new immigrant neighbors (with a request to bring food donations). Now we learn of an “affordable housing” grant awarded to the city and we hear of a proposed “Family Resource Center” where all social welfare services can be applied for and obtained under one roof right in the city of Le Sueur (there will be one in Montgomery also), eliminating the need for poverty stricken persons to travel to Le Center where the services are already available at the Government Center. This would triplicate services currently provided. What will this added cost be? David Preisler has stated that he is not opposed to these “Family Resource Center.” We must ask what is in store for the transformation of our communities.
David Preisler holds several active roles within the NGO, Association of Minnesota Counties (AMC): Vice Chair of Environment & Natural Resources Policy Committee; on the task force for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP); and an AMC Delegate from our County.
In the 2025-2026 legislative season he lobbied for the establishment of a Human Services Systems Modernization fund to upgrade the IT systems throughout all state agencies, counties, and Tribal nations. The end result was the creation of MN SF 334 which passed unanimously in both chambers and was signed by Governor Tim Walz on May 17, 2026. This creates a new advisory council and sets aside appropriations totaling Ninety Million ($90,000,000.00), plus another Ten Million for county grants. While this is stated to be enacted for the purpose of detecting fraud, we need to question whether the massive amounts of fraud that took place in this state can all be attributed to outdated IT technology. Our concern here is that once this is in place, the technology can be used to track data of the entire population. Additionally, is it the place of a county commissioner to create and lobby for legislative enactments of this caliber? Or is something more ambiguous taking place here. Governor Tim Walz’s ideology does not coincide with the majority of conservative county residents and he has not been known to agree with conservative legislators. He did not seem to blink an eye on this though!
County commissioners also lobby state legislators to have permissions written into state Statutes and Rules, giving special authorities to county government, a common practice of NGOs in general.
While we do not know what was being taken care of, David Preisler, when the 2025 board chair, was overheard prior to the start of a commissioner board meeting, telling the other commissioners – “I spoke to Draheim and Steir and they’ll take care of it.” Could this have been a request for an amendment to a State Statute or Rule giving special permission for an act or ordinance? Maybe it was simply a bit of quorum discussion taking place before the start of the meeting. Do we have reason for suspicion?
The service of county commissioner is labeled as a non-partisan position, yet you can rely on the fact that everyone sitting on that board has a political bias. It is our conviction that David Preisler has a political ideology contrary to that of the majority of residents in the county. Big Government connections of local officials are not always in the best interest of the citizens. From a constitutional standpoint, legal lines are very possibly being crossed.
It is with these many concerns that we’ll opt for an unexperienced person with an honest, conservative conviction, to represent us on the board of county commissioners, over a political lobbyists with progressive motivations. Travis Bowman has proclaimed his willingness to serve in this capacity. It is time to take a break from increased government rules over us and the continual raising of our taxes for programs we neither need nor want.
We recommend that you vote for Travis Bowman.
This is an independent expenditure prepared and paid for by We Are The Taxpayer, PO Box #62, Le Center, MN 56057.
It is not coordinated with, or approved by any candidate, nor is any candidate responsible for it.
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