Wisconsin’s candidates for governor are both active on the campaign trail these days, trying to reach voters across the state, including in areas that lean towards the opposing party.
Tiffany outlines affordability plan
At Kelly's Bleachers, a sports bar in Milwaukee, Republican candidate for governor Congressman Tom Tiffany held a Q&A session in front of red-and-white screens that read: "You Betcha! Tom Tiffany for Governor." A friendly crowd peppered Tiffany with questions.
"[My] main message is we're going to bring affordability, accountability for our state government and common sense to Madison," says Tiffany. "I mean, that's where it all starts. We have to get money back in people's pockets and we have the ability to do it. There's a $3 billion surplus in Madison. Let's return it to the taxpayers and the 400-year property tax increase, get rid of taxes on tips and overtime just like we did federally, and we can put more money into people's pockets. And that will get Wisconsin moving."
The "400-year property tax increase" Tiffany is referring to is Democratic Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers' partial veto of numbers in the 2023-2025 state budget in order to increase school revenue limits by $325 each year until 2425. It's one of his most notable actions as governor, and it's drawn criticism from Republicans, because they say it also locks in property tax increases.
On the issue of voter outreach, Tiffany says Republicans sometimes have not shown up in the Democratic strongholds of Dane and Milwaukee counties, but he is. He says he's focusing on all 72 counties in the state.
Protesters demonstrate against rising costs, Tiffany's Trump connections
There were dozens of protesters outside Tiffany's event, arguing that his support for President Donald Trump's 2025 spending bill will strip healthcare from about 250,000 people in Wisconsin.
But Tiffany feels otherwise. He wrote this opinion piece on Trump's signature tax and spending bill, titled "What the One Big, Beautiful Bill means for you." He says the bill "does not cut Medicaid for mothers, children, people with disabilities, or seniors. In fact, it strengthens and preserves Medicaid by removing 1.4 million illegal aliens from the program." He continues that "the bill also restores commonsense work requirements to the welfare system."
He also cites some of his other healthcare legislation. "We passed the Rural Health Transformation Program, a new program, last year in Congress," Tiffany says. "Wisconsin's going to get $200 million dollars in their Medicaid program as a result of that," he argues. "Plus, the administration is going to give another billion dollars to the Medicaid program on top of that. Wisconsin's to end up with significantly more money in their Medicaid program as a result of our actions federally."
Tiffany echoed Trump and Vice President JD Vance's concerns about transparency in healthcare costs. "Part of it is also going to be to root out the fraud because as we're seeing around the country in Medicaid programs like Minnesota — $9 billion dollars of fraud and counting," Tiffany says. "We need to make sure we get the fraud out also, and get the money to people who really need it, that we should be serving, like those who are disabled, those who were having a tough time, perhaps those single moms with a baby."
Medicaid is the government health insurance program for low-income individuals and people with disabilities. Minnesota has become the epicenter of Trump's crackdown on alleged fraud in Medicaid.
According to the Minnesota Reformer, Former First Assistant U.S. Attorney Joe Thompson stated in December 2025 that half or more of $18 billion billed across 14 high-risk state Medicaid/human services programs since 2018 might be fraudulent. Democratic Governor Tim Walz calls that number "sensationalized."
Tiffany is an ally of President Trump, and doesn't see a need to distance himself.
"While David Crowley is talking about being against President Trump, I'm talking about being for Wisconsin," says Tiffany. "Because you can be governor and shout at Washington, D.C. That doesn't do any good for your people. You need to do the things that a governor can do, and that's what I talk about every day."
Republican gubernatorial legacy
The last time that Wisconsin had a Republican governor was from 2011 to 2018. Republican Scott Walker passed Act 10, significantly limiting the ability of state employees to collectively bargain. He supported strict voter ID legislation and strongly opposed the Affordable Care Act and rejected federal Medicaid expansion funds.
How does Tiffany say he'll compare to Walker?
"How I'll be similar is we're going to get control of property taxes," says Tiffany. "If you remember, Gov. Walker froze property taxes. I was in the Legislature at that time, I voted to do that, and I think that was very successful to allow working-class people to be able to stay in their homes, allow seniors to stay in their home, and especially young people now that are trying to buy a new home and it's really difficult — raising their property taxes does not help in that regard."
Tiffany survived an emergency water landing on a flight back from an event Saturday. But he says that won't stop him from campaigning — and from knocking his fellow candidate, Democratic Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley.
"My opponent David Crowley has a history of raising property taxes here in Milwaukee County. There's no reason that we would expect him to do any different as governor," says Tiffany.
Crowley has pointed out that he helped negotiate a shared revenue deal, which was the largest property tax reduction in Milwaukee County history. Republicans respond that it also allows Milwaukee County to raise more revenue by increasing its sales tax.
Crowley highlights his plans for the state
Crowley is doing his own outreach in skeptical counties. On Labor Day weekend, at the Walworth County Fair, people milled about eating funnel cakes and cheese curds. Politics was far from many minds. But not at a tent set up for the Walworth Democratic Party. That's where Crowley kibbitzed with volunteers and shared his main message to voters.
"Now as I talk to people, folks want someone who's going to fight for them, who's going to make sure that every decision that is being made from the governor's office keeps people at the center," he says. "This is about making sure that we can lower costs for working families."
Crowley is trying to make inroads in places like Walworth County, where nearly 60% of voters chose Republican Tim Michels in the last governor's race, in 2022.
"And when I think about why I'm in this race, it's about tackling the affordability crisis that are affecting so many families," says Crowley. "It's about making sure that people have access to affordable childcare and healthcare and have an opportunity to really get ahead, versus our state being sold to the highest bidder, as we have seen with many of the votes that Congressman Tom Tiffany has taken."
One way he's doing that is by criticizing Tiffany for his votes in Congress. He says that Tiffany "gave $80 billion in tax cuts to the big tech companies who are building the data centers that are steamrolling communities today." Tiffany denies this, telling the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that his vote for the SPEED Act, a national law which would support big tech building AI data centers, was to cut red tape but doesn't interfere with Wisconsin's ability to regulate data centers through state law.
Crowley also says that Tiffany has "voted to take away public safety dollars from the federal government from coming into the state of Wisconsin." Tiffany did vote against the Invest to Protect Act which would support smaller police departments with body cameras, de-escalation training, and officer recruitment. The Badger Project reports that Tiffany did not answer questions as to why he didn't support the Invest to Protect Act.
"And he's voted to protect the tariffs that are ravaging our manufacturers and our farmers and all of our constituents here in the state of Wisconsin," adds Crowley.
Tiffany has generally supported Republican President Donald Trump's tariffs but has expressed concern over his plan to bring cheaper ground beef from other countries into the US.
When it comes to affordability, Crowley says he wants to lower property taxes by fully funding public schools. Many school districts have gone to referendum to raise property taxes, saying state aid hasn't kept pace with rising costs.
Crowley also says he wants to make childcare affordable. He cites it in his plan for Wisconsin.
"A lot of people have to make a decision whether or not they're going to go to work or stay at home, or there may be young families who can't afford childcare so they're putting off actually having children," says Crowley. "And there are many young people right here in Walworth County who are getting ready to graduate from schools like Whitewater who don't know if they'll be able to go back home and moving in to a rent a home or buy a home that is affordable for them."
If Crowley wins, he'd be the state's first Black governor. He says the historic nature of the race is not lost on him. "But I'm running to be a governor for all of us," he says. "And it doesn't matter what zip codes you live in, who you love, or where you come from, I want to make sure that we can move our entire state forward."
Both he and Tiffany will continue to make the case that they're the candidate who will help bring down costs for Wisconsinites.
