Democratic candidate David Crowley often asks his supporters to volunteer the “Three T’s”: “time,” “talent” and “treasure” — or money. But with about a week until the election, he put a new spin on the phrase at a rally with former Vice President Kamala Harris Monday evening. 

“I usually say the last piece is treasure, but we’ll make an executive decision and turn that third T into turnout,” Crowley said. “We may not have billionaires, but we got something better. We’ve got you.”

Harris reinforced that message as she addressed attendees at the Pfister Hotel in Milwaukee.  Harris said she came through Milwaukee to say “thank you” for the work people are doing to help elect Crowley, and she emphasized that the work needs to continue through Election Day. 

“People have been feeling like ‘I can’t do anything about this,’ and I know how much pain people are in,” Harris said, commenting on the “brutality” of the Trump administration and the feeling of powerlessness it engenders. But, she added, “That phase is over. We are now in a moment to turn anger into action.”

Crowley faces Republican candidate U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany in the state’s first open race for governor since 2010. 

Harris told attendees that their voices and votes matter.

“You don’t have to put up with this,” Harris said. “They’re putting a whole lot of money to try and convince people either that their vote doesn’t count or to lead them astray, but we have the power of the people on our side, so for the next eight days, let’s get out there and do everything we possibly can in a way that we show people who we are, what we want from leadership, and what we deserve.”

Harris is the latest surrogate to speak on Crowley’s behalf. Other Democrats who have visited the state or plan to include Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, Georgia U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock and former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. 

During her speech, Harris spoke about rising costs, criticized Tiffany and told voters that they had the power to change the direction of the state and the country. 

Ahead of Harris’ visit, Tiffany criticized the Crowley campaign, saying that he wants to bring California policies to Wisconsin. 

“Wisconsin rejected Kamala Harris once, and now it’s time to reject David Crowley and his tax-hiking, spending spree and toll road agenda,” Tiffany said in a statement. 

President Donald Trump won against Harris in Wisconsin in the 2024 election by fewer than 30,000 votes. During his second term, Trump’s popularity in Wisconsin has fallen to record lows with 60% disapproval in the latest Marquette Law School poll. 

“Let’s talk about the fact that David’s opponent denied the election of 2020,” Harris said. Tiffany voted against certifying voters’ choice of Biden in two states in the 2020 election, and said he would have voted against certifying Wisconsin’s vote. 

“By the way, we won. We won that election,” Harris said. 

The rally was targeted at mobilizing women to vote and the economic pressure women are facing was a common theme among the speakers as well as one of the issues at the top of mind of women who attended. 

While waiting for Harris and Crowley, Sarah Bielejeski, a 38-year-old Milwaukee resident, told the Examiner that she was asked to attend by her friend. She said she wasn’t comfortable speaking in detail about the candidate’s positions, but she knew “enough to know that Tom Tiffany is not right.”

During the interview, Bielejeski reached for another attendee standing beside her to join in the conversation.

Megan Czarnyszka, a single mom from the Milwaukee suburbs, said she had decided to attend the rally so her daughter could witness the civic engagement and was looking forward to learning more. She said that while she supported a different candidate in the primary, she was now backing Crowley.

Both Bielejeski and Czarnyszka said they were glad to be in a room with like-minded people. 

Czarnyszka, a small business owner, said she wants Democrats to win control of the Legislature as well as the governor’s office because Affordable Care Act insurance has become too expensive for her and she also wants to see schools fully funded.

“It’s like tripled right now,” Czarnyszka said about her health insurance premiums. “The deductible will be another $1,500. We’re talking $5,000 before my insurance ever kicks in. We’re talking the difference between me thriving, having my medications, and going all the way back to like poverty levels.” 

Harris described cost of living as a women’s issue, as did, Crowley and his wife.

Ericka Crowley gave a speech emphasizing costs before her husband and Harris took the stage.

“I’m a mother of three, y’all. I got a child in college and I’m still trying to figure out how to pay this tuition. I was at the grocery store the other day and I was like, ‘Oh I’m so exhausted of these prices. I’m tired of it, and I know y’all are exhausted,” she said. “We deserve better.” 

Crowley highlighted the same issue when he took the stage. 

“We feel these prices, too, and so when I say I get it, I get it. You know who doesn’t get it though? Congressman Tom Tiffany. He went to Washington, DC, and sold Wisconsin out,” he said. 

Harris said she was used to reporters asking her to speak about women’s issues. “I’d look at them and say, ‘I’m so glad you wanna talk about the economy,’” Harris, the first female vice president and the second Black woman elected to the U.S. Senate, said. Then she pivoted to making a plug for Crowley.

“David had everything to say about what is important to all people, including women. He stands for affordable childcare — only 7% of your income should go to childcare,” she said, referring to one of Crowley’s policy proposals. “He stands for affordable healthcare. We all know his opponent voted for that big bad bill that cut Medicaid by a trillion dollars to help millionaires and billionaires to cut their tax bills.”

Clarification: This story has been updated to clarify Sarah Bielejeski’s comments.

Former Green Bay Packers quarterback Brett Favre spent the majority of his time on stage in Waukesha on Tuesday night talking about his time playing football. But when the conversation turned to the election, Favre was blunt about what he would say to hunters, Christians, veterans, farmers, factory workers, truck drivers and school teachers who aren’t planning to vote.

“You can’t sit it out. You can’t sit it out,” Favre, a Mississippi native, said. “You can’t bitch if you don’t vote.”

Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, who is running against Democratic Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, came on the stage with Favre, who signed a couple of footballs and handed them to Tiffany. The congressman threw them into the crowd gathered in Stein’s Aircraft Services in Waukesha for the get-out-the-vote rally hosted by Hunter Nation, a national nonprofit for hunters, anglers and outdoor enthusiasts.

The event also featured a presentation on delisting the grey wolf, an auction of a Ted Nugent guitar signed by Favre — claimed by the only person who bid at the starting bid of $5,000 — and a performance by Mark Mackay, a country musician. After talking about the importance of being on the “good side of this battle,” he introduced a song called “I Am Love,” saying that’s what musicians should be talking about instead of politics. 

Tiffany told the Examiner there was no “greater icon in Wisconsin” than Favre and he was glad he could be there to speak on voting and hunting issues. He expressed no concern when asked how his campaign’s accountability and anti-fraud agenda matches up with Favre’s entanglement in a fraud scandal in Mississippi. Favre has repaid the state of Mississippi over $1 million for speeches he was paid for but didn’t deliver, and he is still a defendant in a civil case filed by the Mississippi Department of Human Services to recoup millions of dollars in misspent federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families welfare funds, some of which he allegedly used to build a volleyball stadium.

“He’s appeared before Congress and talked about how requirements need to be tightened up for these various programs,” Tiffany said. “I’m going to do that as governor. I mean accountability is a big part of our agenda to make sure that all agencies are audited and make sure that no one is stealing from the taxpayers.”

Tiffany hit on a number of his campaign priorities, including rooting out fraud and auditing state government, during the rally. One of the biggest cheers he received was for saying he’d sign a bill to open a hunting season on sandhill cranes. 

“Yeah, baby!” one man yelled out in response. 

Waukesha County, one of the historically  Republican-leaning “WOW counties,” has trended a little less red in recent elections, including in the 2026 April state Supreme Court race.

Rep. Adam Neylon (R-Pewaukee), who is running for reelection to the Assembly and, simultaneously, for Waukesha County executive, said Tiffany has been putting in the work in the county to ensure people turn out and vote for Republicans there.

“He is everywhere. You would think he’s running for a local office in Waukesha County,” Neylon said. “He’s run a very aggressive campaign where he has really committed to the ground game. He’s also really strong at retail politics. He shows up, he listens and he speaks the language of Wisconsin.”

Attorney general candidate Eric Toney told the Examiner that Republicans “can’t take any area for granted.”

“Waukesha County, certainly has been crucial over the years with Republican voters or conservative voters in this area, and we just need people all across the state coming out to vote, and not just talking to folks that might live in their own city or county.” 

Rep. Jim Piwowarczyk (R-Hubertus), who is seeking reelection to his Assembly district that represents parts of Washington County, said he thinks the election will come down to turnout. Recent Marquette Law School polling has shown Crowley up slightly ahead of Tiffany. 

“We, as Republicans, if Tom Tiffany’s down three points, we actually consider that to be a good thing for our side. We think our candidates usually pull a little bit or actually end up doing a little bit better. I think it’s neck and neck right now. It’s very close. I think it’s going to come out to turnout,” Piwowarczyk said. “I’ve seen the polling myself and it’s very close.”

Piwowarczyk said the rally and other events are helping people get excited. He said he has been knocking doors in his district and has also been up to the other areas of the state, including the Green Bay area, a purple region that contains multiple competitive state legislative races.

“We have a lot of people excited to get out there. I think that they have been very frustrated by Tony Evers and the ever-increasing taxes, and they’re excited for Tiffany,” Piwowarczyk said. 

U.S. Reps. Bryan Steil and Scott Fitzgerald also attended the event and warned that Democrats want to pursue a radical agenda most voters don’t agree with. 

“When we see how radicalized the Democratic party has become, where they are going after all aspects of our culture from putting boys in girls sports to higher taxes… Their attacks on core aspects of our culture are real and substantive, and they will want to come after our hunting rights.”  

Steil told the crowd not to underestimate turnout in Milwaukee and Madison, the state’s largest cities. His own seat, long considered safe, is a target for Democrats this year and Democrat Mitchell Berman is giving him a competitive race.

“Run on the assumption that the Democrats are going to vote in full strength here in the liberal core cities in Wisconsin,” Steil said. “Every single person in the state of Wisconsin, who has a world view like those of us in this room, who stays home in three weeks from today, is effectively voting for a Democrat, and we need to get that message out to our friends, our family, our neighbors, our co-workers, folks at church.”

A number of people in the crowd wore Favre jerseys, and his presence was part of what brought out Michael Harrell, a 74-year-old New Berlin resident. He told the Examiner with a smile that he attended the rally because he “wanted to see Brett Favre.”

“I don’t know Tom Tiffany’s voting record or any of that stuff, but I vote Republican regardless,” Harrell said. He said he’s voted for the party since former President Richard Nixon was elected. 

“We’ve got God in our platform. We got common sense, and even though there are the RINOs, we got a lot of good people out there,” Harrell said. “We love America like the president does.”

President Donald Trump isn’t running this year, but in  recent weeks, he has been on the campaign trail telling people to pretend he is on the ballot.

Neylon said Trump’s absence from the ballot has been a concern for some, but he’s seen enthusiasm growing for the midterms.

“Republicans are going to turn out,” Neylon said. “Republicans are over performing in Wisconsin compared nationally, and I think part of that is because we have really good candidates, and I think Wisconsin is going to be another example of why candidates really matter.”

Trump has been a motivator for Republicans to get out to vote in recent elections but he has also fallen in popularity in Wisconsin. Tiffany has recently distanced himself from the second-term president, despite reliably voting for the president’s agenda in Congress and receiving Trump’s strong endorsement. This week he would not say in an interview with WMTJ whether he approves of the job Trump is doing. 

“The president is doing what he believes is best for the United States of America,” Tiffany said.

Neylon said Tiffany has been able to insulate himself from Trump’s unpopularity by keeping on message and talking about lowering taxes, reducing regulations and protecting Act 10, the law passed under Gov. Scott Walker that restricted collective bargaining for public employees. 

“He’s been really consistent and focused on a message that’s different than some of the national messages you hear from federal candidates, so I don’t think people are necessarily tying them together,” Neylon said. “When you look at how each person is spending their time, there’s differences, and people see that.”

The Wisconsin state Senate and Assembly are also up for grabs this year. The Republican Assembly members said the quality of the candidates running in competitive seats will be the thing that helps Republicans hold their majorities. 

Neylon said people shouldn’t judge Wisconsin races by “national headwinds.” 

“I’m more concerned that we lose majorities at the federal level than I am at the state level,” Neylon said. 

Harrell said he thought Trump could help Tiffany get over the finish line. He said he thinks Trump has been doing a good job and that he isn’t too worried about high gas prices, which recently reached record highs.

“He’s gonna pull something here, I think, on the gas and this stuff. We’re gonna maybe see that before the election,” Harrell said. He added that he thinks Democratic candidate David Crowley has “flubbed up” Milwaukee and doesn’t want him to lead the state. 

“There’s so many crazy people nowadays, you just, you don’t know. You don’t know what’s gonna happen,” Harrell said. “I mean you hope God intervenes and has already got it planned out, but all we can do is hope — hope, and pray.”

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore came to Wisconsin looking for some company. 

Moore, the first Black governor of Maryland and the only Black governor currently serving in office, traveled to Wisconsin on Friday to campaign with Democratic gubernatorial candidate and Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley. The two made campaign stops in Beloit, Racine, Kenosha and Milwaukee.

If elected, Crowley will be the first Black governor of Wisconsin. Moore told a group of about 120 gathered in a room in New Zion Baptist Church in Beloit that they have the opportunity to make history. However, he also said that’s not the reason Crowley should be elected.

“David understands that making history is not the assignment,” Moore said. “Making child poverty history is… Making history is not the assignment. Making pathways to work, wages and wealth for all of our citizens, and not just some, is. Making history is not the assignment. Getting this dark money out of politics — it is.”

Moore, who is only the third Black governor elected in U.S. history and a former U.S. Army  captain and paratrooper with the 82nd airborne division, came to Wisconsin riding a wave of popularity. Polls show he is leading his Republican opponent by nearly 30 points in his own reelection campaign. That’s, a different reality than in Wisconsin where Crowley is maintaining a slight lead over Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany by a margin in the low single digits. 

The crowd that gathered in Beloit to hear from Crowley and Moore was excited. One woman wore a colorful shirt with President Barack Obama’s face on it and was excited about getting her picture taken with both Moore and Crowley. Obama endorsed Cowley just the day before Moore’s visit. 

Beloit is the home of Diane Hendricks, one of three billionaires contributing millions of dollars  to try to elect Crowley’s Republican opponent, Tom Tiffany.

During his Beloit campaign stop, Crowley criticized the amount of money being spent in the election, saying it could be used to help fund public schools, ensure childcare is affordable and expand Badgercare.

“All that money we’re seeing being spent and dumped into these elections. We could be solving the very issues that we’re talking about,” Crowley said. 

Crowley told reporters that having Moore campaigning with him would “help get us over the finish line and bring more people into the fold.” There are three weeks left until Election Day. 

New Zion Baptist Church Pastor James M. Ivy told the Examiner that the church was happy to open its doors for Crowley and Moore, believing that Crowley will be “what’s best for our city” and “what’s best for our state.”

Ivy said Crowley has impressed him as a candidate because he is “very connected to our story” and “not backed up by billionaires,” noting his support for people who are struggling including policies to improve access to jobs and housing and address homelessness.

At the end of the rally, Ivy told the crowd that they need to do everything they can to help get Crowley elected. 

Moore told reporters that Crowley is “the right candidate for the right moment” and that’s why he wanted to travel to the Midwest to help. 

“I believe in David Crowley,” he told the crowd, “I respect people who are public servants who understand that public service is not for private gain. I respect people who understand that public service is about what are you going to do to be the legacy for those who will come after you… We have seen how David has risen to the occasion time after time. We have seen that he is willing to fight for families like yours and families like mine time after time. We have seen that he has never compromised his values, that he is willing to take on anybody, that he understands.”

Moore told attendees that he couldn’t “stress enough” the importance of who the governor is, especially given the current occupant of the White House. He said that “who you have in that statehouse matters” when there is an “overreaching and unchecked federal executive.” He noted that governors play a role in many significant decisions, including certifying elections and signing state budgets. 

Of Tiffany, Moore said that people have watched him “cosign on some of the most destructive policies” and vote for President Donald Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” which included deep cuts to healthcare as well as supporting Trump’s war in Iran. 

Quoting Maya Angelou, Moore said, “When someone shows you who they are, believe them.” The crowd repeated the phrase. “Here’s what I know, and here’s what I believe, Wisconsin,” he added, “you cannot send Tom Tiffany to the governor’s mansion.” 

Moore told reporters that he has known Crowley for a few years and was introduced to him by outgoing Gov. Tony Evers during Evers’ first term. Evers became a mentor of Moore’s when he was first elected, he said. 

Moore said after Evers introduced him to Crowley, “We just struck up a quick and early friendship.”

“We’ve had a lot of conversations about, not just the race, but also about a transition — how do you think about governance,” Moore said. 

“This stuff happens fast,” Moore said, adding that he thinks Crowley is uniquely prepared given his experience as the Milwaukee County executive. “These are serious times. These are times when we are watching a federal administration that has systematically attacked the relationship between the federal government and the states. … David is walking into this with a very sober understanding of what awaits, but also with a very optimistic view as to what can get done in this moment.”

During his second term in office, Trump has been in conflict with Democratic governors, including last week with Moore. Trump traveled to Baltimore to announce a multibillion dollar submarine manufacturing investment and requested that Moore be removed from the event’s speaking list, even though Moore helped negotiate and secure the deal.

Moore said that in dealing with the Trump administration, he is focused on protecting his constituents. 

“I’m a soldier by nature, and I’m a soldier by training. That’s what I do. While I will work with anybody — and this is the advice that I would give to David as well — I will bow to nobody,” More said. “Whenever the president or anybody thinks that a prerequisite of our relationship is being subservient to them, they will learn from me, they got another think coming.”

President Donald Trump said that he would be providing nearly $18 million in relief to Wisconsin to help with damage from July tornadoes in the Fox Valley after speaking to Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, who is running for governor.

In July, a tornado hit parts of Appleton and Menasha, destroying and damaging homes. Gov. Tony Evers sent a request for federal aid to Trump in August, after assessments found more than $8.2 million in damage to 2,346 residential properties and more than $13.8 million in public sector damage. The request has so far gone unfulfilled and in the absence of aid, local communities have turned to fundraising efforts.

Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social on Wednesday that he spoke to the Wisconsin Republican candidate this week, saying Tiffany has his “Complete and Total Endorsement to be the next Governor of the Great State of Wisconsin.” Trump first endorsed Tiffany in the Republican primary, a move that helped clear the field and secure the nomination for Tiffany. 

Tiffany faces Democratic candidate David Crowley in November, and the race is expected to be close.

“I told Tom that I will be approving 17.9 Million Dollars for the Severe Storms and Tornadoes that Wisconsin has experienced,” Trump wrote. “The people are tough and smart, and will come back stronger than ever — 18 Million Dollars should help, A LOT.” 

Tiffany said in a post on X that he has been in regular contact with the administration about the issue. This is not the first time during the campaign that Trump has approved millions in disaster aid for the state after speaking to Tiffany. 

“Securing federal aid for the severe storms that devastated communities across Wisconsin, particularly in the Fox Valley, has been a top priority of mine,” Tiffany said in a post on X. “I appreciate the administration responding to Wisconsin’s needs. Wisconsin is strong, our people are resilient, and I will work with anyone to make sure our communities have everything they need to recover and rebuild.”

The Evers administration says it has not received any new information about the aid request from the Trump administration and is accusing Tiffany and Trump of playing politics. Evers responded to Trump in a post on X, saying that Wisconsinites would “believe it when we see it.” 

“Clearly, President Trump and Congressman Tiffany are continuing to play politics with emergency aid that’s meant to help communities recover in the wake of disasters like tornadoes and floods,” Evers wrote. “That’s Complete and Total Bullshit.”

According to a Politico analysis from March of this year, the Trump administration had approved 89% of disaster relief requests from red states while approving just 23% of blue state requests for disaster aid. It’s the highest rate of denials in the 47-year history of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). The White House has rejected claims that politics are shaping decisions on disaster aid. 

Evers’ spokesperson Britt Cudaback said in a statement that the office received “zero additional information” from the administration. 

“You’ll need to reach out to President Trump and Congressman Tiffany since they’re clearly in cahoots meddling with Wisconsin’s disaster aid,” Cudaback said. 

State Sen. Kristin Dassler-Alfheim (D-Appleton) said in a statement that she appreciated Trump’s announcement but is waiting for confirmation. She signed on to a letter with a bipartisan group of lawmakers in early September urging the administration to provide aid.

“The tornado in July was devastating, and federal assistance is absolutely necessary to help the Fox Valley recover,” Dassler-Alfheim said. “We are still waiting for official confirmation from federal officials regarding the distribution of these funds to the state and what the timeline and other details of that process will be.”

Trump’s announcement comes less than a month out from the midterm elections. He has been on the campaign trail in recent weeks with Republican candidates in Texas, Alabama and other states. He hinted at visiting Wisconsin soon in his post.

“See you soon Wisconsin — I LOVE YOU ALL!” Trump wrote at the end of his post about the disaster aid.

Wisconsin’s race for governor is expected to be close with recent polling showing Crowley up slightly over Tiffany. The purple state’s elections typically come down to razor thin margins, including in the last Trump midterm elections in 2018 when Evers ousted former Gov. Scott Walker in a race determined by just under 30,000 votes. 

Whether Trump’s efforts will help Tiffany in November is unclear — the state voted for Trump in 2024 but his popularity has plummeted in recent months. Either way, the president has been a force throughout the Wisconsin campaign cycle.

Tiffany in recent weeks has made statements to distance himself from Trump, calling for the end of the war in Iran, even after he repeatedly cast votes in Congress against ending the conflict. He also  said recently that  Joe Biden won the 2020 presidential election, despite voting against certifying Biden’s win in key states in 2020. Asked whether he would certify the results of the 2028 election, he said he would.

The Crowley campaign released an ad on Tuesday highlighting Tiffany’s support for Trump, saying he “swore his loyalty to Donald Trump.” 

Crowley said in a statement about the aid that he is glad to see the president agreeing to provide relief. 

“I look forward to seeing this money actually delivered to our communities to help them rebuild,” said Crowley. “We should always put politics aside when it comes to making sure Wisconsin families, businesses, and communities get the support they need.”

Republicans’ control of the Wisconsin Assembly is up in the air this November, and GOP candidates in competitive districts are taking steps to convince voters to allow them to extend their 16-year streak of leadership, including by distancing themselves from Republican leaders in Washington, D.C. and in Wisconsin.

Barry Burden, director of the University of Wisconsin-Madison Elections Research Center, told the Wisconsin Examiner in an email that the 2026 election environment is “more advantageous to Democrats than the 2024 environment was.”

Part of that environment can be seen in the approval ratings of President Donald Trump. A Marquette Law School poll released in September found that Trump’s approval has declined to 37% — down from 40% approval in July; 63% of respondents said they disapproved of the job Trump is doing. 

A recent Marquette poll found that 46% of Wisconsin voters said they would vote for Democrats in legislative races, while 42% said they’d vote for Republicans. The survey did not deliver detailed information on specific districts. 

“The party is all but certain to make additional gains,” Burden said of Wisconsin Democrats. “The question is whether the wave will be sufficient to put them over the top.”

Republicans hold a 54-seat majority in the 99-seat state Assembly. Democratic lawmakers need to hold all of their current seats in the Assembly and pick up five additional seats to flip the body, a steeper task than in the Senate where Democrats are looking to pick up at least two seats to take control.

Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester) and Rep. August Tyler (R-Walworth), who is heading up the Republican Assembly Campaign Committee, did not respond to requests for an interview from the Examiner. In an interview with the New York Times, Vos described Trump as a “drag” on the party and said Republicans have worked to recruit center-right candidates to run in competitive districts.

“There’s nobody in Wisconsin that I think is yearning for a hard turn left or right,” Vos told the New York Times.

Assembly GOP candidates are sending out mailers that claim that politicians in Washington — where Republicans currently control every branch of government — are “driving up costs and increasing inflation.”

Instead of embracing their party’s leadership in Wisconsin, Republican candidates are also highlighting the moments where they have disagreed with their leadership to position themselves as independent voices.

A law that expanded Medicaid coverage for postpartum mothers and another measure that expanded breast cancer screenings are major reference points for Republican Assembly candidates. The bills had been held up by Vos until at the end of the legislative session. In a late-night press conference a group of Republican Assembly lawmakers — each from the most purple districts in the state and most of whom are now running for reelection — said they had convinced Vos and other caucus members to let the bills through. They also blamed Democrats for the bills almost failing.

A mailer for Rep. Patrick Snyder (R-Weston) includes a photo of him standing at the podium in the state Capitol talking to reporters during the press conference. Snyder faces a challenge from John Kroll, a Democratic Marathon County Board supervisor. 

The image is accompanied by text that says Snyder’s work “wasn’t about the spotlight” and he will “always challenge the political leadership of either party if it’s the right thing to do for Marathon County’s families.” The same mailer pitches Snyder as an “old-school public servant” who has had “no problems bucking his own party to extend postpartum care for new mothers.”

In a Facebook post Friday, Rep. Bob Donovan (R-Greenfield) said he would “stand up to anyone to get stuff done for my local community” including Republican leadership, adding that  he “did it when I fought for postpartum Medicaid expansion & Gail’s law, and I’ll do it again.” Donovan faces a challenge from Democrat Ben Brist, an army veteran. Donovan won his 2024 election in with 51.6% of the vote compared with 48.4% for his challenger

During a recent WisPolitics event, Joe Handrick, a former Republican Assembly member, said that Democrats can only flip the Legislature if Democratic gubernatorial candidate David Crowley has a “really, really big” win against Republican Tom Tiffany. His prediction was that it would have to be a win of more than 4 or 5 points.

“If Tom Tiffany ties in the state of Wisconsin or loses by a couple of votes, the Republicans will maintain the Assembly,” Handrick said. “These Assembly Republicans outperform the top of the ticket.”

Handrick said swing voters’ interaction with Republican incumbents can help swing them their way.

“They can vote for one person for governor or president and then they’ve been voting for Assembly Republicans. The incumbents — every day when you’re an incumbent you’re helping somebody. You’re helping them with a problem with the DNR or with the driveway or helping them get their Medicaid issue resolved,” Handrick said. “Those Assembly Republicans have always done better than the top of the ticket and there’s no reason to think they won’t this year.” 

Assembly Minority Leader Greta Neubauer (D-Racine) told the Examiner in an interview that Republican candidates’ strategy to try to distance themselves from the rest of their party won’t work. She said that Democrats’ path to the majority is helped by Trump’s unpopularity. 

“Trump is deeply unpopular across our battleground districts, and that’s more than the five that we need to flip in order to gain a majority,” Neubauer said. “We have a real opportunity here to put forward a new vision. We know that it is not easy to beat long-term incumbents, but we feel that we have the winning formula this year.”

Neubauer said Wisconsinites are “smart enough to see through these half-hearted attempts by Republicans to distance themselves from their own party.” She noted that Snyder, who has been in office for nearly a decade, has often voted in line with his party.

“He, of course, has not actually fought back against the Trump administration and Republicans in Washington who are doing nothing to address the cost increases that voters are experiencing,” she said. “Pat Snyder is an establishment Republican, and I think his voters understand that, and this strategy will not work.”

“Republicans understand that people are unhappy with their party, and they are not excited about showing up to vote Republican this fall,” Neubauer said. “Pat Snyder can try to tell his voters that he’s not a Republican, but at the end of the day, there’s going to be an R next to his name, and he went right along with his party in giving a tax break to data centers, in refusing to adequately fund our schools and thereby increase their property taxes,” Neubauer said. “Pat Snyder and his colleagues across the Republican battlegrounds have been with Robin Vos every step of the way, and I do think that their strategy is not going to work.”  

 

The Republican Assembly Campaign Committee has raised $10.6 million this year to fuel the party’s efforts to keep control. The majority of the funds were donated by Diane Hendricks and Elizabeth Uihlein, billionaires who have contributed millions to help get Republicans elected up and down the ballot in Wisconsin. Hendricks and the Uihleins have also donated millions to the Republican Party of Wisconsin, which has, in turn, channeled millions to Republican gubernatorial candidate Tiffany. 

The Assembly Democratic Campaign Committee has reported raising more than $3.3 million this year.

Neubauer said Assembly Democrats’ formula for winning is a combination of candidates who understand the challenges of their local communities having direct conversations with voters and a “robust” paid media program.

Neubauer said that Democrats just have a “different” fundraising model. She said she expects there to be spending similar to the last election cycle when $1 million or more was spent in the most competitive seats and that money for Democrats tends to come later in the cycle. 

“Assembly Republicans have raised a lot of money from three billionaires whose financial interests are directly tied to whether Republicans control the state Assembly,” Neubauer said, adding that the ADCC has more than 2,500 donors from across every county in the state. “Our candidates and our members are on the phone every single day, calling donors to bring in the dollars that we need to get our message out. And often those dollars come in in more like $50 or $100 checks than several-million-dollar checks, so we are going to continue to work hard to make sure that we have the resources that we need to compete… I am confident that we will be able to bring in the resources that we need to communicate this year.”

Burden noted that individual Democratic candidates have in some cases outraised their opponents. He named Assembly District 88 where Brandy Tollefson, the Democratic candidate and a De Pere school board member, reported raising more than $80,000 over the year compared with her opponent,  incumbent Rep. Benjamin Franklin (R-De Pere), who reported raising more than $27,000.

“Although the Republican Party has been outraising the Democrats, individual Democratic candidates have been doing well raising funds,” Burden said. “This pattern has also been happening nationally in that federal Republican Party committees have been raising more but Democratic candidates have mostly been outraising their Republican opponents within districts and states. Big donations from a few wealthy individuals are keeping Republicans more competitive this year in Wisconsin, but the money alone will not guarantee them victory.”

Here are the most competitive Assembly races to watch in the Nov. 3 election:

• Assembly District 21: The district is open following the retirement of Rep. Jessie Rodriguez, a longtime Republican incumbent. She won her 2024 term with 51.4% of the vote to 48.6% for her challenger. Democrat Daniel Bukiewicz, the mayor of Oak Creek, is facing Dylan Pfaffenbach, a Republican student at Carroll University, in November. 
• Assembly District 26: Rep. Joe Sheehan (D-Sheboygan) faces a challenge from John Belanger, a Republican and former Sheboygan alderman. Sheehan won his 2024 election with 51.5% of the vote compared to 48.5% for his opponent, who was the Republican incumbent at the time.
• Assembly District 30: Incumbent Rep. Shannon Zimmerman (R-River Falls), who was first elected in 2016, faces a challenge from Kevin Knoke, a Democratic veteran and educator from Hudson. Zimmerman won his 2024 election with 54.3% of the vote compared to 45.7% for his Democratic rival.
• Assembly District 51: Rep. Todd Novak (R-Dodgeville) faces a challenge from Democrat Ben Gruber, a conservation warden in Wisconsin who is member of AFSCME Local 1215. Novak won his 2024 reelection bid with 51.7% of the vote compared to 48.3% for his Democratic challenger. 
• Assembly District 53:  Republican David Daniels and Democrat Becky Nichols, a former Menasha city council member, are running for an open seat. It’s open due to the retirement of incumbent Rep. Dean Kaufert (R-Neenah).
• Assembly District 61: Rep. Bob Donovan (R-Greenfield), who was first elected in 2022, faces a challenge from Democrat Ben Brist, an army veteran. Donovan won his 2024 election in with 51.6% of the vote compared with 48.4% for his challenger.
• Assembly District 85: Rep. Patrick Snyder (R-Weston) faces a challenge from Democrat John Kroll, a Marathon county board supervisor. Snyder won his 2024 reelection bid against his Democratic challenger with 53.2% of the vote compared with  46.7% for his challenger.
• Assembly District 88: Rep. Benjamin Franklin (R-De Pere) faces a challenge from Democrat Brandy Tollefson, a De Pere school board member. Franklin won his first term with 50.3% of the vote compared with 49.7% for the Democratic candidate.
• Assembly District 89: Rep. Ryan Spaude (D-Ashwaubenon) faces a challenge from Bobby Lindsey, a retired law enforcement professional and a Marine Corps veteran. Spaude won his first term in 2024 with 51.4% of the vote compared with 48.6% for his opponent. 
• Assembly District 92: Rep. Clint Moses (R-Menomonie) faces a challenge from Democrat Jeremiah Fredrickson, a fish farmer from Elk Mound. 
• Assembly District 91: Democratic Rep. Jodi Emerson, who was first elected in 2018, faces a challenge from Republican Bruce Stabenow, an Osseo resident and small business owner. Emerson won her 2024 election with 51.6% of the vote compared with  48.4% for her Republican challenger. 
• Assembly District 94: Democratic Rep. Steve Doyle faces a challenge from Keith Purnell, a Republican Army veteran. Doyle was first elected to the Assembly during a May 2011 special election and has been reelected since. He won reelection in 2024 by just 223 votes against the Republican candidate. The seat will be one of Democrats’ top seats to protect and the party has  already invested over $1 million in.

Leonard Boltz, the 73-year-old who has flown Republican gubernatorial candidate Tom Tiffany to events across the state, has long had ties with some of the state’s most prominent election deniers and said recently that if Tiffany loses in November it will be because of “cheating” by Democrats.

Boltz, the chair of the Langlade County Republican Party and a retired major in the U.S. Air Force, has been a regular contributor to Republican candidates and causes, state and federal campaign finance records show, but has provided personal air travel only for Tiffany’s gubernatorial campaign.

Earlier this month, Boltz was flying Tiffany from La Crosse to Wausau when a mechanical failure forced a crash landing into Lake Wausau. Both men swam to a shallow area where they were rescued and treated for minor injuries. Boltz was lauded as a hero.

Wisconsin state campaign finance records show that Boltz flew Tiffany around the state 12 times between January and June. The total value of these in-kind contributions was claimed on campaign finance filings as $2,354.

Beyond the instances in which the Tiffany campaign reported flying with Boltz, the two men appear to have both attended the same conservative events over the past year.

Flight tracking data shows that Boltz’s Beech K35 aircraft was flown to the same area as a Tiffany campaign event on at least three other occasions in July.

On July 11, Tiffany was in Door County picking cherries the same day that Boltz’s plane flew from the Door County airport in Sturgeon Bay to Antigo. On July 25, flight records show the plane flew from Rhinelander to Waukesha the same day that Tiffany appeared at an event in Pewaukee. Two days later, on July 27, the plane flew from Rhinelander to Milwaukee on the same day Tiffany held events across the Milwaukee area.

The plane was also in Green Bay the same day that Tiffany attended a Charlie Kirk memorial event there on Oct. 14 last year and landed in Baraboo the same weekend in May that Tiffany was crowned the Republican nominee for governor at the party’s convention in Wisconsin Dells.

The flight data and campaign finance records, along with public statements Boltz has made, suggest an ongoing relationship between Tiffany and an outspoken member of the election conspiracy wing of the state Republican Party even as Tiffany works to distance himself from his previous support of the ideas Boltz espouses and their originator, President Donald Trump.

Tiffany voted against certifying the 2020 election results and in May of this year, would not say whether Biden won. This month, Tiffany told Wisconsin Watch that Biden won the 2020 election, but that he would cooperate with Trump’s ongoing federal investigations into the election. 

The Examiner approached Tiffany for comment for this story at a campaign event in Waukesha County Wednesday evening. Tiffany ducked into his car while two of Tiffany’s staff members, including Alex Walker, the son of former Gov. Scott Walker, physically blocked a reporter as he asked a question.

As of publication, the campaign had not responded to a list of questions sent by email.

The Examiner reached Boltz by email and phone Thursday morning. He said on the phone he had “no comment” and hung up before he could be asked any questions.

Boltz’s support for election conspiracy theories

An Examiner review of videos of Boltz posted to the right-wing video platform Rumble show the extent of Boltz’s support for election conspiracy theories — including his support for GOP Senate candidate Eric Hovde’s claim that, despite Trump’s 2024 victory in Wisconsin, Democrats somehow cheated Hovde out of a win over Democratic U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin on the same ballot.

At a Republican Party of Langlade County meeting in late June, video shows Boltz saying people had been asking him how Tiffany’s campaign was going. He said the November election would come down to whether or not the SAVE Act is passed to stop “cheating.” The Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act introduces a slew of proposed restrictions on voting across the country in the name of stopping noncitizens from voting. Tiffany has been supportive of the measure in Congress, which Trump strongly supports.

“What I tell people is, well, if Trump can get through some of these election integrity issues before November, I think it’s a piece of cake,” Boltz said.

“I don’t think there’s any question that Tom will win if we can stop some of the cheating. Again, we’re not going to stop it all, but if we can stop some of the cheating, I think, certainly, Tom is going to win… Cheating is all they’ve got. They’ve got to cling, they’ve gotta hang onto cheating, and they gotta get cheating. It’s the only possible way.”

At that same meeting, Boltz said he’d recently spoken with Tiffany about the party’s chances of winning this fall.

Harry Wait, a prominent Racine County election conspiracy theorist, also spoke at the county party meeting in June. Wait was convicted in May of breaking state law by impersonating voters to request absentee ballots, with the intention of trying to expose flaws in the election system. He filed the requests using the names of Assembly Speaker Robin Vos and Racine Mayor Cory Mason without their permission.

Wait, campaign finance records show, has made several donations of $1,000 to Boltz’s Langlade County Republican Party.

Ahead of the 2020 election, Boltz helped Terry Brand, the former chair of the Langlade County GOP and former mayor of Antigo, resurrect the county party, serving as vice chair and then chair.  He became involved in the state’s election conspiracy movement shortly after the 2020 election.

Video posted to Rumble shows Boltz appeared at a rally in 2021 outside of the Wisconsin State Capitol to call for a “cyber forensic audit” of the 2020 election. He spoke there about going to Maricopa County, Arizona, the Phoenix-area county that helped swing the state for President Joe Biden and became a target of Trump’s false claims the election was stolen from him. At the time, an IT firm with no election experience was running a widely derided audit of the election. 

Boltz said he went to Arizona with former Rep. Janel Brandtjen of Menomonee Falls. Brandtjen, who used her position as chair of the Assembly elections committee to spread conspiracy theories and attempt to oust Meagan Wolfe from her position as the administrator of the Wisconsin Elections Commission, was kicked out of Republican caucus meetings and then lost her seat in the Assembly in a 2024 primary election. 

“I was very fortunate to be able to get out to Maricopa County,” Boltz said at the rally outside the Capitol. “My chairman, Terry Brand, and I decided that it was high time Wisconsin get out to Maricopa County…  I was able to join the delegation. Now, that worked out awfully well, because a lot of the delegation sort of got muzzled… Robin Vos muzzled most of the people that went out there.”

Boltz went on to say the state needed to have a cyber forensic audit because “there’s so much fraud in Wisconsin.” Brandtjen and former state Rep. Timothy Ramthun made similar calls at the time.

“There’s maybe more fraud in Wisconsin than there was in Maricopa County, and they had plenty,” Boltz said. “Our legislators, for the most part, with the exception of Janel [Brandtjen] and a couple others have failed us. Our courts have certainly failed us. Who’s gonna make this happen? You are. You are. We’re gonna have to force this issue. Folks, we’re gonna have to keep the pressure on our legislators, keep the letters, the emails, the phone calls coming, but really, it’s still going to be up to you, us.”

Boltz’s work also extended to electing Republican legislators who would buck the authority of Vos — who in his tenure as speaker was known for maintaining a tight grip on the actions of his caucus. The election denial wing of the party had become hostile to Vos after he fired former state Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman from his job investigating the 2020 election and refused to support the effort to impeach Wolfe. 

In an August 2024 video, Boltz stood alongside county party chairs and candidates for the Assembly, including now-Rep. Lindee Brill (R-Sheboygan Falls) and criticized Assembly Republicans for not helping oust Wolfe. He said not supporting Brandtjen in that effort was like “going against apple pie in America.”

“That’s why these people are here,” Boltz said. “They want to change things in the Assembly. They want to be independent thinkers and not just vote Robin Vos. That’s why we can’t always be unified with the Republicans in the Assembly because they’re not real Republicans. They’re RINOs.”

The advocacy of Brandtjen, Ramthun and their allies was crucial to the creation of Gableman’s fruitless review of the 2020 election. Gableman donated $1,000 to the Langlade County party last November.

In 2022, Boltz, then the vice chair of the county party, and Brand, then the chair, also played a role in a campaign finance scheme in which about $40,000 was funneled through the county party’s accounts to the campaign of Adam Steen, an election denier who attempted several times to unseat Vos. The state ethics commission recommended that criminal charges be filed against Boltz, Brand and Brandtjen but local prosecutors declined to charge them. 

In 2023, Boltz said in an interview that he flew to Springfield, Missouri to appear with Ramthun at the “Election Crime” summit held by Mike Lindell, the MyPillow CEO and election conspiracy theorist who this year ran a failed campaign for Minnesota governor. Boltz said he and Ramthun were taking the place of Gableman, who was supposed to deliver a report on Wisconsin at the summit but was unavailable at the last minute. 

On Jan. 6, 2025, Boltz appeared on the “Regular Joe” show’s “Red, Right & Wisconsin” podcast where he was introduced as the chair of the county party. Boltz talked about his work to grow the Langlade County Republican Party as well as Wisconsin’s 2024 U.S. Senate race.

Boltz said he didn’t believe Eric Hovde, the failed GOP Senate candidate, lost against Sen. Tammy Baldwin. In 2024, Hovde didn’t concede to Baldwin until nearly two weeks after the election as he questioned the vote counting process. There was no evidence of irregularities in the vote count.

“Why don’t you look to see if Hovde really did lose? I don’t believe he did,” Boltz said. He added that Peter Bernegger, a prominent purveyor of election conspiracy theories in Wisconsin, did not believe Hovde lost either. At Brandtjen’s invitation Bernegger made several appearances before the Assembly elections committee to give testimony containing numerous debunked claims about the 2020 election.

“You know we still have Democratic clerks in Milwaukee, Madison, Green Bay, Kenosha, Racine,” Boltz said on the Regular Joe podcast. “Those Democrat clerks are a problem and they have proven themselves to be a problem.”

This year, on May 13, Tiffany donated $475 to the Langlade County Republican Party. On the same day, records show, the party gave a “gift” of $3,000 to Bernegger. 

In April, Gableman, Bernegger and Wait all appeared as speakers or special guests at the Langlade County Republican Party’s annual Lincoln-Reagan-Trump dinner.

Since 2010, Boltz has given more than $35,000 to county chapters of the Republican Party, the state party and candidates including Scott Walker, Rebecca Kleefisch and Brad Schimel. He’s also donated to several state legislative candidates including Brandtjen, Brill and Sen. Cory Tomczyk (R-Mosinee). 

Federal campaign finance records show that Boltz has donated more than $7,000 to the national Republican Party and federal candidates for office. That includes $1,500 in donations to Tiffany’s previous congressional campaigns and a $1,000 donation this year to the campaign of Michael Alfonso, the Trump-endorsed candidate  running for Tiffany’s 7th Congressional District seat. He’s also given to the presidential campaigns of both John McCain and President Trump.

About a month and a half out from the midterm elections, gubernatorial Republican candidate Tom Tiffany is taking some small steps to distance himself from President Donald Trump and the rising gas prices that are resulting from the war in Iran. Meanwhile, Democratic candidate David Crowley is seeking to highlight Tiffany’s history of loyalty to the two-term president. 

Tiffany and Crowley made comments about gas prices, the Iran war and Trump’s recent media bans while talking to reporters at the Wisconsin Counties Association on Tuesday after pitching local county officials on why each is the right candidate to lead the state.

Tiffany , who is endorsed by Trump, told reporters that he thinks it is “time to “wrap up” the war in Iran, even though he has voted in Congress against measures that would have directed Trump to end the military engagement and respect the constitutional warmaking authority of Congress. Most recently, Tiffany did not join the seven House Republicans who broke ranks last week and voted to stop  Trump’s war with Iran unless Congress approved further action.

Trump pondered on Monday whether to “annihilate” Iran while addressing the United Nations General Assembly.

Tiffany explained that he voted against the measures ending the conflict because he believes the “president has that authority, and so he should exercise that authority.” 

Congress holds the sole power to declare war under the U.S. Constitution. 

“The president has final say in regards to this, but I just believe that we should be exiting Iran,” Tiffany said. “It’s time to move on. We’ve degraded their nuclear facilities. We degraded their military. Most of their ships are on the bottom of the ocean. Time to come home, take care of business here in America.”

The Iran war has driven diesel prices to a record high average of $6.51 per gallon this week with the Midwest outpacing the rest of the country. In Wisconsin, the average prices of a gallon of diesel hit $6.56 on Monday, according to AAA.

Asked whether the gas prices will hurt Republicans in the midterms, Tiffany said “we’ll see what happens” and said the U.S. needs to work to become energy independent. He argued that Crowley would not help the issue given his support of “net zero.” 

“No diesel fuel, no gasoline, no crude oil. Do you think he’s gonna fix the problem? Clearly he won’t,” Tiffany said. 

Crowley has been targeting Tiffany on the issue this week, visiting a farmer in Baraboo to talk about the issue and releasing an ad that blames Tiffany for contributing to the rise in diesel and gas prices.

“Tiffany has proven with every vote that he works for Donald Trump and the billionaires trying to buy this election, not for the families, farmers, and small business owners paying the price at the pump,” Crowley said in a statement. “Five times he has had the chance to end the war that’s driving our prices up, and five times he’s chosen Trump instead. Tom Tiffany’s only loyal to Trump — not us, Wisconsin.” 

Tiffany said he would not restrict media access on a state level. The Trump administration banned three media outlets, CNN, Politico and MS Now, from covering him in the White House. The outlets are suing, and other major outlets are boycotting by halting TV coverage of the White House. 

While Tiffany said he believes in a free press, he also immediately turned to criticize “slanted” media outlets and told a reporter from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that despite his belief that her outlet is “slanted,” he would “continue to allow” her to cover him.

“I did not deter anyone here from joining us today and I don’t plan on doing that. I believe in open free press that they be able to ask us questions,” Tiffany said. “The principle that I live with is that I just expect all of you to be fair, and as long as you’re fair in your writing, I always welcome the press here. It’s when the press is slanted, that’s what’s frustrating,” he said, echoing Trump’s criticism of much of the U.S. media.

“Even when the press has been slanted, as we’ve seen with the Journal Sentinel… we still have them here today,” Tiffany added.

Crowley said he would “absolutely not” implement any statewide media ban as governor and said he was glad to see major outlets supporting the other outlets by boycotting coverage.

“We want to make sure that we have the freedom of the press. I think it’s extremely important,” Crowley said.

Voting in Wisconsin’s midterm elections has officially begun. Local clerks across the state were required to send absentee ballots to voters with valid requests already on file by Thursday, Sept. 17. 

Data from the Wisconsin Elections Commission shows that 299,849 absentee ballots have already been requested and 4,309 have already been returned. 

The first absentee ballots were sent after months of wrangling by the administration of President Donald Trump to restrict ballots sent through the mail. While the court system thwarted that effort, concerns about the timely return of absentee ballots through the mail remain. 

Absentee ballots must be returned to a voter’s local election clerk by the time polls close on Election Day, Nov. 3. To give ballots enough time, election officials have recommended they be placed in the mail at least 10 days before Election Day. WEC Administrator Meagan Wolfe recently changed  that recommended deadline to 14 days before Election Day, or Oct. 20. 

Voters can also return their absentee ballots directly to their municipal clerk’s office, take it to their polling place on Election Day or, in communities that use them, drop their ballots in an official municipal absentee ballot drop box. 

Early in-person absentee voting will open Oct. 20. Hours and locations for early voting and returning mailed absentee ballots can be found on municipal clerk websites. 

The biggest race on the ballot in Wisconsin this year is the open race for governor between Democratic Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley and Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany. Wisconsin’s eight congressional seats, 99 state Assembly seats and 16 state Senate seats are also up for election. Control of the Legislature is up for grabs for the first time in more than 15 years. 

Voters will also decide statewide races for attorney general, treasurer and secretary of state and will vote on three proposed constitutional amendments. The constitutional amendments would prohibit state and local governments from instituting diversity, equity and inclusion policies, prevent government edicts closing places of worship during emergencies and limit the governor’s line-item veto authority. 

Voters can see the candidates and referendum questions on their ballots at MyVote.WI.gov.