Washington County Executive Josh Schoemann speaks at the first candidate forum of the campaign cycle. He said “affordability” is the greatest threat and expressed concerns about young people and retirees leaving the state to live elsewhere. (Photo by Baylor Spears/Wisconsin Examiner)
Washington County Executive Josh Schoemann announced Wednesday afternoon that he is ending his campaign for governor. The announcement comes after President Donald Trump endorsed Schoemann’s rival, U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany Tuesday.
Schoemann, who launched his campaign about nine months ago, congratulated Tiffany on the endorsement.
“I wish Tom great success in November,” Schoemann said in a statement. “If we focus on the people of Wisconsin rather than fighting with one another, we can make Wisconsin the place to be, not just be from.”
Tiffany, who has represented Wisconsin’s 7th Congressional District since 2020, has been considered the frontrunner in the GOP primary race since he entered in September 2025. In recent campaign finance reports, Tiffany outraised Schoemann by nearly $1.5 million.
Schoemann’s exit from the race clears the way for Tiffany to go on to be the Republican nominee in the general election in November. His is the second dropout from the GOP primary. Businessman Bill Berrien dropped out last year shortly after Tiffany joined the race.
Trump announced his endorsement of Tiffany in a Truth Social post on Tuesday evening, saying he has “always been at my side.” Tiffany told WISN-12 that he learned about the endorsement at a dinner and spoke to Schoemann on Wednesday.
“I think the primary is probably behind us,” Tiffany said.
Tiffany said in a statement that he appreciates Schoemann’s words.
“We are both committed to making Wisconsin the place to be,” Tiffany said. “As governor, I will ensure seniors, young families, and the next generation can afford to stay here by lowering property taxes and utility rates, cutting red tape to reduce housing costs and delivering honest government and strong schools for every Wisconsinite.”
The primary is scheduled for Aug 11. The Democratic primary field remains crowded and includes Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez, former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, Milwaukee Co. Executive David Crowley, state Sen. Kelda Roys, state Rep. Francesca Hong, former Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. CEO Missy Hughes, former Department of Administration Sec. Joel Brennan.
The winner of the Democratic primary will likely face Tiffany on Nov. 3.
The endorsement gives another boost to Tiffany’s primary campaign, though he was already considered the frontrunner. Tiffany at a press conference in October 2025. (Photo by Baylor Spears/Wisconsin Examiner)
President Donald Trump endorsed U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany for Wisconsin governor Tuesday evening, saying that the 7th Congressional District representative has “always been at my side.”
The endorsement gives another boost to Tiffany’s primary campaign, though he was already considered the frontrunner over Washington Co. Executive Josh Schoemann, who was the first candidate to join the open race.
“A very successful Businessman, Family Farmer, and State Legislator, prior to becoming a distinguished United States Congressman, Tom is a Proven Leader who has dedicated his life to serving his Community,” Trump said in his Truth Social post.
Trump said in his Truth Social post endorsing Tiffany that Wisconsin is a “very special place to me in that we had a BIG Presidential Election Win just over one year ago” and noted he had previously endorsed Tiffany in his campaign for Congress. Trump won Wisconsin over former Vice President Kamala Harris by a little over 29,000 votes in 2024. It was the second time a Republican had carried the state since 1984; the first time was Trump’s 2016 win in Wisconsin.
“As your next Governor, Tom will continue to work tirelessly to Grow the Economy, Cut Taxes and Regulations, Promote MADE IN THE U.S.A., Champion American Energy DOMINANCE, Keep our Border SECURE, Stop Migrant Crime, Ensure LAW AND ORDER, Strengthen our Brave Military/Veterans, Advance Election Integrity, Advocate for the Working Men and Women of Wisconsin, and Protect our always under siege Second Amendment. He will fight to advance Common Sense Values, and put WISCONSIN, AND AMERICA, FIRST,” Trump said.
Tiffany, who has represented Wisconsin’s 7th CD since 2020, said he was honored to earn Trump’s endorsement.
“Just one year into his second term, wages are rising, gas prices are down, our economy is growing, and our border is secure,” Tiffany said in a statement.
“For seven years, Democrat leadership has pushed our state in the wrong direction. As governor, I will make Wisconsin great again by lowering utility rates and property taxes, cutting burdensome red tape, rooting out waste and fraud, and restoring common-sense leadership to Madison.”
Earlier this week at a press conference, Tiffany highlighted his plan to eliminate the 400-year veto issued by Evers which extended a two-year increase in school districts’ authority to raise school revenues for the next four centuries. He also said he would freeze property taxes should he become governor. Tiffany’s announcement was overshadowed by remarks he made about the recent shooting of Alex Pretti, an ICU nurse from Green Bay, by federal Border Patrol agents in Minneapolis.
Tiffany said at the press conference that he hadn’t seen the video of the Pretti shooting. He followed up the next day with a social media post saying he would work with local, state and federal law enforcement to “remove criminal illegal aliens” and that Minnesota leaders should do the same.
“Cooperation is how you avoid tragic consequences. Deporting illegal aliens is how you make America safer. And waiting for the facts is how you avoid escalating the situation,” Tiffany said.
Bystander footage of the Pretti shooting shows him being pinned down by federal agents before being shot in the back and does not support Trump administration claims that he tried to assault or impede the agents.
The Democratic Party of Wisconsin Chair Devin Remiker issued a statement that tied Tiffany to a number of the actions taken under the Trump administration.
“We agree with Donald Trump — Tom Tiffany has been by his side for all of it: ICE murdering Americans in the streets, the Big Ugly Bill, ending funding for the Affordable Care Act, invading Greenland, and raising everyday costs. Donald Trump just made Tom Tiffany the general election nominee, and we will stop him from bringing his chaotic and dangerous agenda in November,” Remiker said.
Tiffany has often aligned himself with the Trump administration throughout his time in office including as one of two Wisconsin members of Congress who voted against certifying the 2020 presidential election results in two states. Prior to his time in Congress, Tiffany served in the Wisconsin Assembly and Senate.
Trump has previously been involved in primaries in Wisconsin and carried significant influence.
During the 2022 Republican governor’s primary, Trump endorsed businessman Tim Michels over former Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch, who at the time was considered the frontrunner in the race. Michels went on to win that primary with 47% of the vote. Michels lost in the general election to Gov. Tony Evers by 3.5 percentage points.
In 2024, Trump endorsed businessman U.S. Rep. Tony Wied, who won in a three-way primary that year and now represents Wisconsin’s 8th Congressional District.
The Schoemann campaign has not responded to a request for comment from the Wisconsin Examiner.
The winner of the Aug. 11 Republican primary will face the winner of the Democratic primary on Nov. 3 this year. Several Democratic primary candidates issued reactions to Trump’s endorsement of Tiffany.
Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez said that “Wisconsinites know what ‘Trump–Tiffany leadership’ actually looks like. Higher health care costs. Cuts to Medicaid. Families squeezed by rent, groceries, and utility bills. Chaos and fear instead of safety. Those are their priorities. And we’re all paying the price.”
Former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes said Trump endorsed Tiffany because “he’s been a rubber stamp for his agenda in Washington, giving tax cuts to the wealthiest while making life harder for families and farmers here at home.”
“It’s time to reject Trump’s chaos and Tiffany’s Washington Way and get things done the Wisconsin Way. That’s what I’ll do as Governor,” Barnes said.
Former Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. CEO Missy Hughes said that “Wisconsin needs a leader, not a sidekick.”
Milwaukee Co. Exec. David Crowley sarcastically congratulated Tiffany, saying he “would be a great addition to Trump’s Board of Peace.” He posted an edited photo of Trump with notorious fictional villains Voldemort, Darth Vader and the Joker as well as President of Russia Vladimir Putin.
Other candidates in the Democratic primary include state Rep. Francesca Hong (D-Madison), state Sen. Kelda Roys (D-Madison) and former Department of Administration Sec. Joel Brennan.
Senate President Mary Felzkowski (R-Tomahawk) said she hopes her "fellow assemblymen continue to put pressure on their leadership" to pass postpartum Medicaid expansion. Felzkowski spoke at a Republican press conference about postpartum Medicaid expansion in April. (Photo by Baylor Spears/Wisconsin Examiner)
Senate President Mary Felzkowski (R-Tomahawk) said in a year-end interview with the Wisconsin Examiner that the year has been one of “very steady growth” and top priorities for her in the remaining legislative session include passing legislation to help bring down the cost of health care, advancing medical cannabis legislation and passing additional tax cuts.
Felzkowski pointed to the state budget in which lawmakers and Gov. Tony Evers increased funding for roads and transportation costs, cut taxes including for retirees, increased special education funding and dedicated funding to mental health initiatives. She was one of four Senate Republicans to vote against the state budget, a vote she said she took because of her opposition to increasing the state’s hospital assessment without health care reforms.
A slimmed down, 18-member Republican majority in the Senate this session and several GOP senators who took a stand against a compromise budget deal gave Senate Democrats an opening to come to the budget negotiating table, and to win compromises on school funding as well as stop cuts to the University of Wisconsin system.
Felzkowski said the slimmer margins this year have been normal.
“If you look back for the last 30 years, when the Republicans are in control, we are normally at 18-15 margin in the Senate,” Felzkowski said. “When we were up to like 22, that was kind of a gift, so we are a very strong Republican majority right now.”
Felzskowski said working on health care affordability will be her top priority when lawmakers return in January. This includes working on health care price transparency and working to advance her legislation that would make changes to the regulation of pharmacy benefit managers — third-party companies that manage prescription drug benefits between health plans, employers and government programs.
Health care and prescription drugs
Felzkowski’s bill would allow patients to use any licensed pharmacy in the state without facing penalties and require benefit managers to pay pharmacy claims within 30 days.
“Our neighbors to the south in Illinois just passed their version of PBM reform,” Felzkowski said, adding that her bill has passed out of committee and lawmakers are now discussing whether it will receive a full Senate vote.
Felzkowski’s health care price transparency legislation would require hospitals to make publicly available to consumers the standard costs of “shoppable services,” which would be defined as those that can be scheduled in advance such as x-rays, MRIs and knee replacements.
“What is one thing that you buy that you have no idea what it’s going to cost? It’s health care. That’s absolutely ridiculous,” Felzkowski said. “Other states have passed it. They’re starting to see the fruition of it and it does work. There’s a reason we have the fifth highest health care costs. It’s because our Legislature has not done anything to help bring those costs down and it’s time that we actually start doing that.”
Felzkowski, who has been a longtime advocate for legalizing medical cannabis, said the Senate is “closer than ever” to having a vote on the floor on a proposal to do so, but she believes the chances of the Assembly advancing legislation remain “slim.”
Felzskowski said she hopes legislation to extend Medicaid coverage for postpartum women from 60 days after giving birth to one year isn’t dead this session. Wisconsin is one of two states in the U.S. that haven’t accepted the federal extension.
“I hope that my fellow assemblymen continue to put pressure on their leadership… Deep red states, blue states as well as purple states across the nation have postpartum care for 12 months and they’ve done it because it’s the return on investments for taxpayers as well as being the right thing to do,” Felzskowski said. “We see baby thrive, we see mom thrive, and it actually lowers the cost down the road.”
Fate of WisconsinEye
Felzkowski said Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu and Assembly Speaker Robin Vos are having discussions about solutions to the shutdown of WisconsinEye, the nonprofit service that provides video coverage of legislative hearings, floor sessions and Wisconsin state government business. WisconsinEye halted its livestream and pulled down its video archive last week due to a lack of funding.
“Even if we do something temporary to get us through a session… just get through until April and then do a really deep dive on what should be the next step,” Felzkowski said, adding that that includes looking at how other states cover their state government.
“The transparency is important,” she said, adding they want to ensure people still have access to government proceedings and a record is still being kept of it all.
Felzkowski said she hopes Republicans can get one more tax cut done before the end of the legislative session next year.
New tax cuts in the works
A few of the ideas legislators are considering include eliminating taxes on tips and overtime.
“Anytime we can return money to our citizens is a good thing,” Felzkowski said, adding that state Republicans would like to align Wisconsin tax cuts with federal policy. The federal megabill approved in July included a tax deduction on tips and overtime that will be available from 2025 through 2028.
This December, Wisconsin residents are experiencing the highest property tax hikes since 2018, according to a recent Wisconsin Policy Forum report. The report explained that state budget decisions including Evers’ veto that allows school districts an annual $325 per pupil increase for the next 400 years as well as lawmakers’ decision to not provide any increase to state general aid this year have led to the hikes.
Asked whether lawmakers will look to solutions for lowering property taxes, Felzkowski said it would take a new governor.
“We have given [Evers] numerous chances to reverse that 400-year veto and he keeps vetoing the bill, so it’s on the governor’s plate right now,” Felzkowski said. “Until we get a different governor in the East Wing and we can start seriously addressing education and all the things that are wrong with it, I don’t know what to say.”
Felzkowski said that even with the state budget surplus there wasn’t enough state money for the general aid increase.
“There were a lot of mouths to feed on that budget,” Felzkowski said. “With increasing revenues all over, there was not enough money out there to backfill that $325… We would have had to have raised taxes dramatically to do that. The dollars didn’t exist.”
Felzkowski said on education that she hopes Wisconsin will opt into the new federal education tax credit program. The program would provide a dollar-to-dollar tax credit of up to $1,700 to people who donate to a qualifying “scholarship granting program” to support taxpayer-financed private-school vouchers. Evers would need to opt the state into the program by Jan. 1, 2027, but so far has said he won’t.
Confident GOP will hold Senate in 2026
Wisconsin Republicans have held control of the state Assembly and Senate since 2010, and next year will test the strength of that majority when the state’s 17 odd-numbered Senate seats will be up for election for the first time under new legislative maps adopted in 2024.
Last year when the maps were in place for the 16 even-numbered seats, Democrats were able to flip four seats. In 2026, Republicans will need to make sure Democrats cannot flip two additional Senate seats to hold control of the body.
Felzkowski expressed confidence that they will do so.
“We will come back with a strong Republican majority. We have better policies, we have better ideas and we run great candidates,” Felzkowski said.
There will be several key, competitive districts in 2026 including Senate District 5, which is currently held by Sen. Rob Hutton (R-Brookfield), Senate District 17, which is currently held by Sen. Howard Marklein (R-Spring Green) and Senate District 31, currently represented by incumbent Sen. Jeff Smith (D-Brunswick) who will face a challenge from Sen. Jesse James (R-Thorp).
“We’re going to run on the same policies we’ve always run on: lower taxes, strong freedoms, strong economies, strong education and government getting out of your way so that you can live the American dream,” Felzkowski said. “The Democrats are going to run on an anti-Donald Trump policy, more government, more influence in your life. It’s all they’ve ever run for.”
Felzkowski said she didn’t think that 2025 election results in other states were going to be applicable in Wisconsin, though she said the new maps could be challenging for Republican candidates.
“Wisconsin is kind of a unique state. We’re a very purple state,” Felzkowski said. “We knew those candidates in Virginia were going to win, I mean, it’s a blue state so I mean you can’t really base us on what happened in Virginia and New Jersey… We’re going to be running in Democratic-gerrymandered seats, so we’re going to have to work very hard, but we will win.”
Wisconsin also has an open race for governor on the ballot next year. U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, who is considered the frontrunner in the GOP primary, and Washington County Executive Josh Schoemann, are the current Republican hopefuls.
Felzkowski said she probably won’t endorse in the Republican primary for governor, but she is looking for a candidate who is a “conservative reformer who’s willing to take on the tough issues from health care, education, and corrections, lowering taxes” as well as someone who will do “a deep dive into our agencies,” adding that she hopes they’ll work to root out “waste, fraud and abuse.”
The Democratic field of candidates is much larger including Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez, state Sen. Kelda Roys (D-Madison), state Rep. Francesca Hong (D-Madison), Milwaukee County Exec. David Crowley, former Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation CEO Missy Hughes, former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, former Department of Administration Secretary Joel Brennan and former state Rep. Brett Hulsey.
Senators and two current representatives seeking Senate seats in 2026 have been touring the state to highlight affordability and the effects of Republican policy choices, including tariffs and cuts to health care at the federal level. Senate Minority Leader Dianne Hesselbein, second from left, listens as Christmas Tree farm operator Lance Jensen discusses his business with Hesselbein and Sens. Sarah Keyeski and Melissa Ratcliff, during a visit to Jensen's farm on Dec. 8. (Photo by Erik Gunn/Wisconsin Examiner)
Senate Minority Leader Dianne Hesselbein told the Wisconsin Examiner in a year-end interview that while she may have had a seat at the budget negotiating table this year, the Legislature still hasn’t engaged in as much bipartisan work as she had hoped.
Democratic lawmakers entered this year with bolstered numbers under new voting maps, but still in the minority. The closely divided partisan breakdown in the Senate — 15 Democrats and 18 Republicans — led to Republicans scrapping their plans to cut the University of Wisconsin budget and providing additional funding for K-12 schools, in budget negotiations with Democratic Gov. Tony Evers where Hesselbein had a seat at the negotiating table. But the current session still hasn’t matched up to Hesselbein’s “really high hopes at the beginning of the session that we were going to be able to do some really good bipartisan work.”
Hesselbein noted that at the start of the session, lawmakers introduced three bills she thought were “really strong.”
“Unfortunately, Republicans are refusing to work with us on those issues,” Hesselbein said. “I am hopeful that they will go spend time with their families back home over the holidays, and they will realize that we can still get a lot of great things done for the state of Wisconsin in the spring.”
One bill would provide school breakfast and lunch to students at no cost, another would make several policy changes aimed at helping bring down the costs of prescription drugs and the final one would expand the homestead tax credit to provide additional relief to low-income homeowners and renters.
Hesselbein said the “Healthy Schools Meals” legislation would help “every single kid, make sure they get a good nutritious lunch at school” and help “save the average family like $1800 a year on grocery costs.” She said the prescription drug legislation would help prevent more people from “choosing to cut their medicine in half” due to costs and the tax credit would help people stay in their homes longer.
“These were three really common-sense bills. I still really think they are, and all we needed was two Senate Republicans to help us get these bills across the finish line and show that they care about the people of the state of Wisconsin and that they want to do some bipartisan work,” Hesselbein said. “Unfortunately, they weren’t interested in doing that work with us, and they don’t have a plan to help people with the rising costs in the state of Wisconsin.”
Hesselbein said that passing helpful legislation, including the three bills she mentioned, could mitigate the upheaval of President Donald Trump’s administration.
“There’s so much chaos and confusion happening with the Trump administration that sometimes it’s hard to keep track of it day to day,” she said. “…What we can do as legislators in the state of Wisconsin is pass bills that actually help people.”
Hesselbein said Senate Democrats continue to have conversations with Republicans in the hopes that they can get more legislation passed. One pressing concern is the Knowles-Nelson stewardship program which, without legislative action, will sunset early in 2026.
“We’re very worried about that happening, so our doors are open to any ideas they have,” Hesselbein said of her Republican colleagues, adding that she hopes a bill authored by Sen. Jodi Habush-Sinykin (D-Whitefish Bay) can move forward.
Hesselbein noted that the stewardship program, which was created in 1989 to fund land conservation in Wisconsin, has bipartisan roots. It is named after former Republican Gov. Warren Knowles and former Democratic Gov. Gaylord Nelson and was signed into law by Republican Gov. Tommy Thompson.
“This has never been a partisan issue,” Hesselbein said, noting that the program is popular with people across Wisconsin who love the outdoors, “whether they’re going hiking or they’re fishing, or they’re hunting.”
Hesselbein also said she is hopeful that the bill she coauthored, which would bolster education on menopause and perimenopause, will advance. It received a public hearing in the Senate earlier this year.
Wisconsin Senate is the ‘most flippable’ in 2026
Next year will be a definitive election year in Wisconsin with control of the Senate, Assembly and governor’s office up for grabs.
Hesselbein said she believes that the Wisconsin State Senate is “the most flippable chamber” in the United States — and Democrats are working hard towards that goal. Wisconsin’s 17 odd-numbered Senate districts are up for reelections in 2026. It’s the first time new legislative maps adopted in 2024 that reflect the 50/50 partisan divide in the state will be in effect for those districts.
Hesselbein said Democrats are focused on winning districts that previously went to former Vice President Kamala Harris in 2024, former President Joe Biden in 2020, Gov. Tony Evers in his two elections and to Mary Burke, who lost to former Gov. Scott Walker in 2014.
Two seats targeted by Democrats to flip are Senate District 5, which is currently held by Sen. Rob Hutton (R-Brookfield) and Senate District 17, which is currently held by Sen. Howard Marklein (R-Spring Green).
“Fair maps and great candidates matter, and we already have people on the field that are out there knocking on doors listening to voters today on a cold day in Wisconsin… We have people that want to be elected to do the right thing for the people in the state of Wisconsin,” Hesselbein said.
Democratic candidates in Wisconsin and nationwide are hammering a message about affordability. Through the State Senate Democratic Campaign Committee, senators and two current representatives seeking Senate seats in 2026 have been touring the state to highlight the effects of Republican policy choices, including tariffs and cuts to health care at the federal level. They also recently launched an ad titled “Aisle 5.”
The ad opens as a group of Democratic lawmakers, including Sen. Sarah Keyeski (D-Lodi), Sen. Brad Pfaff (D-Onalaska) and Hesselbein, declare: “Same groceries from the same store. Same people in power, calling the shots and driving the prices up.” The words “Senate Republicans” pop up on the screen. “My colleagues and I are fighting every single day against tariffs that make beef, eggs, and even cheese more expensive,” Hesselbein says. “But guess what? They don’t care. We can’t keep hoping they’re going to make the right choice because they’ve shown us they won’t.”
Hesselbein vowed in the interview with the Examiner that under Democratic control the Senate will have more floor sessions, be more transparent and “be actually doing the people’s work.”
“When Senate Democrats are fortunate enough to be the majority, we will continue to work with our Republican colleagues and get the best policies to help the people in the state of Wisconsin, especially when it comes to rising costs,” she told the Examiner.
Senate Democrats’ ability to pursue their agenda will not only rely on winning the majority, but will also depend on who wins the consequential gubernatorial race, though Hesselbein said she is prepared to work with whoever wins.
“I was able to work with a Republican governor when Scott Walker was there. I was able to pass some bills,” Hesselbein said. “I’m hoping we have a Democratic governor so we can finally start listening to the people of the state of Wisconsin and get things done because we’ve been waiting a long time.”
Hesselbein said she doesn’t plan to endorse anyone in the Democratic primary for governor.
Many of the candidates have legislative experience including state Sen. Kelda Roys (D-Madison) and state Rep. Francesca Hong (D-Madison) as well as Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez, Milwaukee County Exec. David Crowley, former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes and former state Rep. Brett Hulsey. Other Democratic candidates include former Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation CEO Missy Hughes and former Department of Administration Sec. Joel Brennan.
“I have too many friends,” Hesselbein said of her decision not to make an endorsement. “I have been in caucus with some of them… They are really good people, and when the going got tough, they never ran from an argument or anything, so I’m really looking forward to seeing how that race shapes up.”
Hesselbein said she is looking forward to seeing each candidate’s platform and a “robust” discussion among them.
“What are the plans that they have for the state of Wisconsin? How do they see us addressing rising costs and affordability? What is their plan for K-12 education, higher education? For the environment and all the things that we’ve been hearing about for years that people in the state of Wisconsin want us to effectively address,” Hesselbein said.
U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany has said his campaign is aiming to raise $40 million for the 2026 gubernatorial race. Tiffany delivers a speech at his launch event in Wausau in September. (Photo by Baylor Spears/Wisconsin Examiner)
U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, the current frontrunner in the GOP gubernatorial primary, criticized the “billionaire loophole” that has led to record spending in statewide races in Wisconsin, even though he voted for the legislation that helped expand spending in 2015.
Tiffany has said his campaign is aiming to raise $40 million for the 2026 gubernatorial race. “We’ll see if we get there,” Tiffany said in an interview with PBS Wisconsin last week. “But, you know, Wisconsin, because of that pass-through loophole, I call it the billionaire loophole, there’s just so much money that comes into Wisconsin. But, you know, you can cry about it or you can compete. We choose to compete… We’re hoping to raise $40 million.”
Spending on Wisconsin statewide elections has grown substantially over the last decade in part because of an overhaul of the state’s campaign finance laws adopted in 2015 under the leadership of former Gov. Scott Walker and the Republican-led Legislature.
Republican lawmakers at the time argued that the changes to the campaign finance laws were necessary to align state law with U.S. Supreme Court decisions, including Citizens United v. FEC, which in 2010 struck down a nationwide ban on political donations from corporations, and McCutcheon v. FEC, which in 2014 found that annual caps on total political donations from one person are unconstitutional.
Under 2015 Wisconsin Act 117, Wisconsin lawmakers eliminated a state law that capped individual donations to all candidates and political committees in a single year at $10,000. Limits on contributions for each state and local office were increased and limits on contributions to party and legislative campaign committees were eliminated, creating a loophole that allowed unlimited money to flow through parties and committees into individual campaigns. The law eliminated restrictions on coordination between political parties and candidates and allowed for political parties and legislative campaign committees to make unlimited contributions to candidate committees.
The state law has become a topic of conversation again as the U.S. Supreme Court heard a case Tuesday challenging a federal law limiting the amount of money that political parties can spend in coordination with a candidate for office.
Tiffany has represented Wisconsin’s 7th Congressional District since 2020, but prior to that he served in the state Senate. As a state senator, Tiffany voted for AB 387, which later became Act 117, along with the other Senate Republicans. Only one Republican, former state Sen. Rob Cowles, voted against the measure.
Tiffany’s campaign has not responded to a request for comment about the vote and whether he wants to see changes to state campaign finance law.
At the time, advocacy groups and Democratic lawmakers warned the legislation would lead to obscene spending in Wisconsin elections. The Wisconsin Democracy Campaign warned in written testimony that the legislation would mean “billionaires and multimillionaires will have an outsized influence over who gets elected” and that political contests would “be less between candidates and more between tycoons.”
Spending in governors’ races was already growing following the U.S. Supreme Court decision and before the state law was adopted. In 2010, $37.37 million was spent on the governor’s race; in 2014, spending increased to $81.78 million. The increase in spending ballooned dramatically after the passage of the 2015 law.
A record-breaking $164 million was spent in 2022 on Wisconsin’s gubernatorial race. According to the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, the cost represented a 77% increase from the previous $93.06 million record that was set in the 2018 governor’s race.
Democratic gubernatorial hopeful Mandela Barnes, who served in the Assembly in 2015, did not vote on the campaign spending bill, joining the rest of his Democratic Assembly colleagues who said it was a conflict of interest for lawmakers to rewrite the laws that govern their campaigns. He is the only Democratic candidate in the current crowded primary field who was in the Legislature at the time.
Barnes said in a press release in 2015 that he opposed the bill because Republicans rejected an amendment that would have delayed implementation until after the 2016 election cycle. He said Republicans “acted in blatant self-interest for their campaign committees by voting down my effort,” so he “recused myself from voting on ultimate passage of this outrageous proposal.”
Barnes also said then that with the legislation Republicans had “fully embraced the darkness of corruption by voting to rig the rules to line their own campaign pockets with shady special interest money and allow for more corruption to go undetected and unprosecuted.”
Barnes, a former lieutenant governor and U.S. Senate candidate, recently said he is aiming to raise $50 million over the course of the race, but at the same time criticized the escalation in campaign spending.
“It’s not a good sign for things. I wish that were not the case,” Barnes told reporters Monday. “The goal is to get big money out of politics. The goal is for campaign and ethics reform… We should be taking more steps to reduce the impact of money in politics.”
Other Democratic candidates include Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez, Milwaukee Co. Exec. David Crowley, state Sen. Kelda Roys, state Rep. Francesca Hong, Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. CEO Missy Hughes and former state Rep. Brett Hulsey.
Washington County Executive Josh Schoemann is the only other Republican candidate currently in the race.
Barnes and Tiffany have not had to file campaign finance reports yet as they entered after the last deadline. Candidates’ next campaign finance filing deadline is Jan. 15, 2026. Those reports will cover July 1, 2025 through Dec. 31, 2025.
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