From prisons to funding for police, Wisconsin’s next governor will face a lot of decisions related to criminal justice. WPR's Sarah Lehr explains how the candidates plan to address crime and punishment.
The post How Wisconsin’s governor candidates would address criminal justice decisions appeared first on WPR.
The latest numbers stand out because Tiffany had previously outraised Crowley nearly 2-1 throughout the campaign.
The post Crowley reports late fundraising edge over Tiffany in governor’s race appeared first on WPR.
Wisconsin Watch partners with Gigafact to produce Fact Briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. Read our methodology to learn how we check claims.
U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, the Republican candidate for Wisconsin governor in the Nov. 3 election, voted last November for the Epstein Files Transparency Act.
The law requires the U.S. Justice Department to publish its unclassified documents in the Jeffrey Epstein investigation.
Epstein killed himself while awaiting trial on charges of serial sex trafficking of women and girls.
Some 3.5 million pages were released in January. Efforts are underway to force the release of more.
Tiffany’s Democratic opponent, Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, claimed in an Oct. 20 ad that Tiffany “voted to block the release of the Epstein files.”
That July 2025 vote was not up or down on releasing the files.
Tiffany voted no on a procedural measure related to a Democratic attempt to attach an amendment to an unrelated cryptocurrency bill. Voting yes could have led to a vote on requiring the files’ release.
This Fact Brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
Did Wisconsin governor candidate Tom Tiffany oppose releasing the Epstein files? is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.
WPR invited both candidates for governor to sit down for interviews. Republican Tom Tiffany’s campaign declined.
The post Governor candidate David Crowley on data centers, budget surplus and elections appeared first on WPR.
Over the course of a sometimes contentious, sometimes awkward hour, the two candidates for Wisconsin governor sparred over taxes, data centers and abortion in the only debate of their general election campaign Wednesday night.
The post Crowley, Tiffany spar over taxes, data centers and abortion in only debate of governor’s race appeared first on WPR.
With less than two weeks until Election Day and early voting already underway, Wisconsin’s gubernatorial candidates met for the only televised debate. Both attacked their opponent’s biggest weaknesses and provided further insight into how they would govern.
Democrat David Crowley, the Milwaukee County executive, and Republican Tom Tiffany, who represents the 7th Congressional District in northern Wisconsin, are competing in the first open race for governor since 2010 after Democratic Gov. Tony Evers did not seek a third term.
In a midterm year when the national environment favors Democrats, Marquette University Law School polling has shown a close contest between Crowley and Tiffany. The most recent poll in late September showed Crowley leading within the margin of error 49% to 46% among likely voters with about 5% still undecided. The next Marquette poll is scheduled for release Oct. 28.
The debate, held at the law school Wednesday with only news media in attendance, arrived on Wisconsin’s second day of in-person early voting. More than 55,000 people cast their ballots on the first day, up from more than 33,000 at the same time ahead of the last gubernatorial race in 2022, according to data from the Wisconsin Elections Commission.
Here are some key takeaways from Wednesday night’s debate.
Crowley used any opening in the debate to criticize Tiffany for his votes in Congress in support of President Donald Trump and the millions in campaign funding Tiffany received from GOP megadonors.
Early in the debate, Crowley pointed to Tiffany’s votes against ending U.S. military involvement in the Iran war and blocking the president’s tariffs to suggest the congressman doesn’t care about lowering costs for Wisconsinites.
“We don’t need what is happening in Washington, D.C., coming into the state of Wisconsin,” Crowley said. “It is very clear that he is working for Donald Trump and the billionaires who are funding his campaign.”
Campaign finance reports from July through September show Tiffany’s largest donor was the Republican Party of Wisconsin, which received nearly 95% of its $29 million in donations from billionaires Diane Hendricks, the founder of ABC Supply Co., and Richard and Elizabeth Uihlein, who founded the Uline shipping supplies company. The next campaign finance report deadline, which will show the candidates’ financial position ahead of Election Day, is Monday.
Tiffany, who was endorsed by Trump earlier this year, attempted to separate himself from the president, who is unpopular in Wisconsin ahead of Election Day. The September Marquette poll found just 38% of registered voters approve of Trump’s job in his second term.
“While my opponent, you can see early on in the debate, is consistently focused on being against Donald Trump, I’m for Wisconsin,” Tiffany said.
The moderators from WISN-TV in Milwaukee pressed Crowley and Tiffany for more details on the campaign promises they’ve made while traveling the state over the last year.
Tiffany has called for returning Wisconsin’s $3 billion surplus to taxpayers. During the debate, Tiffany explained that he would do that through “long-term” reductions in property and income taxes. In remarks after the debate, Tiffany added he would not support one-time rebates, which were part of the failed bipartisan surplus deal Evers and Republican legislative leaders negotiated earlier this year. Tiffany opposed that plan.
“The one thing that I don’t want to do is just one-time rebates,” Tiffany said after the debate. “I want it to be long-term, lasting tax relief, so people in Wisconsin can plan, so they can plan their futures.”
Tiffany said he opposes raising transportation user fees, instituting tolls or indexing the gas tax to inflation. Crowley said he would be open to new user fees and that the state should be open to tolling to fund transportation projects, but he also opposed indexing the gas tax, which was discontinued in 2006.
Crowley reiterated his position from the primary that he would not eliminate the Milwaukee school voucher program and said he would keep the statewide program in place.
“I will work with the Legislature,” Crowley said. “But as of this moment, we are not in a position to push all of these children towards any of our public schools.”
Asked if he would sign a bill to eliminate income limits on school vouchers, Tiffany said he would have to take a look at it if elected.
“I would be willing to raise those income limits,” Tiffany said. “But I would sit down and take a look at where we should move them at this time.”
Crowley noted the voucher program was originally intended to help low-income Milwaukee students, but the statewide program has allowed families who could already afford to send their children to private school to receive a taxpayer subsidy.
On data centers, Tiffany pointed out that Crowley in the past week changed his position on the state’s sales tax exemption for data centers, which is worth some $2 billion.
“Why would some of the wealthiest companies in the world need subsidies from the taxpayers of Wisconsin?” said Tiffany, who has campaigned on repealing data center tax breaks.
Crowley now says he would sign legislation, proposed by Republicans, to repeal the sales tax exemption. Previously he said he would review the exemption.
Tiffany said he would not sign a “fetal heartbeat bill,” which would ban abortions once a heartbeat is detected, if it reaches his desk. Tiffany voted for Wisconsin’s current abortion ban after 20 weeks when he was in the Legislature and he said he would maintain that “middle ground” in the abortion debate.
Crowley did not directly answer whether he would sign a bill that legalized abortion with no gestational limits and said he did not believe such a bill would reach his desk if he is elected. He has proposed a constitutional amendment, which would need the support of the Legislature, that would protect the right to an abortion.
“These are discussions that need to be made between a doctor and a patient,” Crowley said. “When you think about any type of abortion past the 20 week, it’s usually dealing with extreme circumstances.”
Both candidates repeated claims that Wisconsin Watch has found to be inaccurate.
Tiffany claimed during the debate that Crowley “wants to remove half of the prison inmates here in Wisconsin.” Crowley has voiced support for cutting Wisconsin’s prison population in half over time using a variety of means, such as legalizing marijuana and funding jail diversion programs.
Crowley claimed Tiffany “provided the tax breaks to the big tech companies who are steamrolling our communities today with these data centers.” The tax cuts were part of President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill and applied to a multitude of companies across sectors. They were not specifically for tech companies or data centers, as Crowley had previously claimed.
Each candidate had a minute to give a closing statement. Crowley highlighted the contrast between himself and Tiffany, while Tiffany recounted his recent emergency plane landing experience. Here’s each candidate’s entire statement:
Crowley: “I’m running to be your governor because Wisconsin families are working harder than ever and still falling behind. And I get it. I grew up in a working-class family, and I’m raising three amazing daughters. Congressman Tom Tiffany, he doesn’t get it. He went to Washington and he sold Wisconsin out. He went to go work for Donald Trump and the billionaires bankrolling him. They got tax breaks. You got higher bills. They got tariffs. You got higher prices. They got their endless war. You got record high gas prices. This election is about who your governor works for. If Congressman Tom Tiffany becomes our governor, he’s going to work for them, not for you, just like he did in Washington, voting with Donald Trump 100% of the time. But me, I’ll work for you. I’ll lower your costs. I’ll expand health care. I’ll make sure we can improve our schools and bring people together to get it done. That’s why I’m asking for your vote. Thank you, and go Brewers.”
Tiffany: “It was a month ago that a plane that I was in had to make an emergency landing on Lake Wausau and run up to the airport. And as the pilot and I exited that plane, he dialed 911. From the time that call hit dispatch in downtown Wausau to the boat picking us up in the middle of Lake Wausau was 16 minutes. Only 16 minutes. I remember hearing after we made the call that you could hear the sirens and then you could see the lights, but it only took them 16 minutes. Ladies and gentlemen, I saw the best of Wisconsin that night. As your next governor, I’m going to make sure you see the best of Wisconsin. I hope to earn your vote to lead this state.”
Wisconsin Watch is a nonprofit, nonpartisan newsroom. Subscribe to our newsletters for original stories and our Friday news roundup.
David Crowley, Tom Tiffany clash on taxes, abortion and private school vouchers in Wisconsin governor debate is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.
As lawmakers, scientists and even some tech leaders warn about the risks of unfettered use of artificial intelligence, Wisconsin's Democratic candidate for governor is proposing a series of AI regulations.
The post David Crowley proposes AI safety policies for youth, seniors appeared first on WPR.
As he runs for governor, Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany has introduced himself to voters as a get-along kind of conservative, but his lengthy record in the state Legislature and Congress tells a different story.
The post Tom Tiffany’s conservative record dates back years in state and federal politics appeared first on WPR.
David Crowley's record as a former state legislator and Milwaukee County's executive has focused on solving problems in his hometown. But that pragmatic approach, especially his support for a sales tax hike, is being used against him as he runs for governor.
The post David Crowley’s pragmatic record a double-edged sword in Wisconsin governor’s race appeared first on WPR.
Less than a month away from Election Day, former President Barack Obama announced his endorsement of fellow Democrat David Crowley in Wisconsin's race for governor.
The post Barack Obama endorses David Crowley for Wisconsin governor appeared first on WPR.
Whoever wins the Nov. 3 election to become Wisconsin’s next governor — whether it be Republican Tom Tiffany or Democrat David Crowley — will inherit a state whose long tradition of open government is replete with opportunities for improvement.
With that in mind, the Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council last month sent questionnaires about government transparency to both candidates. Crowley answered our questions while Tiffany did not.
Here’s a roundup of where the candidates stand when it comes to your right to know, drawn from Crowley’s responses and from what he and Tiffany have said on the campaign trail.
Let’s begin with common ground. Both Crowley and Tiffany say they support ending a legal loophole that exempts state legislators from record retention rules that are in place for all other state and local government officials. This loophole presently allows elected members of the state Assembly and Senate to delete emails and other files at will to prevent their release, absent a pending records request.
Crowley and Tiffany also say they oppose nondisclosure agreements between data center developers and local governments.
In his response to our questionnaire, Crowley said his administration would post commonly requested information online, monitor records processes across agencies and review records request procedures at least annually. He would also require that appointees receive training on the public records and open meetings laws and “make sure the agencies responsible for public records and open meetings compliance have the funding and staffing they need to do that work well.”
Asked about potential changes to the public records and open meetings laws, Crowley said he supports increasing the location fee threshold — a provision in the law allowing custodians to charge location fees only when they are $50 or more — which has not been updated since 1981.
Although Tiffany did not respond to the council’s questionnaire, he has made several campaign promises related to government transparency. Tiffany said he would improve a state data portal to “make it easier for taxpayers to search and understand state spending.” He promised to create agency dashboards that would show “taxpayers where their money is going, what services agencies are providing, and the results taxpayers are receiving.” Tiffany’s spokesperson also said that Tiffany, if elected, would “set clear response-time standards for open records requests.”
As a state senator, Tiffany in 2015 voted for a proposal that would have made it easier for lawmakers, the governor and other agencies to withhold records from the public. The measure was rescinded after intense public outcry. (Tiffany later apologized for his vote, saying “Quite honestly, I am embarrassed by the event.”)
Beyond the public records and open meetings laws, Crowley supports legislation targeting strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPPs), used to retaliate against individuals and news outlets for engaging in protected activities. The state Assembly in February passed an anti-SLAPP bill, but it died in the Senate. Wisconsin is one of just 10 states without such protection.
Crowley also supports spending taxpayer dollars on WisconsinEye, a public affairs network like C-SPAN, as it works to find a sustainable funding model. “Having served in the State Legislature and now as County Executive, I’ve seen firsthand how important it is for Wisconsinites to have direct access to their government — it strengthens both transparency and public participation,” Crowley said.
Tiffany did not answer our questions on these topics.
Like government transparency, the values of press freedom and free expression are pillars of the broader project of representative democracy. On Sept. 24, Tiffany’s staff blocked two Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reporters from a campaign event alleging bias in coverage. Afterward, he insisted, “I’ve always had an open policy in regards to the media.”
Read Crowley’s full response to WISFOIC’s questionnaire here.
Your Right to Know is a monthly column distributed by the Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council (wisfoic.org), a group dedicated to open government. Jonathan Anderson is the organization’s treasurer.
Your Right to Know: Contenders for governor weigh in on open government is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.
U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany tried to help overturn the results of the 2020 election for Donald Trump.
Now the Republican is running for governor, a role in which he would be the executive of the entire state of Wisconsin. If he is elected, experts say he has a duty to perform regarding the state’s votes in the 2028 presidential election.
Though the Wisconsin Elections Commission does most of the heavy lifting to certify presidential elections, the governor does have a “key” role, said Chad Oldfather, a law professor at Marquette University.
After the November election, the bipartisan Wisconsin Elections Commission receives and certifies the statewide election results, said Bryna Godar, a staff attorney for the State Democracy Research Initiative at the University of Wisconsin Law School, in an email to The Badger Project. The commission then creates a certificate naming the electors chosen by the winning political party to vote for president and vice president in the Electoral College, she noted.
The governor has to sign that certificate and send it to the U.S. archivist in Washington, D.C., Oldfather said.
Wisconsin law suggests the governor’s role in signing the certificate is more of a duty than an act of “discretion,” Oldfather said. But “there’s always the possibility that someone can come up with an argument as to why the duty doesn’t cover a specific scenario.”
Godar said courts could step in if the governor refuses to sign the certificate or tries to change it.
Asked to comment for the story, Tiffany’s campaign sent a statement from the candidate.
“Joe Biden won,” it read. “Wisconsin voters have also spoken clearly on election integrity, banning Zuckerbucks (grants from private citizens to help fund elections and named after Mark Zuckerberg) and supporting voter ID. In 2028, I’ll certify whoever wins the most votes in Wisconsin.”
In the aftermath of the 2020 election, the Trump campaign filed lawsuits across the country challenging the election of then-President-Elect Joe Biden. Judges appointed by Republican and Democratic presidents rejected those attempts.
“The November 3rd election was the most secure in American history,” the federal government’s Elections Infrastructure Government Coordinating Council & the Election Infrastructure Sector Coordinating Executive Committees announced in a joint statement after the election.
At a campaign rally in 2016, Trump said he would accept the results of the election “if I win.”
Tiffany also joined a 2020 effort led by Texas to challenge Biden’s narrow but legitimate victories in Arizona, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. He was one of more than a hundred other Republicans in Congress, and the only one from Wisconsin, to sign a letter to the court supporting the lawsuit.
The U.S. Supreme Court, featuring three Trump-appointed justices, dismissed the lawsuit in December 2020, writing that Texas lacked legal standing to interfere with how other states conduct elections.
Beyond supporting the lawsuit, Tiffany also voted to object to the certification of 2020 election results in Arizona and Pennsylvania. When asked if he regretted his vote in an August TV interview with WISN-12 News in Milwaukee, Tiffany said Biden won the 2020 election. Pressed further, Tiffany said he was focused on the future and not the past.
In a separate case, the Wisconsin Supreme Court also rejected, albeit by the narrowest of margins, Trump’s effort to challenge the results of the 2020 election in the blue counties of Dane and Milwaukee.
Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Brian Hagedorn, a conservative, sided with the court’s three left-leaning justices and wrote in his 2020 opinion that the Trump campaign needed to challenge election rules before the election, not after.
The remaining three conservative justices on the state’s highest court dissented, writing that the court should have weighed the merits of the case.
Wisconsin voters head to the polls again in November as Tiffany and Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, a Democrat, face off for the governor’s mansion.
This article first appeared on The Badger Project.
The Badger Project is an independent, reader-supported news nonprofit in Wisconsin.
Tom Tiffany tried to overturn the 2020 election. Now he vows to certify Wisconsin’s 2028 results. is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.
Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany’s plan addresses affordability primarily through tax cuts and deregulation, while Democratic Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley’s plan focuses on creating or expanding state programs to address rising household costs.
The post Affordability is voters’ top issue. Wisconsin governor candidates clash on addressing it. appeared first on WPR.
Wisconsin Watch partners with Gigafact to produce Fact Briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. Read our methodology to learn how we check claims.
U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, the Republican nominee for Wisconsin governor, has not supported defunding the police — an effort to reduce law enforcement funding by shifting it to other programs.
Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, the Democratic nominee, claimed Tiffany voted six times to defund the police.
None of those House votes would have taken money away from law enforcement.
Tiffany voted against a bill that would have directly funded local police departments.
Other measures he opposed were different, including:
We found no evidence that Tiffany backed reducing police funding.
In 2022, Tiffany said “it’s time to stop the defund the police movement.” In 2026 he criticized the movement.
This Fact Brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
Has Tom Tiffany supported defunding the police? is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.
Republican Tom Tiffany's campaign for governor raised more than $26 million in less than three months, dominating Democratic challenger David Crowley's figures, but early all of Tiffany's latest haul came from three billionaires funneling money through the Republican Party of Wisconsin.
The post Funds from 3 billionaires give Tom Tiffany huge fundraising lead in race for governor appeared first on WPR.
The latest Marquette University poll of Wisconsin's race for governor shows Democratic Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley narrowly leading Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany.
The post Crowley narrowly leads Tiffany in latest Marquette poll appeared first on WPR.
A growing number of states are taking action to respond to spiking gas and diesel prices. But Wisconsin isn't one of them.
The post States are lifting gas taxes to ease pain at the pump, but not Wisconsin appeared first on WPR.
The campaign for U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, the Republican candidate for governor, blocked a veteran reporter from one of his events Thursday, a move that came days after President Donald Trump took a similar step at the White House.
The post Tom Tiffany’s campaign blocks reporter from Milwaukee event appeared first on WPR.
A brand new group reported spending $13 million against Wisconsin Democrats in its first campaign finance report.
The post New dark money GOP group dominates Wisconsin political spending appeared first on WPR.
Citing fraud investigations and findings from the federal government, without mentioning President Donald Trump by name, U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, R-Hazelhurst, said Friday that he wants to do the same in Wisconsin. During a Friday press conference at the Eau Claire County Republican Party headquarters, Tiffany announced a "Taxpayer Accountability Plan."
The post Tiffany promises more state agency audits if elected governor appeared first on WPR.
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