U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany delivers a speech at his launch event in Wausau. (Photo by Baylor Spears/Wisconsin Examiner)
WAUSAU — In his first event since launching his campaign for governor of Wisconsin, U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany made the case for his governorship and promised the large crowd seated and standing around a barn on Wednesday that he’ll work hard to win in 2026.
The 2026 race will be the first open election for governor of Wisconsin in over 15 years as Gov. Tony Evers decided to retire at the end of his second term. Tiffany became the third Republican candidate in the race on Tuesday. Washington County Executive Josh Schoemann and Whitefish Bay manufacturer Bill Berrien are also running in the Republican primary for the office. The Democratic field is growing with at least six candidates so far. The primary is scheduled for August 2026.
“We are making America great once again,” Tiffany, who stood in front of an American flag, told the crowd. “Now we need a governor that’s going to lead Wisconsin to prosperity. Are we going to be one of those states that chooses prosperity like Texas and Florida and Tennessee and Ohio or are we going to be one of the laggards like New York or California?”
Tiffany declared during his speech that he is “the leader” in the race as he called for people to join him in his work.
“I will put every ounce of my energy into this… but I cannot do it alone,” Tiffany said. “I am going to need your help.”
Berrien, who has never held elected office, criticized Tiffany as a “career politician” in a statement after his launch.
“We need builders who will create prosperity for all through work, revitalize the manufacturing infrastructure that lies dormant in our state, and jumpstart our economy,” Berrien said. “As the only builder in this race, I’m the strongest general election candidate Democrats will face — and they know it!”
Schoemann, meanwhile, welcomed Tiffany to the race.
“Looking forward to a Republican primary focused on ideas and winning back the governor’s office,” Schoemann said in a social media post on Tuesday.
In his 16-minute speech, Tiffany highlighted his childhood on a dairy farm in Elmwood, in the western part of the state as one of eight children.
“Growing up on the farm, we learned to work hard. We learned how to work hard, and we learned to live on a budget, and there are no excuses on the farm, you pick up the shovel, you pick up the pitchfork and you go to work,” Tiffany said. “That’s the way it is. There’s no excuses when those chores start to pile up, and it’s kind of the Wisconsin way.”
U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany’s launch event was held in a barn near Wausau on Wednesday. (Photo by Baylor Spears/Wisconsin Examiner)
The crowd of attendees, some wearing “Make America Great Again” hats, Turning Point USA shirts and even vintage Tiffany for Senate shirts, cheered enthusiastically throughout the speech.
Linda Michalski, a Wausau resident who retired from working for Marathon County as an accountant, said she got an invite to Tiffany’s event from the Marathon County Republican Party, of which she is a member. She said she hasn’t researched the other Republican candidates in depth, but that she believes Tiffany’s name recognition will give him an edge.
Michalski said Tiffany’s backstory stuck out to her.
“Dairy farmers work hard. You can’t just let things slide. You can’t just go on vacation if you’re a dairy farmer, in a dairy farmer family. Things have to get done, and they can’t… If more people had a strong work ethic, they wouldn’t be faced with financial difficulties,” Michalski said.
Tiffany is hoping to lean on voters like Michaski in the areas of the state where he is most at home, telling reporters after his speech that he needs to “juice up” turnout in northern and western Wisconsin in order to win in 2026.
“I’m driving all over the state of Wisconsin today, and I was talking to people that were making commitments, and I think you’re going to see more people climb on board here,” Tiffany said. “I got to prove myself to people, the state of Wisconsin.”
Tiffany, who lives in Minocqua, has represented Wisconsin’s 7th Congressional District, a massive area encompassing the northern part of the state, in the House of Representatives since 2020. Before he went to Washington D.C., Tiffany served in the Wisconsin Legislature, first in the Assembly for about three years, followed by nearly eight years in the state Senate, where he was a member of the powerful, budget-writing Joint Finance Committee.
Tiffany told reporters that he is expecting that he’ll have to raise $30 or $40 million, and that his campaign is “off to a good start.”
Republicans in the gubernatorial primary are anxiously awaiting a possible endorsement from President Donald Trump. Tiffany said his last conversation with Trump, which centered mostly on the 7th CD, was in August.
“We will see how he responds. If he chooses to endorse me, I will certainly welcome that endorsement,” Tiffany said.
In his speech, Tiffany said he would freeze property taxes and said the annual $325 school revenue limit increase that districts receive due to a partial veto by Evers would be “dead on day one.”
The annual revenue limit increase gives school districts the option to bring in additional revenue, though without additional state aid, their only option to benefit from the increase is to raise local property taxes. Many school districts throughout the state have been leaning on property taxes to help with costs, since state aid to schools has not kept pace with inflation for almost two decades.
Michalski, a homeowner, said that a freeze in property taxes would be a “welcome relief.” She said her own property taxes have jumped nearly $1,000 recently, a hike that she blames on the Wausau Common Council.
“Our current government is — it’s awful. It’s just awful, what Gov. Evers is doing. He’s pushing away businesses, he’s adding taxes upon taxes, and… he’s imposing a tax on property owners for 400 years,” Michalski said.
Tiffany shakes hands at his launch event in Wausau (Photo by Baylor Spears/Wisconsin Examiner)
Tiffany didn’t have additional specifics when it came to exactly how he would freeze property taxes while talking to reporters after his speech.
“There’s plenty of money in Madison that I think we can help out those local municipalities to do the property tax freeze taxes at the local level. Where are the schools and the local municipalities going to get their money, right? I think the state can help out, especially after the spending blowout with this budget,” Tiffany told reporters after his speech.
Asked by a reporter if he would seek a suspension of school referendums, Tiffany said he hasn’t “dug that deep into the details” and would “have to study that a little bit.”
Kevin Lund, a nurse from Kronenwetter, said he appreciates the “Wisconsin First” message that Tiffany delivered. While he identifies as a libertarian, not a Republican, Lund said he has been following Tiffany since he took over from former U.S. Rep. Sean Duffy in 2020.
“He’s paralleling a lot of the conservative type of sentiments that have been kind of nationwide,” Lund said, adding that he is happy about that. “He’s winning on the 80-20 issues, and as long as he can continue to convey that message throughout the state, I think, he’ll find a lot of success.”
Those issues, Lund said, include immigration and the economy.
“When you have money, all of a sudden, everybody’s a little bit happier,” Lund said, adding that young people in particular are dealing with challenges trying to afford a home and are “seeing a stagnation in wage growth.”
“That’s got to be concerning to the younger generation. I’ve got a daughter that’s young, and… I’m wanting to see young people be able to have the chance to succeed in the state,” Lund said.
Tiffany, speaking about his tenure in Congress, highlighted his visits to the southern border where he said he saw “the damage that was being done to America, where every state had become a border state.” Tiffany, who is a member of the ultraconservative House Freedom Caucus, has been supportive of Trump’s crackdown on immigration during his second term.
During his speech, Tiffany repeatedly blamed Democrats for problems in the state and played up cultural issues.
“For too long, Democrats have torn down what has been built up in Wisconsin,” Tiffany said. “If we give them four more years? Buckle up! Buckle up! Because you’ll see illegal aliens having driver’s licenses. You’ll see men playing girls’ sports and cheap foreign labor will replace you.”
Tiffany also declared that there would be “no sanctuary cities” in Wisconsin under his leadership and called diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) “unconstitutional and un-American.”
“I talk to parents, and they have a simple message in regards to education, they just say, ‘Just educate our kids. Don’t indoctrinate them. Just get them a good education.’” Tiffany said, adding that he would seek to ensure that “dollars for education are going to students, teachers, and communities, not the system.”
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