Wisconsin governor race: U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany 1-on-1

MILWAUKEE - Republican Congressman Tom Tiffany announced this week that he is running for governor of Wisconsin.

FOX6's Jason Calvi sat down with him for a one-on-one interview.

The path to victory

What they're saying:

Jason Calvi: What's your path to victory? The odds are for midterm elections, it goes against the party that runs the White House. It's against you then.

U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany: I think it's going to be contrary in 2026. I think we have a great chance to be able to win this race. I'm going to provide the leadership that Wisconsin needs. You look at the state of Wisconsin at this point and I mean there's some things that are really challenging for our state. We have declining educational standards, energy costs continue to go higher. We're the second highest cost state here in the Midwest. We're in the bottom 10 to start a new business. There's a lot of things that Wisconsin could be doing better. We're going to talk about those things, but we're also going to propose solutions.

Rising costs

Calvi: When you talk about rising prices, that was a major issue in the 2024 election. People are right now criticizing the tariffs and even Democrats are calling you "Tariff-lover Tom." How can you support tariffs when you know it's leading to higher costs at the checkout line?

Tiffany: Because we want manufacturing here in the United States of America. Some of those same people, they let American industry, including Wisconsin industry, leave this country. And it's going to take leadership; It's going take some time, but we need to bring manufacturing back to America, because we're in a grand battle here with Communist China for the 21st century. The 20th century was an American century. But China seeks to overcome the United States of America. And if you don't make things, then they're going to win. We need to make things in America. Wisconsin is a manufacturing state. We need to rebuild that manufacturing. And that is something that I'm dedicated to doing.

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Calvi: But what do you say to the people right now that say: ‘I can't afford my groceries, I can afford my utility bills right now’?

Tiffany: Electricity prices are the second highest in the Midwest. let's get them back down. Look at what's happening under Democrats right now: they are closing down perfectly good electrical generating plants. We should not be closing any of them, in fact, we should be building more so that we can bring down the cost of electricity and energy for Wisconsinites.

Vouchers

What they're saying:

Calvi: I want to go rapid fire on some of the issues that people are talking about. You mentioned education. One of the bills Republicans proposed would allow for school vouchers for any student in Wisconsin. Would you sign that bill?

Tiffany: I believe in higher standards and honest report cards. That's what we're going to do. I stand with, however you educate your child, public, private, parochial, we should get every kid in Wisconsin a good education.

Calvi: So universal school vouchers, yes or no on that one?

Tiffany: I would want to take a look at that bill when people propose it, but I think parents should have choices.

Abortion and reproductive health care

What they're saying:

Calvi: When it comes to things like abortion, I know you supported the six-week abortion ban in Congress. Would you sign that if it came to your desk as governor of Wisconsin?

Tiffany: 10 years ago when I was in the state legislature, I voted for a bill which was a 20-week or five-month bill. I voted for that bill, it is now the law in the State of Wisconsin. I will uphold that law as governor of the State of Wisconsin.

Calvi: Any further restrictions going even farther than the 20-week ban?

Tiffany: I will uphold the law as written currently the five-month bill that was passed 10 years ago.

Calvi: Anything lower than that, like a five or six-week, would you veto that?

Tiffany: I'm going to uphold the law that is currently in place. That's the position that I'm going to take. We had a lot of debate in regards to this issue. We ended up with a position at 20 weeks or five months that was the product of compromise. I think that's what the people of the state of Wisconsin wanted. They wanted us to have a compromise that hopefully we can all live with. I'm going to uphold that compromise of a five month bill we did 10 years ago.

Voting against Juneteenth being a federal holiday

What they're saying:

Calvi: Juneteenth was a holiday that's been celebrated in Milwaukee for decades. I mean, the celebration down there in Milwaukee is large and people really love that holiday. Why did you not vote for making Juneteenth a federal holiday?

Tiffany: I think it's great that they celebrate Juneteenth here in Milwaukee. The reason I did not vote for it is because it was billed as an Independence Day. When Nancy Pelosi brought it to the floor, she billed it as Independence Day. We have one Independence Day here in America and it's on July 4th. I have no problem with recognizing Juneteenth, but it should not be billed as Independence Day.

Cellphone ban in schools

What they're saying:

Calvi: I want to go back to schools because I think that's a crucial issue for a governor. One of your Democratic competitors wants to sponsor a bill that would ban cell phones in Wisconsin public schools. Would you sign a bill to ban cell phone in public schools?

Tiffany: I support banning cell phones. I also support getting great teachers more money. I think we need to reward those teachers that do a really good job in the classroom and we need to hold administrators responsible for those report cards that are coming out from the schools. Let's have higher standards and honest report cards.

Debate over property tax cuts

What they're saying:

Calvi: You're talking about the pay, one of the things Democrats always introduce when it comes to this budget surplus in Madison, they always say, OK, all that money should go to public schools. And Republicans often say, no, we want to see a lot of that money or most of that money or all that go to property tax cuts. How do you balance that? And where would you land on that debate: property taxes versus more funding for schools?

Tiffany: So I support a property tax freeze. I think in order to make it affordable for homeowners, we need to make sure that there's control of property taxes. We did that a decade ago when I was in the state legislature. I think about my children, who went to public schools. They had so many good teachers. I think those great teachers should be rewarded. We need to get more money in the classrooms and get rid of some of the administrative bloat that we see in some schools.

Calvi: How do you get more money into the schools? Would that be some of the proposals would be to take the surplus that's in Madison and then just say, OK, give it to the school districts?

Tiffany: Both Democrats and Republicans have put more money into schools, including the public schools. I think what we need to do now is reward those schools that are performing well. Remember, we have 31% of fourth graders in the state of Wisconsin that read at grade level. That is a disaster for the state of Wisconsin and its future. We have a long, proud history of doing an outstanding job of educating children. We're not doing that anymore with many children. We need to get back to it, and the way you do it is reward those who are, you reward success.

Trump endorsing?

What they're saying:

Calvi: To win the primary, President Donald Trump's going to be crucial. If he endorses someone, that person's probably going to win the Republican primary. Why hasn't the President endorsed you, yet?

Tiffany: I had a good chat with the President about a month and a half ago, and you know, the President's going to decide what he's going to do. I put the burden on myself. And it's not just the President; it's the people of the state of Wisconsin. I need to sell myself to them. And I have a history of getting results in the work that I've done in the state legislature. I served in local government. I get results and I'm going to provide the leadership that the people of Wisconsin should expect. And I've got deep roots in this state. I'm a true-blue Wisconsinite and I'm going to provide that leadership to take Wisconsin from one of the states that is, could be doing better at this point, let's make it one of the top states in America. Let's make ourselves like Texas, Florida, Tennessee, Ohio, states that really have dynamic economies. We should be doing the same in Wisconsin. We can do it.

Calvi: What's it going to take to get that endorsement? He knows you best. If you look at the three Republican candidates, he knows you better than the others. Why did he not choose to endorse you today when you're launching?

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Tiffany: The president's gonna decide what he's going to do. And I just control what I can control. And that's why I'm coming in, meeting with people like you because I need to get full exposure with people around the state of Wisconsin, so that they can become comfortable knowing that this is someone who is a Wisconsinite, lived here my entire life, owned a small business, has gotten results wherever I have served in public office. And they're going to get leadership to make Wisconsin one of the best states in America.

Fundraising

What they're saying:

Calvi: To win this race, you're going to need to raise historic levels. What are you getting as far as commitments? Because when we talked earlier, I said, ‘Are you going to run for governor?’ You said, ‘Well I want to find out because it's going to be very expensive and I need to make sure that I'm going to be able to raise the money needed to win this race. Do you have those commitments to win?

Tiffany: Unfortunately, that's one of the things that you have to do in politics. You've got to be able to raise money, especially a high-profile governor race like this. This is going to be one of top couple governor races in the United States, so you've got to raise a lot of money. I mean, we've seen what the Democrats do. They raise an enormous amount of money from the coastal elites. We've seen statewide elections where Democrats have had up to 90 percent of their funding has come from out of state. So, we can either complain about it or we can compete. I choose to compete. I expect to raise 30 to 40 million dollars to be able to compete in this race.

Calvi: And that will be getting money from out of state as well?

Tiffany: Yeah, we will. I mean, unfortunately, we will have to raise some money from out of state also, but we're going to compete in this race because, you know, I love this state and this state is worth fighting for. And that's why I'm in this governor's race because I want to make Wisconsin one of the shining stars here in America.

Who is in the running?

The backstory:

Also running are Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez, Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, State Rep. Francesca Hong, State Sen. Kelda Roys and beer vendor Ryan Strnad.

The Republican field, which now includes Tiffany, is made up of three people. Washington County Executive Josh Schoemann and business owner Bill Berrien are the other two who have already launched campaigns.

What's next:

The Wisconsin party primaries are 11 months away – set for August 2026.

Full interview

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