Wisconsin Governor Race 2026: Crowley vs. Tiffany

Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley (D) faces U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany (R), who carries Trump's endorsement, for the seat Gov. Tony Evers (D) is leaving. Wisconsin elects governor and lieutenant governor on a joint ticket: Crowley is running with Secretary of State Sarah Godlewski, and Tiffany with former Lancaster Mayor David Varnam.

Crowley is campaigning on affordable housing and childcare, including a 7 percent cap on family childcare costs, universal early childhood education, and nonpartisan redistricting. Tiffany wants to end state subsidies for data centers and is attacking Crowley's record running Milwaukee County, including a budget deficit that led to tax hikes; his newest ads promise a 10 percent income tax cut for working families and a return of the state surplus. Despite the endorsement, Tiffany has kept his distance from Trump, breaking with him on data centers.

Crowley holds a small polling lead, but Marquette found his unfavorable rating up from 29 to 44 percent since August, mostly among Republicans. Tiffany has the money edge: he raised about $26.3 million from July through late September to about $10.2 million for Crowley. Most of Tiffany's haul came as transfers from a state party funded largely by Richard and Elizabeth Uihlein and Diane Hendricks, and Crowley says "three billionaires are trying to buy" the office. Ad reservations top $82.5 million, more than $50 million of it backing Tiffany, though Crowley's side matched the GOP side in the most recent week of reservations. In their only debate, on October 21, Tiffany said he would keep Wisconsin’s law allowing abortion through 20 weeks of pregnancy, and Crowley said Tiffany "is working for Donald Trump and the billionaires who are funding his campaign."