Wisconsin Rep. Tom Tiffany announces campaign for governor

Mary Ellen McIntire, CQ-Roll Call on Sep 23, 2025

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Wisconsin Rep. Tom Tiffany will run for governor next year, he announced Tuesday, joining a growing Republican primary for the open governorship in the battleground state.

“Wisconsin gave me everything: a chance to raise three daughters, start a small business and live the American dream. But under Democrat leadership in Madison, that dream is slipping away,” Tiffany said in a video announcing his campaign.

Tiffany, who is in his third full term representing the 7th District in northwest Wisconsin, is seeking to succeed retiring Democratic Gov. Tony Evers. Republicans already in the race include Washington County Executive Joel Schoemann and businessman and retired Navy SEAL Bill Berrien.

Several Democrats have announced campaigns to keep the governor’s office in party hands, including Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez, Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, state Sen. Kelda Roys and state Rep. Francesca Hong.

In his video announcement, Tiffany alluded to growing up on a farm and said he wouldn’t allow “Minnesota’s madness and Illinois’ insanity” take over the Badger State.

“Madison politics may smell like the barn, but I know how to clean up the bull,” he said.

Tiffany also said he would freeze property taxes as governor and work to stop China from buying farmland in the state.

A former state legislator, Tiffany first came to the House in 2020 after winning a special election to succeed Republican Sean P. Duffy, now the Transportation secretary. In Congress, Tiffany has focused on issues related to federal lands, energy and immigration policy. Before entering politics, he worked for an oil company and owned a wilderness riverboat company with his wife. He also worked in a part-time role as a dam tender for the Wisconsin Valley Improvement Company.

Devin Remiker, the Wisconsin Democratic Party chair, responded to Tiffany’s entry into the governor’s race by calling him “Tariff Lover Tom” and accusing him of “jacking up prices on Wisconsin families with his blind support for a trade war that is making everything from beer to beef to school supplies way more expensive.”

Tiffany joins several other House Republicans who’ve announced bid for governor next year, including South Carolina’s Nancy Mace and Ralph Norman, Michigan’s John James, Arizona’s Andy Biggs, Florida’s Byron Donalds, Tennessee’s John W. Rose and South Dakota’s Dusty Johnson. GOP Rep. Randy Feenstra is exploring a bid for governor in Iowa. With the exception of James, all are leaving behind safely red seats.

On the Democratic side, New Jersey Rep. Mikie Sherrill is her party’s nominee for governor, one of two gubernatorial races taking place this fall.