Full Breakdown
Wisconsin Governor Debate Highlights
By Drooid · · How we work
Debate Overview
The sole televised forum before the upcoming gubernatorial election was a one-hour debate hosted by WISN-12. It featured Republican U.S. Representative Tom Tiffany and Democratic Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley. The event occurred a day after in-person absentee voting began and less than two weeks before Election Day, drawing attention to taxes, abortion, transportation funding, school vouchers and immigration enforcement.
Candidates’ Stated Positions
- Taxes & budget – Tiffany said the state has enough surplus to fund education, transportation, infrastructure and health care without cutting programs. Crowley called for a “fair, simpler tax system” and proposed a commission to address school funding.
- Abortion – Tiffany pledged to keep the current 20-week limit and said he would not sign stricter bans.
- Transportation funding – When asked about new registration fees, tolls and indexing the gas tax to inflation, Tiffany opposed all three, while Crowley rejected gas-tax indexing but was open to user fees and tolling.
- Private-school vouchers – Tiffany was willing to raise income limits for the statewide voucher program; Crowley would veto any effort to eliminate Milwaukee’s voucher system and would not expand it.
- Immigration enforcement – Tiffany said local law enforcement must cooperate with ICE and honor federal detainers. Crowley opposed a blanket ban, emphasizing civil-liberties protections and stating that ICE agents should show identification and not “incite fear.”
Poll Numbers
Recent polling shows Crowley leading Tiffany 49 % to 46 % among likely Wisconsin voters.
Verbatim Quotes
- “One of the reasons that I did that is Zuckerbucks,” — Republican Tom Tiffany
- “We need to make sure that we have a fair tax system, a simpler tax system that allows people to get ahead,” — Democrat David Crowley
- “We are going to have sufficient money in this budget to be able to fund the things that are important to Wisconsinites — education, transportation and infrastructure, health care. We're going to have money there,” — Republican Tom Tiffany
- “The congressman just said that the only reason why he was willing to throw away hundreds of thousand of votes here in the state of Wisconsin is because he disagreed on how somebody spent the money,” — Democrat David Crowley
- “All you women out there, you will not have to hold your breath when I'm governor. I voted for a five-month bill when I was in the state Senate. I will uphold that law as the governor of the state of Wisconsin.” — Republican Tom Tiffany
- “Here’s what I will do: I will make sure that local, county, and state law enforcement coordinate with federal law enforcement. Coordinate their actions.” — Republican Tom Tiffany