Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany has officially entered Wisconsin’s 2026 race for governor, joining a field of GOP candidates hoping to win back control of the executive branch, held by Democratic Gov. Tony Evers since 2019.
During an appearance on WISN-AM’s Dan O’Donnell Show Tuesday, Tiffany laid any lingering doubts to rest.
“I’m here to announce on your show that I’m going to run for governor of the state of Wisconsin in the 2026 election,” Tiffany said. “It is a great challenge that is going to be before us, but it is also a great opportunity. And we are going to accept that challenge, and we’re in as of right now.”
Tiffany said he has the experience in the private and public sectors “to be able to go to work on day one,” noting he helped write three state budgets while serving on the Legislature’s powerful Joint Finance Committee.
If elected, Tiffany said his No. 1 priority would be improving Wisconsin’s business climate by splitting the state Department of Natural Resources into two entities, with one handling “the fish and wildlife portion of it” and the other handling “the environmental permitting.”
“None of us want to reduce environmental standards. Not calling for that at all,” Tiffany said. “And businesses will tell you they are not calling for a reduction in environmental standards — just get us an answer in a prompt basis.”
O’Donnell, who described Tiffany as “the prohibitive favorite in this race,” asked the congressman whether he supports President Donald Trump’s tariffs against other countries. Tiffany said he does support them, but noted they “have certainly had an impact, there’s no doubt about it.” Tiffany then mocked Gov. Evers’ opposition to tariffs on longtime ally Canada and said the northern neighbor is “harming us being able to ship our products to Canada.”
“But I think at the end of the day, if the tariff regime is handled properly, we are going to bring manufacturing back to the United States of America. And it is critical that we do that because China produces so many things now that we are so dependent on,” Tiffany said.
In a statement, Democratic Party of Wisconsin Chair Devin Remiker latched onto Tiffany’s support of the Trump tariffs, labeling him “Tariff Lover Tom” and accusing him and other Republicans 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.”
“Tariff Lover Tom has shown us who he really is — a bought and paid for stooge who will vote to take health care and food security away from children, the elderly, and veterans to give billionaires like Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos,” Remiker said. “We’re going to show Wisconsinites what a fraud he is and defeat him next November.”
O’Donnell foreshadowed another Democratic attack line against Tiffany, stating he’s been “getting just hammered from the left on your position on abortion.” O’Donnell summarized Tiffany’s stance as believing “all abortions after six weeks should be banned with no exceptions for rape and incest.”
Tiffany said that, in fact, is not his position.
“I would just point back to 10 years ago, when I was in the state Legislature,” Tiffany said. “We debated this and we passed a 20-week bill. I voted for that bill. It was signed into law, and it is now the law in the state of Wisconsin. I do support that law, and I will uphold it as governor of the state of Wisconsin.”
Democrats quickly claimed Tiffany’s position represents a flip-flop, noting he co-sponsored a federal bill in 2023 that would prohibit abortions “if a fetal heartbeat is detectable.”
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Tiffany has years of state and federal government experience
Tiffany, who has been elected three times to represent northern Wisconsin’s sprawling 7th Congressional District, has been involved in Republican politics for well over a decade.
He was first elected to the Wisconsin Assembly in 2010 amid a red wave that gave Republicans full control of the state Legislature and governor’s office for years to come. In 2013, Tiffany was elected to the state Senate where he served until 2020 before his first successful bid for Congress, in which he succeeded former Republican U.S. Rep. Sean Duffy, who now heads the U.S. Department of Transportation and NASA.
Tiffany’s state government experience far outweighs that of the two other Republicans vying to be Wisconsin’s next governor. Josh Schoemann, who has been campaigning since May, has served as Washington County Executive since 2020. Before that, he spent six years as an administrator and administrative manager for the deep-red county.
Business executive and former Navy SEAL Bill Berrien entered the race in early July and has cast himself as a political outsider closely aligned with President Donald Trump. Some Wisconsin conservatives have voiced concern about Berrien’s allegiance to Trump, however, because in 2024 he donated more than $30,000 to support former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley’s presidential campaign.
In a statement following Tiffany’s campaign announcement, Berrien was critical of Tiffany’s decades of experience as an elected official.
“After years of bureaucratic leadership in Madison, the last thing we need is another career politician at the helm,” Berrien said.
Tiffany said he expects to raise between $30 million to $40 million in order to compete with Democrats ahead of the 2026 election. To do that, he said he’ll have to show “outside groups” he can make the race one of the top gubernatorial contests in the nation.
“And if I do that, and I plan to do that, we’re going to have a lot of resources coming into Wisconsin to help us win this race,” Tiffany said.
Tiffany’s entrance into the gubernatorial campaign is hardly a surprise. He’s been hinting at a run since at least July when he posted a picture of himself showing off a fish he caught on a frozen Wisconsin lake in response to a social media post by a conservative website calling for all future gubernatorial candidates to “prove they know how to hold a fish.” The following month, he posted a picture of himself standing in front of a large congressional campaign sign that had been modified to say “Tom Tiffany For Governor.”
Tiffany was also scheduled to join members of the Wisconsin College Republicans on Wednesday at a “very special event” near Wausau, which could now serve as his first official rally of the 2026 campaign.
Wide open seat sets stage for burgeoning primaries
While just three Republicans have entered the race for governor thus far, Evers’ departure from state politics has opened the floodgates to a growing field of aspiring Democrats. Already, Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez; Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley; State Sen. Kelda Roys, D-Madison; State Rep. Francesca Hong, D-Madison; Milwaukee-area beer vendor Ryan Strnad and student Zachary Roper have entered the race.
There’s speculation other Democrats could also run, including Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul and former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes.
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