GOP Rep. Tom Tiffany jumps into open Wisconsin governor's race

GOP Rep. Tom Tiffany said Tuesday he will run for governor of Wisconsin, joining a race for the open seat in the crucial swing state that has drawn crowded primaries on both sides.

GOP Rep. Tom Tiffany said Tuesday he will run for governor of Wisconsin, joining a race for the open seat in the crucial swing state that has drawn crowded primaries on both sides.

Tiffany, 67, has represented Wisconsin’s 7th Congressional District — a rural and solidly Republican area comprising most of the northern part of the state — since 2020.

"Madison politics may smell like the barn, but I know how to clean up the bull," Tiffany said in a video launching his campaign, highlighting that he grew up on a dairy farm. "I will roll up my sleeves and deliver results for every Wisconsinite."

Tiffany’s entrance into the race, which had been widely expected, further expands the field of candidates in both parties running to succeed Democrat Tony Evers, who announced in July that he wouldn’t run for a third term.

The primaries for both major parties are expected to be competitive. Wisconsin, a perennial battleground, is one of five states President Donald Trump won last year where a Democratic-controlled governorship is on the ballot in 2026. The nonpartisan Cook Political Report with Amy Walter has rated the open race — the first one for governor in Wisconsin since 2010 — as a “toss up.”