Democrat David Crowley and Republican Tom Tiffany faced off at Marquette University in their sole debate, sparring over cost of living, education funding and healthcare as polls show a tight race.
Voters watched the only debate between the candidates for Wisconsin governor Wednesday night. Democrat David Crowley and Republican Tom Tiffany faced off at the Marquette University campus.
The debate comes as the latest Marquette Law School poll shows a tight race between the candidates: 49% for Crowley and 46% for Tiffany among likely voters.
It's the one and only debate Tom Tiffany wanted to have, as David Crowley had hoped. But it did give voters a chance to hear where the candidates stand on one of the main issues in this campaign — cost of living concerns.
It didn't take long for Crowley to bring up Donald Trump's name.
"It is very clear that he is working for Donald Trump and the billionaire who are funding his campaign," Crowley said.
Tiffany pushed back. "So while my opponent, you can see early on in the debate, is consistently focused on being against Donald Trump, I'm for Wisconsin," Tiffany said.
On pocketbook issues, Tiffany is calling for a tax cut and returning all of the state's $3 billion surplus.
"We're gonna have a 10% middle income tax cut and no taxes on tips and overtime just like we did federally," Tiffany said.
Crowley warned about who would really benefit under Tiffany's plan and said higher income earners need to pay their fair share.
"We need to make sure that we have a fair tax system, a simpler tax system that allows people to get ahead," Crowley said.
On school funding, Crowley championed his Milwaukee public school roots but said he would not end private school vouchers. Tiffany wants to end Gov. Evers' 400-year school funding increase.
"I think it's extremely important that folks understand that we cannot expand the voucher program in the state of Wisconsin. We have to make sure that we are increasing the funding for our public schools," Crowley said.
"We're going to put in the Tiffany administration, we're gonna put more money into schools, but we're gonna demand that accountability. We're gonna set higher standards," Tiffany said.
They clashed on just about every issue, from abortion laws to the future of data centers and healthcare.
"You can't trust Congressman Tom Tiffany when it comes down to healthcare because he'll slash it just to give it to the billionaires," Crowley said.
"Wisconsin's going to get a billion dollars more as a result of our work. We're solving the problem that he's talking about," Tiffany said.
President Trump was an early supporter of Tiffany. Former President Barack Obama is backing Crowley. Neither has yet to hit the campaign trail in Wisconsin this fall.
The debate was held by WISN TV.
This story was reported on-air by Charles Benson and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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