Tiffany enters race for governor; GOP primary now at 3 candidates

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- Following months of speculation, Congressman Tom Tiffany announced Tuesday he's running for governor. Tiffany launched his candidacy in a release Tuesday, and he'll kick off the campaign Wednesday evening with a rally in Wausau.

Tiffany is the third Republican in the GOP primary field, while the Democratic side is now at five candidates following the announcements of two state lawmakers last week. 

Tiffany had hinted for months at entering the race for governor. At the Wisconsin State Fair last month, Tiffany told CBS 58 he'd decide whether to enter the race by the end of September. 

Another sign Tiffany was leaning toward a run for state office was his shift in often weighing in on state-level politics, frequently criticizing Democratic Gov. Tony Evers.

Tiffany has been outspoken about instances of undocumented immigrants committing crimes in Wisconsin, saying in August he wanted to cut all federal funding to Dane County over its policies regarding cooperation with U.S. Immigration Customs & Enforcement (ICE).

Dane County Sheriff Kalvin Barrett has disputed Tiffany's account, saying the sheriff's office would honor ICE arrest warrants but not administrative ones. Barrett was responding to Tiffany's comments about a July crash in which a woman in the U.S. illegally killed two Minnesota teens while driving drunk. 

Tiffany, whose congressional district primarily includes the Northwoods, was elected to Congress in the spring of 2020 in a special election. Prior to that, he served in the state Legislature, first elected to the Assembly in 2010, then to the Senate in 2012.

In the 2017-2018 biennium, Tiffany received a promotion of sorts, being tabbed to serve on the powerful Joint Committee on Finance, which crafts the state budget every two years. 

Tiffany now joins Washington County Executive Josh Schoemann and New Berlin business owner Bill Berrien in the Republican primary. On the Democratic side, the declared candidates so far include Lt. Gov. Sara Rodgriguez, Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, State Sen. Kelda Roys, State Rep. Francesca Hong and Ryan Strnad, a beer vendor at American Family Field.