Well, Congressman Tiffany, thanks for joining us.
Good to join us, Zach.
So immediately after the primary, a lot of the attention on the race seem to be focused
on data centers.
But in the last few weeks, it seems like it's shifted to traditional topics of taxes and
spending and crime.
Do you think that'll be the standard issue that this election has decided on?
Yeah, I think it's those quality of life issues.
I mean, what we talk about all the time is affordability, accountability and common sense.
That's the message that we're delivering out there.
But it is very much economic.
It's kitchen table issues.
I mean, people see their budgets there.
They're really stretched thin at this point and that's their concern.
And I hear it from all the people that are out knocking doors for us.
They're like, it's economic kitchen table issues is what people are talking about.
Now, there's two different definitions of affordability that the parties have.
Obviously, you're talking about taxing and spending and the budget.
And Democrats are talking about national tariffs and rising prices or gas prices.
Which do you think impacts people more?
Oh, I think they both do.
And gas prices are too high.
And those are largely set on world markets.
The thing that I've been focused on is what can I do as governor?
Because you can flail on issues that you don't have any impact on.
I think it's very important to have a governor that is going to be focused on the issues
that you can help people out with.
So if we're going to put more money in people's pockets, that's why I've been talking about
let's reduce taxes.
And the 400 year property tax increase, the $3 billion budget surplus that we have,
we should return every penny of it to the taxpayers so they have more money in their pockets.
We're going to do a 10% income tax cut for those making $150,000 and less.
And no taxes on tips and overtime.
Just like we did federally.
I mean, I had a guy from Marshfield just contact me.
I was at an event and he came up to me and he said,
I took home $1,100 more last year during tax filing season as a result of no taxes on overtime.
He works about 10 hours of overtime every week.
And so we're going to do that at the state level also.
We need to make life more affordable and how we can do it here in Wisconsin
is put more money in people's pockets.
Earlier this year you had a tweet where you're in front of the gas station pumps and you've
promises made, promises kept.
Obviously prices have gone up significantly since then.
Do you regret that tweet or is it just outside of your ability to control water?
It's outside of our control and at that time, boy, what was it like
$2.35 or something like that?
So gas prices had gone down.
They went up as a result of the instability in the Middle East and Iran
and with the Revolutionary Guard plinking a ship every now and then in the
Straits of Hormuz to keep gas prices up.
And so it's really important that we have more energy that is being produced.
And that's the thing that I've been focused on both state and federally
is we have to be energy independent here in America.
So what can a governor do?
A governor can deal with the energy issue in regards to our utilities.
We've seen over $2 billion of increases in utility rates here over the last eight years.
The Public Service Commission here in Wisconsin is just acted as a rubber stamp
for the utility rate increases.
I will not do that and we can help make life more affordable for Wisconsinites
by not raising those utility rates and getting back to keeping our base load
sources of power and I think it's time to embrace the new nuclear technologies
so that we can make that affordable.
We also have what many people don't realize is we've got a refinery here in Wisconsin.
It was rebuilt over the last eight years up in Superior and they have the capacity to
expand.
They could produce more gasoline and diesel fuel there.
I think we should be talking to that company if they would consider expanding in Wisconsin.
Let's produce it here in Wisconsin and let's look to the long term
to bring down these energy prices.
Democrats would point to your role in Congress as oversight
and control the budget over Donald Trump and tariffs and initiating the war in Iran.
What do you have to say to respond about your role in Congress in that area?
Yes, so if you take a look at the bill that we passed last year,
no taxes on tips and overtime as well as Social Security taxes,
we eliminated them for almost everyone that's on Social Security.
We've put more money into people's pockets.
I would also say that by securing the border, hopefully we're going to see
the price of housing come down in some places because remember when 10 million people came in
over the four years of President Biden, that drove up the cost of housing because they had
to live somewhere.
So those things are really important that we deal with them but I'm focused now on what I can do
as a governor and that is reducing costs for Wisconsinites.
As governor, you may have to deal with the trade war with Canada.
President Trump has initiated more tariffs and Canada has responded including on motorcycles
and cheese that directly affects our state and including areas that you represent in Congress
and in your past life in the legislature.
What does it mean for people when we may not be able to export to our closest neighbor?
Well, Canada has made it clear that they're being very targeted in how they're implementing
their tariffs.
They're clearly trying to hit Wisconsin and when you put a tariff on Harley-Davidson,
it's clear what you're trying to do.
Remember, Harley-Davidson just announced in the last month or so
they're bringing production back here to America and that means in Wisconsin,
including in my backyard up in Tomahawk where they're talking about bringing jobs back to Wisconsin.
It was time that someone stood up to this whole notion of free trade
and these countries taking advantage of us and Canada has done that.
Look at their dairy tariffs.
They're as high as 300%.
Why don't they reduce their tariffs to help our dairy farmers here in Wisconsin?
So what I hope happens is that let's sit down and negotiate an agreement with our neighbor
to the north because we do a lot of trade with them.
Let's get some agreements with them to be able to get to a better place.
But do you support Donald Trump initiating this latest round of tariff battles with Canada?
Like right as the election's going on?
Oh, I think the Prime Minister of Canada had as much to do with this as anything.
I mean, what we're seeing at this point is he's actually cozying up to China in some ways
and he's allowing Canada to be a pass through from China for some of their goods.
I mean, let's have both parties sit down and let's negotiate an agreement
and get things to a better place.
And I believe that we can make that happen.
One of the issues your campaign has brought up about David Crawley's record
as Milwaukee County Executive has to do with crime,
but crime statistics nationwide and in Wisconsin are down.
Is Milwaukee County a much different place than it was when say Scott Walker was County Executive?
So you look at the last year and a half violent crime has went down significantly here in America.
I mean, I think about Washington DC having spent some time out there
serving in Congress.
The streets are much safer and that's because of the actions that have been taken by the
administration to make sure that they're safe.
And to me, it sends a clear message.
We've accepted crime here in America and in Wisconsin over the last few decades, I believe.
And we don't need to accept these high crime levels as we're seeing them come down now.
And that's what I'll do as governor.
We're not going to accept crime.
We're not going to take the side, like David Crawley, my opponent does,
of the perpetrators of crime.
We're going to look out for the victims of crime.
Let's make sure that we have safe streets in Wisconsin.
That means prosecutors need to prosecute.
And that means no sanctuary cities.
We need to make sure that Wisconsin is a safe place for people to live.
It doesn't matter whether you're in Madison, Milwaukee or in Monocua.
You should be able to expect that you can walk down the streets of a city in Wisconsin
and it's going to be safe.
And I mean, you look at David Crawley's record as we highlighted today,
he is not making sure that the streets of Milwaukee County are safe.
I mean, what's going to happen to Wisconsin if he becomes governor?
How much responsibility should the chief executive, either a county or a state
take when it comes to individual actions committed by individuals?
Well, if you listened to Judge Barrowski last week in Milwaukee County, he talked about
how it's preposterous that this happened, that a violent criminal was able to reach out to his
victim and communicate with him 1500 times via the tablet he was given by Milwaukee County.
That was signed off in 2022 by David Crawley that they get a free tablet.
He renewed that once again in 2025, including after what we found out in May of this year
that there were violent criminals reaching out to their victims and messaging them 1500 times,
that should have been the warning signal to the county executive.
We got to take another look at that.
What happens in the meantime?
Now we find out a triple murderer is trying to intimidate witnesses.
So a county executive or the governor has a great deal to do with safety.
And I think the big thing that the governor can do in Wisconsin is set the message that
we're going to back up law enforcement. We're going to support them.
We're going to make sure that we have safe streets here in Wisconsin.
Well, let's talk about flock cameras for a second then because that's another issue that's come up.
As this technology has changed so rapidly and the opinions of political leaders or even law
enforcement can change that rapidly. Is it fair to hold a position that someone might have taken
two years ago against them when even law enforcement is now saying, yeah, flock's not being used the
right way. We need to rein that in.
So clarify your question if you would.
I guess I'm saying you've attacked David Crowley for supporting some of the flock cameras in Milwaukee
County or your allies have attacked him for having those. And at the same time, it's now law enforcement
that's saying we need to rein this in. This isn't about political leadership. It was about the system
as a whole needs to be changed. You've said that you want to see no shared revenue going towards
flock cameras at the time until we can figure out how to use this technology appropriately.
Yeah, so I don't remember attacking David Crowley in regards to this issue. But what I've
said in regards to flock cameras is that, yeah, we should turn off the shared revenue and take
a time out here and put together a study committee. We're going to put together a study committee and
we're going to bring people from all walks of life in to make sure that we put the appropriate
guardrails around flock cameras. And for me, the first thing that I will emphasize is we've
got to make sure we protect people's privacy. We need to make sure that people's data is not being
shipped to communist China or something like that or one of our adversaries.
We need to make sure that we protect people's privacy and their information, their personal
information. And I think it's time for us just to sit down and do a full review of what flock
cameras capability is and then find the appropriate guardrails around it so that we make sure that
we protect people's privacy while also allowing law enforcement to be able to catch those bad guys
but do it appropriately. An area that seems adjacent to that is data centers and that's another one
that seems to cut across political lines of people generally worried or opposed to this.
So what is the best way to approach these issues when it comes to political leadership?
So I think both in regards to flock cameras as well as data centers. I think people are just
saying time out the technology changes so fast and this has been going on for years where
the technology changes so fast and they're like okay what are the capabilities of this technology
and people just want to have a bit of a time out. So in regards to data centers I just say
no data centers unless we do the following conditions. No subsidies. A couple years ago
Governor Evers signed a bill into law that allows additional subsidies for data centers. These
are some of the richest companies in the world. They don't need subsidies from you and I and the
taxpayers of Wisconsin. My opponent David Crowley supports those subsidies. We should not raise
people's electricity rates. There should be no non-disclosure agreements. Local people should
have input and we should not be converting on a subsidized basis our beautiful farmland here in
Wisconsin and that's consistent with my position in regards to wind and solar where I have no problem
with solar being built over impervious surfaces, parking lots, big industrial buildings, things
like that but we've got to stop destroying our farmland here in Wisconsin and I would add one
other thing in regards to data centers. My department of natural resources do a full environmental
review to make sure that they meet all of our environmental laws here in Wisconsin and I would
just point out the other difference between me and David Crowley is he said data centers should
be powered by wind and solar. So we did the math on that. Just Mount Pleasant and Port Washington
would take a hundred thousand acres of farmland in order to do that. That's just that we should
not be destroying our farmland like that. So Democrats are saying you're a little inconsistent
because of your vote for the speed act on this which would have had a 10 year moratorium on
federal regulations. How is that different from your position today? So actually the speed act
there's two different things that we're talking about there because the speed act would not take
away state control of data centers. So even if the speed act passes which it hasn't if it does pass
it will not affect my ability as governor to do any of the regulation that we choose to do
around data centers. So there's still be local control. There still will be local control. Okay.
So one of the other things that's come up in technology areas has to do with betting on
elections and some of these betting websites. Do you think it should be illegal for people to
bet on elections and vote in the same election as it is in Wisconsin and what are you doing to
make sure that no one on your staff is engaging in any betting on elections? So yeah I don't
think we should be betting on elections and my staff will not be betting on elections because
I've told them that they can't do that. I mean they just shouldn't do that. Do you what would
as governor would you want to see some regulation of sites like Kelsey or Polymarket? Yeah that may
be necessary. I mean it's probably better to do some of that at the federal level that you have
consistent rules across the entire United States but we would certainly take a look at that
and see if there's an appropriate place for making sure that it isn't creating a problem
in our state. Let's talk a little bit about what it'll take to win this November for you.
Traditionally I guess historically going back 20 years Republicans had very consistent turnout
in off-year elections, non-presidential years, whereas Democrats needed really high turnout in
order to win. That seems to have flipped in the last 10 years where Trump has turned out more
rural voters in presidential years but they don't often show up in off-years whereas some of those
same suburban voters that Republicans used to count on in the wild counties are now trending a
little more blue. So what do you need to win this fall in terms of turnout? Do you want the highest
turnout possible? Is that to your advantage? Well we need 50 plus one. That's where we start.
But you know I've had a 72 county strategy from the very start and we're delivering a message
that starts with affordability, accountability, and we're going to bring common sense to Madison.
And I think that some of it's going to cut across party lines to a certain extent. I mean we just
talked about in regards to the conversion of our farmland. I can tell you there's a lot of
Republicans that are people who are not identified as Republicans in rural areas around Wisconsin.
They're tired of seeing this farmland being converted and it's a big issue for them and we're going
to win votes there. So we're just taking a message that Wisconsin can be one of the great states in
America. I mean we're going to decide in this election are we going to slide in the direction
of like Minnesota and Illinois which are among the laggards here in the country at this point.
Are we going to be one of the really up-and-coming states? Are we going to be one of the great states
in America? And if we do those things like return more money to the taxpayers so they have it in
their pockets, don't regulate them so much that you basically regulate them out of business.
Let's make sure that we audit all of state governments so your tax dollars are not being wasted,
that they're not being stolen by fraudsters. Let's do all those basic things that make a state a
great place to live, work, and recreate in. We do those things and we're going to do really well
in Wisconsin and I think that message is resonating with people across the state.
So would you invite Donald Trump to campaign in Wisconsin? Do you think you need him to burst
boost turnout in some of those areas? I mean the president's going to decide where he's going to
campaign here in 2026 in the balance of the election. We just go out and do our job every day. I mean
it's like the question in regards to the convention that's coming up this week down in Dallas.
I mean I've got a full schedule that's been set in place. We're meeting every person that we can
in the state of Wisconsin and we're talking about the issues because it's much like my opponent.
You hear him talk when he talks about all he talks about is Tom Tiffany and Donald Trump
and he's not talking about what do Wisconsinites want so he can rail against Donald Trump.
I'm fighting for Wisconsin and that's what I will do as governor. We're going to make sure we do
the things that are best for the state of Wisconsin and I've always went about my business that way
whether I was in the state legislature or now in Congress. The test is always what's best for
Wisconsin and that's what I'm going to do as governor. Right now Donald Trump has this lowest
rating ever among independents and there's a lot of people saying well that's going to sink Tom
Tiffany. They're independents though so how do you get them to focus on this race separate from their
approval rating of the president? To talk about what's going to make Wisconsin a really great
state once again because I mean look at the things that are happening right now 400-year
property tax increase. Property taxes went up the most in 30 years last December. That's going to
continue if we don't end that property tax increase. We're going to do that. Two utility rates continue
to go up nickel and diming people in their monthly budgets. We're going to end that. We're
going to stop this billions of dollars of increases of utility rates. We're going to audit state
government. We've seen the fraud that's going on over our neighbors to the west in Minnesota.
Some of that's going on in Wisconsin too. We're going to make sure and audit all the state
government so we don't. That money isn't stolen by fraudsters so we're going to put more money
into people's pockets. We're going to make it so that it is easier for them if they want to start
a business, if they want to expand their business. We're going to make it easier for them in Wisconsin
rather than for example taking 14 months to get permits to be able to build a home. We are going
to make Wisconsin a destination here in the upper Midwest for those who want to prosper.
In 2024 Republicans saw large boost from Hispanic voters crossing over to vote for Republicans in
Donald Trump specifically. Since then in some other elections and special elections you've seen
some of that Hispanic vote revert back to Democrats. What is your message to Hispanic voters? Not only
in southeast Wisconsin but those that live in rural Wisconsin about what you can do for them as
governor. Yeah I don't deliver a message to any particular group. I address all Wisconsinites
regardless of what your ethnicity is, regardless of what your color is. The plan that we have in
place of lower taxes, greater affordability, making sure state government is accountable to you.
We're going to grow jobs. We're going to make Wisconsin one of the best states in the country
to be able to live, work and play and I think that resonates with everyone.
What is your impact going to be on the down ballot races? There's a lot of really tight
assembly and state senate races that will determine who controls the legislature.
Do you think they're going to ride right along with you in terms of your success means their
success for Republicans? Yeah I believe we have a very good chance to be able to win this race
especially when they see the contrast between myself and David Crowley. I mean David Crowley is
weak on crime. We're going to make sure that people have safe streets here in Wisconsin.
He's consistently raised taxes. Every year as county executive they've raised their property
taxes. The one year they didn't he nearly doubled the sales tax. That's not going to make our
state more prosperous. I have a record of reducing taxes especially for working class people and
then we're going to audit all of state government. We know David Crowley is not because if he were
going to he would start with Milwaukee County right now with them having nearly a 51 million
dollar deficit facing them. So we're going to do all those things that are going to make Wisconsin
a better state and I think that that is going to resonate with the voters and I think that
it will help us down ballot. The United States Postal Service has absentee balloting rules that
are currently in court and looks like they're heading for the US Supreme Court. Would you support
those changes going in place even as absentee ballots are already being sent out in Wisconsin?
I mean that's going to be up to the courts. It is in the courts at this point and they're going to
decide what role is going to be able to be played there. All I know is I have confidence in clerks
across the state of Wisconsin. There's hundreds of them and I've worked with them in northern
Wisconsin. Regardless of what rules are put before them they always go out and do their job and
appreciate the work that they do. It's noticeably more difficult for some people in rural areas to
vote absentee either in person due to limited hours or through mail service whether it can get
there on time. So what would your recommendation be to voters where they may not be sure as we get
closer to the election whether what they should do with that ballot? Yeah go out and get your ballot
in because we know that the mail US mail is not what it used to be. I mean it's a number of years
ago that our US mail service has been in decline so make sure you figure out how you're going to
vote and remember at two weeks before the election you can go vote in person so that is an option
also. It is one of the places where the cities have a big advantage over rural areas where they
have a staff of people that they can be open almost 24 hours if they choose to. That's just not the
case where you go to some of these small towns where the clerk is maybe only in there a couple
days a week so it is a real challenge in the rural areas and I would just urge everybody make
plan how you're going to vote and we want you to vote in this election. Do you have complete
confidence that our elections in Wisconsin are free and fair and legitimate? I believe that our
elections are going to be done in that fashion I mean it should be easy to vote but hard to cheat.
Now there's been a couple instances you look at Madison they had city of Madison had to fire
their clerk two years ago because she failed to count 197 ballots. Green Bay has had a problem
two elections in a row with their clerk. I mean we have to be vigilant also but I just know the
hundreds of clerks across the state of Wisconsin they do the very best job that they can. So as
Governor would you end some of these lawsuits that the state is currently filed with the Trump
administration or is that would strictly be at the discretion of the attorney general? For example
the attorney general's filed more join more than 60 multi-state lawsuits against Trump
administration rules and regulations. Would you have any authority as governor to get Wisconsin
out of any of those lawsuits? So I'm always going to do what's best for the state of Wisconsin
if I believe a suit needs to be filed and it's in the best interest of Wisconsin then I will do
that but I'm hoping that that's not what we're going to have to do. Let's go to work once I get
elected on November 3rd. We're going to do our transition over the next couple months and we're
going to be ready on day one and I think that's one of the big differences between me and my opponent
also. I'm going to be prepared. I mean I've served as a town board supervisor at the very
the most local level of government served in the legislature and now in Congress.
Owned our own business for 20 years. I have some of the experience that is going to be able to
get us going on day one to make Wisconsin more affordable and make state government more accountable
to the people. We've seen governor Evers has at times had an antagonistic relationship with
the Trump administration. Do you think Wisconsin overall would be better off given your relationship
with the Trump administration? Would we be treated differently in any way? Well we're going to get
some good things done because for example we have the non-attainment zone in southeastern Wisconsin
which is costing us jobs down there and also making it very expensive for example like
vehicle emissions testing. That a non-attainment zone is in place because we're being penalized
for Chicago's pollution that blows up to southeastern Wisconsin. I'm going to sit down and talk to
the EPA secretary Lee Zeldin. I worked with him when I was in Congress when he was a member of
Congress and we're going to sit down and try to get to a better solution that doesn't penalize
Wisconsin. Always looking out for Wisconsin first. When you voted for Wisconsin's current abortion
law and you've made it clear that you support the current regulations that are in place but in
Congress you also supported a bill that would have reduced the limitations to six weeks.
What would you do as governor if a Republican legislature put a shorter term on abortion in
front of your desk? So there's been all types of proposals that have been introduced over the years.
I stand by my vote 10 years ago. 10 years ago when I was in the state senate I voted for the five
month bill. As you said it is now the law in the state of Wisconsin. I will uphold that law here.
You've also talked about audit reviews and regulation checks in Wisconsin. Would those be similar to
Doge and what we saw happen at the federal level and some of those seem to have gone beyond some
of what they were intended to do in terms of programs that would be cut or what assurances
can you give Wisconsinites that it would only be fraud or misplaced spending that would be eliminated
in Wisconsin. No we're going to do it our own way. I've seen how they've done it but I've also seen
how it can be done in Wisconsin. In fact I'm hearing from people within state agencies at this point
we have some ideas for you to take a look at to be able to root out that fraud but you take a look
at the example of Minnesota nine billion dollars in counting and I asked governor Evers to cooperate
with the federal government in regards to food stamps and he's chosen not to do that he believes
there's very little fraud but we don't know that unless you actually check it out. I mean look at
one of those agencies new cap up in Green Bay for northeastern Wisconsin supposed to deliver
services for those who are less well off. They're broke now because of not being run properly.
We need to make sure that we do this one to protect taxpayers but more importantly is to
to be able to deliver services for those who are less fortunate those are who are disabled
perhaps somebody that's hit a rough patch in life and we choose as generous people in Wisconsin
to help them out. Let's make sure that those resources are there so that we can be the helpful
people that we always are. If elected there could be an interesting parallel and that in 2010
Republicans came into power after eight years with the Democratic governor
basically vetoing most of the Republican proposals and there was a huge amount of bills that came
in and were passed under governor Scott Walker. Would you expect to see a similar flurry of
immediate legislation if you become governor with the Republican legislature? I mean there'll
certainly be legislation that will come forward. I mean we will start from day one to implement
these things. First of all we will I'll call a special session to end the 400 year property
tax increase. We will establish the audits to make sure that we were rooting out the waste and
fraud. I mean we will do those things immediately to make sure that we follow through in our agenda
affordability and accountability and then I mean I think about other things we'll probably do
something in regards to housing immediately. There's a variety of housing programs that are
oftentimes geared towards renting in state programs. I think we should take more of those programs
and gear them towards home ownership. Let's help young people make that next step to home ownership.
We're going to have a robust agenda that we will roll out steadily whether it's like 2011 or not.
I don't know we're going to do it our own way. All right Congressman Tiffany thanks for your time.
Good to join you Zach. All right we're good. Thank you so much for your time I appreciate you.