Wisconsin Business Leaders Declare Tom Tiffany Disqualified for Governor

A bipartisan coalition of Wisconsin business leaders released a digital advertisement last week declaring that Republican gubernatorial candidate Tom Tiffany has disqualified himself for the office. The group asserted that Tiffany’s refusal to sign a pledge respecting democratic election processes makes him unfit to lead the state. The ad contrasts his position with that of Democratic candidate David Crowley, who signed the document affirming his commitment to basic principles of democracy.

The pledge asked candidates three specific questions: Will you accept the results of this election? Will you protect our election workers? Will you accept every eligible voter’s right to cast a ballot? The advertisement noted that Crowley answered yes to all three questions. Tiffany refused to sign the pledge. The group cited the 2020 election, where recounts, audits, and courts confirmed Wisconsin’s results, as the primary basis for their assessment. They accused Tiffany of trying to throw out those results and repeating a lie that sent a mob to the state Capitol.

Tiffany’s record on the 2020 election includes being one of two Wisconsin members of Congress voting to overturn Joe Biden’s presidential victory in Arizona and Pennsylvania. He was the only Wisconsin representative to join 120 other Republicans in signing a lawsuit supported by President Donald Trump to challenge election results in Pennsylvania, Georgia, Wisconsin, and Michigan. The U.S. Supreme Court rejected that suit, which contained unsupported allegations of fraud. Tiffany had claimed that officials in Dane and Milwaukee counties allowed hundreds of thousands of illegal votes to be counted and accused the Wisconsin Supreme Court of failing to uphold the law.

A January 2024 report from the Congressional Integrity Project identified Tiffany as a key election denier and insurrection apologist in Congress. The report stated that his claims helped cause the attack on the U.S. Capitol. Despite this, Tiffany has never disclaimed his false accusations about the 2020 election. In May 2026, he supported an FBI investigation of the 2020 Wisconsin election that the Trump administration sought. He also backed a $1.8 billion anti-weaponization fund that could have compensated January 6 rioters. Tiffany said he would want to look at the harm done to victims and that if it was significant enough, they should receive compensation.

The New York Times has reported that President Trump has cast doubt on U.S. elections on 460 days of his second term, which represents 70% of the days in office. Trump has repeatedly claimed the 2020 election was rigged and stolen. He has also stated that Democrats tried to steal the 2024 election and that the 2026 midterm election will be rigged. During his endorsement of Tiffany’s campaign, Trump declared that Tiffany has always been at his side. Over nearly six years, Tiffany never retracted his lies about the 2020 election or offered a statement taking issue with Trump’s claims.

In early October, one month before the current election, Tiffany issued a statement admitting that Joe Biden won the 2020 election. He promised to certify the results of the 2028 presidential election if elected governor. However, he offered no apology for his previous false claims. In a debate with Crowley, Tiffany claimed he objected to the results because of money donated by Mark Zuckerberg to help local governments administer the election. He did not offer this reason in 2021 when he voted against certifying the results, and he provided no evidence that the funding caused voter fraud.

Tiffany has warned he might overturn the bipartisan Wisconsin Election Commission but has not said who he would trust to administer elections afterward. He has not addressed whether he will pardon the Republicans involved in the fake electors scheme. Governor Tony Evers, a Democrat who endorsed Crowley, questioned whether Tiffany has changed his views. Evers stated that Tiffany’s vote to overturn the election makes him unfit for the office. The business leaders’ ad concluded that Tiffany has no regrets about his actions, a stance they described as disqualifying for the governor’s office.