David Crowley and Tom Tiffany made their final pitches to votes in Madison over the weekend as they continued to rally supporters ahead of Tuesday’s election that will determine which one will serve as Wisconsin’s 46th governor.

Both stuck to common themes in their pitches. During a stop on Saturday, Crowley framed the race as a contest between someone who would work for Wisconsin versus someone who would work for Trump and the ultrawealthy. 

“The question remains, who will your next governor work for? Billionaires already know the answer,” Crowley said, touting his plans to expand healthcare access, end the minimum markup law for gas and diesel, and enshrine abortion access into the state constitution. 

Tiffany, who hit Madison on Sunday, continued to stress that this election is about “affordability, accountability and common sense.” He repeated plans to repeal Gov. Tony Evers’ 2023 partial veto that increased school district revenue limits for the next 400 years, reduce and then freeze property taxes, and return the state’s projected surplus of nearly $3 billion to taxpayers.

He also said the American dream will become “Wisconsin’s nightmare” if Crowley is elected, warning his rival would bring “bigger government” and referenced tax increases in Milwaukee County and potential toll roads across the state.

Crowley and Tiffany both launched bus tours over the closing days of a race that has already shattered spending records with more than $166 million spent as of early last week, according to a WisPolitics review. Amid their tours, the Marquette University Law School Poll released a survey that found Crowley up 51% to 44% among likely voters. That poll also found those who were less enthusiastic to vote favored Tiffany, underscoring the need for Republicans to drive their voters to the polls in what many see as a challenging environment for the GOP with President Donald Trump’s record low job approval numbers.

While Dane County is one of the most Dem counties in the state, the vote share for a GOP candidate is key. Trump took 23.3% of the vote there in 2024 as he won statewide by 29,397. He took 22.8% in 2020 as he lost statewide by 20,682 votes.

Tiffany said he planned to win “more than our fair share” of the vote in Dane County.

Tiffany and GOP leaders: Tuesday all about turnout

Tiffany and other GOP leaders stressed during their Sunday stop at the Dane County GOP’s headquarters that Tuesday’s results will be all about turnout. U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Oshkosh, challenged attendees to get people out to vote.

“Every successful campaign is a legal pyramid scheme. It starts with great people at the top, and again, as Republicans, we have high-integrity people like Tom and Eric (Toney) and others. Then they’ve got their campaign staff, they’ve got their loyal volunteers. Every last one of you got to make that commitment to get 100 more people, and then deputize those folks,” Johnson said. 

Former Gov. Tommy Thompson called Tuesday the “most important election” he’s been a part of and said the current Democratic Party would be unrecognizable to his immigrant great grandparents who voted blue.

“Ladies and gentlemen, that Democrat Party is out to destroy what you and I believe is so damn important,” Thompson said. “That’s the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, and the future of this great country we call America.”

Tiffany said Thompson’s assessment of the importance of the race was why he decided to run. 

“I could have stayed in the 7th Congressional District probably as long as I wanted to and been the congressman from northern and western Wisconsin,” Tiffany said. “But this is too important for Wisconsin. … I just believe that there is so much potential that is untapped here in Wisconsin, and with the right leadership, we can make that happen.”

Tiffany wore a blue quarter zip with the state seal and a Milwaukee Brewers snapback hat. He also referenced the Brewers recent World Series championship.

He specifically mentioned a moment in the regular season when Manager Pat Murphy benched shortstop Cooper Pratt for not hustling to first base. 

“That’s accountability. And what did they end up with? They ended up being world champions. Folks, we’re going to do the same thing here in Wisconsin. We’re going to have accountability from your state government. We’re going to audit all of the state government to root out fraud and waste. Wisconsin deserves to be champions, don’t we?” Tiffany said. 

GOP Attorney General candidate Eric Toney also spoke and emphasized the importance of turnout and took aim at the state crime lab for taking longer to analyze DNA samples. 

A handful of protesters using megaphones chanting things like “love, not hate makes America great” during the GOP rally.

Dems frame election as rejection of Trump’s leadership in Washington, GOP rule in Wisconsin

During Saturday’s rally, Dem leaders framed the election as a rejection of both President Donald Trump’s leadership in Washington and years of Republican rule in Wisconsin. 

Former Democratic Party Chair Ben Wikler said Tuesday’s election offered a chance “to end the 16-year nightmare that Scott Walker and Tom Tiffany and the GOP inflicted on this state.” Dems lost control of both houses in the Legislature in the 2010 election. Republicans have controlled the chambers since, other than a six-month period after 2012 recall elections in which Dems took the majority after the legislative session had already adjourned. Republicans won it back that fall.

“Four days for us to stop looking backward and actually look to the future,” Wikler said.

AG Josh Kaul, running for a third term, touted his office’s successful legal battles against many of the Trump administration’s executive actions, as well as lawsuits against Dollar General, Meta and PFAS polluters he said protected Wisconsinites’ health and wallets. 

Kaul vowed to challenge any effort by the Trump administration to meddle in Tuesday’s election. 

U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Madison, drew a parallel between Dems and the Milwaukee Brewers’ first ever World Series-winning season, citing the Brewers claiming the National League pennant over “the team with one of the highest payrolls in all of baseball,” the Los Angeles Dodgers. 

“We were outspent, but we were not outworked,” she said. “I think Wisconsin Democrats can kind of relate to that.” 

Republicans have had a more than 2-to-1 spending advantage in Wisconsin’s gubernatorial contest, according to the WisPolitics review. That’s been driven by the $43.8 million that the state GOP has transferred to Tiffany’s campaign this year, while doing another $5.5 million in in-kind contributions for him for things like mail and canvassing. All that has come as Dick Uihlein, his wife Liz, and Diane Hendricks have pumped $52.2 million into the party since Jan. 1, according to campaign finance reports.

Crowley spoke last at Saturday’s rally, taking the stage in sky-blue zip-up reading “Brew Crew.” 

“They may have billionaires. But I got you. I got you and I got you,” Crowley later said, gesturing to members of the crowd. “Money power will never beat people power, y’all, and that’s why we have to show up.”

– By Josh Irvine and Megan Woolard