MILWAUKEE, Wis. – The Wisconsin State Journal Editorial Board endorsed David Crowley for Governor, citing David’s track record of delivering for working families leading the largest county in the state and plan to lower costs for families and spread opportunity across Wisconsin. The Editorial Board slammed Congressman Tiffany for his extremism, citing his allegiance to President Trump, push to overturn the 2020 election, and his votes in support of the Iran war, tariffs, and deep cuts to Medicaid and food assistance programs.

Wisconsin State Journal: Our endorsement for Wisconsin governor

By: Wisconsin State Journal Editorial Board

Wisconsin’s next governor needs to make good decisions for the entire state, independent from Washington’s caustic influence.

He needs to invest in education and compete for young talent while protecting core industries such as farming, manufacturing and tourism.

Our next governor must strive to pull state residents and their representatives together, not play to narrow interests.

David Crowley, who runs the state’s largest county, served in the Legislature and rose from Milwaukee’s poorest neighborhood to achieve great things, is the best choice to lead Wisconsin in the Nov. 3 election.

The Wisconsin State Journal editorial board endorses Crowley, a moderate Democrat, over conservative Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, R-Hazelhurst.

We met with the candidates recently at our Madison offices. They’re both likeable, smart, civil, experienced and know the state well.

But Crowley offers more independence and a better vision for broader prosperity.

Crowley grew up in Milwaukee with parents who struggled with addiction and mental health. His family was evicted three times while he was in high school, he said, and they moved every year for at least 15 years.

That’s incredibly disruptive to a young person’s education and development.

Crowley’s difficult upbringing and resilience inspired and steeled him to create more opportunities for others who work hard. He wants to make sure every child — whether at public schools across Wisconsin or in private voucher schools in Milwaukee — has a fair shot at academic and career success.

He’s intent and specific on expanding access to healthcare. He wants to use more than $100 million in state revenue from legalizing marijuana to strengthen BadgerCare, with an option for residents without insurance to buy into the system.

Crowley is passionate about encouraging more affordable homes and apartments. Thanks in part to Crowley, Milwaukee has the largest long-term decrease of homelessness in the state — a 31% drop from a decade ago, according to the nonpartisan Wisconsin Policy Forum. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Crowley prioritized federal dollars for housing projects and rent assistance to stabilize struggling families.

Unlike his opponent, Crowley sounds more willing to put additional state dollars into public schools to ease property taxes and rents, as well as improve learning.

Crowley would encourage a cleaner, less expensive supply of energy powered by Wisconsin resources and workers. In many cases, solar now costs less than burning imported coal and natural gas, which contribute to climate change, stronger storms and flooding.

Though both candidates are skeptical about the proliferation of data centers, Crowley is more likely to set reasonable requirements for renewable energy to help power them. Crowley also agrees with Tiffany on repealing a state tax break for data centers.

Both candidates favor an expansion of nuclear technology and generation, though that will take time.

Unlike the GOP nominee, Crowley would wisely accept a federal grant to extend Amtrak passenger train service from Chicago and Milwaukee to Pewaukee, Watertown and Madison — and eventually western Wisconsin and the Twin Cities. It makes good business sense for Amtrak to add a line through the state’s fastest-growing and second-largest population center.

Tiffany doesn’t want to spend $2 million a year to subsidize such a train line. But that’s the equivalent of just a mile or two of construction on a single Wisconsin highway. It’s well worth the investment for the hundreds of thousands of people who will get where they need to go.

While Tiffany, in exaggerated terms, says he’ll stop Wisconsin from becoming the “insanity” of Illinois and “madness” of Minnesota, Crowley recognizes Wisconsin is competing against those states and their big cities to keep and attract talented young people. Crowley would be a better champion for Wisconsin’s successful tech sector and more welcoming to people with promise who want to move and contribute here.

Crowley worked on a deal with Republican lawmakers to provide more funding to local governments for police and fire protection. He also cooperated to keep our World Series Milwaukee Brewers in the state.

Tiffany highlights a glitch with health insurance for Milwaukee County employees under Crowley’s watch, and inmates misusing electronic devices at a county detention center. But Crowley acknowledged these problems and quickly fixed them.

Crowley has run a much bigger operation in Milwaukee County than Tiffany’s small, excursion-boat business in Minocqua or the town government Tiffany helped oversee before serving in the Legislature and Congress.

Tiffany is more in touch with rural and northern Wisconsin. He insists he’d be a better steward of taxpayer dollars, though the federal government he’s a part of doesn’t balance its budget and is deep in debt.

We like Tiffany’s push to reduce regulation on housing development to ease cost. Similar to former Republican Gov. Tommy Thompson, Tiffany speaks highly of the state’s public universities and is open to investing more state dollars while creating more space for in-state students at the flagship UW-Madison campus.

Unlike some of his GOP colleagues, Tiffany credits the Madison region for its growth, and he can point to bipartisan agreements he helped secure at the state Capitol.

Yet Tiffany has hurt Wisconsin by going along with President Donald Trump’s misguided and erratic tariffs that raised prices for Wisconsin consumers and stunted exports for farmers and manufacturers here. He’s quietly accepted the president’s lengthy war with Iran, which hiked diesel and gas prices. Tiffany has said little to defend immigrants who aren’t criminals from dangerous federal raids. He went along with federal reductions to food assistance and Medicaid.

Most concerning, Tiffany voted against finalizing the legitimate electoral votes of two states following the 2020 election. At the time, he even said he would have voted against counting Wisconsin’s votes. He went along with the president’s false claims of widespread voter fraud.

Tiffany told our editorial board recently that Biden won the 2020 election. We appreciate him acknowledging that fact. Yet we worry that, if he is pressured again to meddle with Wisconsin’s voting results as governor, he might indulge in disruption.

We’re not sure either candidate is committed to a fair process for drawing the lines of voting districts in a nonpartisan way, which is disappointing. We suspect both would be good managers of the state if elected. They both seem genuine in wanting all of Wisconsin to succeed.

We’re recommending Crowley for governor because he’s run a much bigger ship, shows more independence and hasn’t threatened our democracy.