Trump’s endorsement of Rep. Tom Tiffany in Wisconsin’s open governor’s race set off a quick chain reaction inside the state GOP, with the congressman’s leading Republican rival exiting less than a day later, according to a report Tuesday that followed Trump’s announcement. In a social media post on Tuesday night, Trump said Tiffany “has always been at my side,” tying the endorsement to Tiffany’s standing in his political orbit.
Washington County Executive Josh Schoemann, who had been running as the chief alternative in the Republican field, announced Wednesday that he was stepping aside. Schoemann congratulated Tiffany on the Trump endorsement and wished him “great success” in November, leaving Tiffany facing only nominal opposition in the GOP contest.
Tiffany, a congressman first elected in 2020, has positioned himself as a close Trump ally, the report said. Before entering Congress, he served just over seven years in Wisconsin’s legislature and backed former Republican Gov. Scott Walker, and the endorsement solidified his standing within the state party as the race moves toward the general election.
In response to the endorsement, Tiffany said he was “honored to receive the endorsement.” He promised that if elected governor, “I will make Wisconsin great again by lowering utility rates and property taxes, cutting burdensome red tape, rooting out waste and fraud, and restoring common-sense leadership to Madison,” laying out a list of priorities focused on taxes, regulation, and costs for residents.
With Schoemann out, the Republican nomination contest narrowed further, but Tiffany still faces Andy Manske, a 26-year-old medical services technician, in the GOP primary. The report said Manske vowed to remain in the race despite raising almost no money so far compared to Tiffany’s more than $2 million.
Trump said that as governor, Tiffany would work to grow the economy, cut taxes, secure the border, ensure law and order, support the military, and protect gun rights. Those assurances came as Wisconsin prepares for an open-seat race after Democratic Gov. Tony Evers declined to seek a third term, creating a new field of candidates for the state’s top office for the first time in 16 years.
Democrats reacted quickly to the endorsement, with the Democratic Governors Association criticizing Tiffany’s record. Izzi Levy, a spokesperson for the group, said Tiffany has “proudly voted in lockstep for Washington Republicans’ expensive and unpopular agenda that has hurt families, farmers, and small businesses across Wisconsin.”
The report also noted that Wisconsin’s governor’s race has its own historical constraints on the GOP side. It said no sitting member of Congress has ever been elected governor of Wisconsin, and in the past 36 years, gubernatorial candidates from the same party as the president in a midterm election have lost every time—except for Evers in 2022—while adding that Democrats have also never held the office more than eight years in a row.
Even with Tiffany’s GOP path narrowed by Schoemann’s exit, the general-election setup remains open-ended in a state where the field on the Democratic side includes prominent candidates such as former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, current Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez, Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, state Sen. Kelda Roys, state Rep. Francesca Hong, former state economic development director Missy Hughes, and former Evers aide Joel Brennan.