Both Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, the Democratic candidate, and U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, the Republican candidate, were invited to participate, but the debate has now been canceled since both candidates did not accept the invitation
Source: Baylor Spears/Wisconsin Examiner
Another gubernatorial debate canceled due to GOP candidate Tom Tiffany declining to participate
Sep 15, 2026, 9:04 PM CT
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Another planned debate between Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany and Democratic Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley has been canceled as Tiffany declines to participate in more than one debate ahead of the Nov. 3 election.
The planned debate was jointly sponsored by the Milwaukee County Intergovernmental Cooperation Council, TMJ4 and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and was to be held at the UW-Milwaukee campus.
“We are deeply disappointed that scheduling did not work out to make this happen,” the organizations said in a statement. “We hope that Wisconsin’s next governor will make local government a significant focus of his administration.”
TMJ4 reporter Charles Benson said in a post on X that Tiffany had indicated he would only do one debate and Crowley was not available for the original date proposed by the channel, though his team was interested in finding another date for the debate.
This is the second debate to be canceled after Tiffany declined to participate. The Wisconsin Broadcasters Association, which has hosted gubernatorial debates since 1990, canceled its proposed debate two weeks ago. Tiffany told conservative radio host Dan O’Donnell that he didn’t agree to the debate because he thought one debate was sufficient.
“I had no time. There was lots of negotiations going on behind the scenes,” Tiffany said. “One debate is sufficient to be able to cover the issues that need to be covered.”
Crowley’s campaign manager Garren Randolph said in a statement that Crowley was looking forward to the debate. He criticized Tiffany, saying he is “refusing more debates because he doesn’t want to face voters and answer tough questions about his record of supporting an endless war that’s resulting in record high gas and diesel costs, as well as voting for every single one of Donald Trump’s tariffs that are crushing Wisconsin farmers and manufacturers, and driving up costs on everything from groceries to the new shoes parents are trying to buy for their kids as they go back to school.”
The Examiner has reached out to the Tiffany campaign for comment.
Both candidates plan to participate in an Oct. 21 debate hosted by WISN-12. It will be moderated by WISN-12 reporters Matt Smith and Gerron Jordan and will cover topics including cost of living, taxes, immigration enforcement, data centers and election security.
Originally published by Wisconsin Examiner, a nonprofit news organization.
