Politics
Tiffany cites pandemic election grants in defending 2020 Wisconsin objections
At a debate in Madison, Republican gubernatorial candidate Tom Tiffany said concerns over private election grants and absentee-voting guidance were among his reasons for challenging Wisconsin’s 2020 results. Democrat David Crowley questioned whether Tiffany could be trusted to certify future elections; Tiffany said he would certify the 2028 result regardless of the winner.
MADISON, Wis. — U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany said Wednesday that pandemic-era election grants funded by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg were among the reasons he objected to certifying Wisconsin’s 2020 presidential results, renewing debate over his role in efforts to challenge Donald Trump’s loss in the battleground state.
Tiffany, the Republican candidate for governor, made the remarks during a debate with Democratic opponent David Crowley. He also pointed to guidance from election clerks in Milwaukee and Dane counties that allowed some voters to declare themselves “indefinitely confined” because of the COVID-19 pandemic and receive absentee ballots without showing photo identification.
More than 200 Wisconsin communities received about $10 million in grants from the Center for Tech and Civic Life, which was funded by Zuckerberg, to help administer elections during the pandemic. Tiffany said the funding was a reason he objected, adding that Wisconsin residents “did not want that.” He did not cite evidence in the debate that the grants or the clerks’ guidance changed the election outcome.
Crowley said Tiffany’s explanation did not establish that anything improper had happened in the election process, arguing that Tiffany objected because he disliked how the money was spent. Crowley said Tiffany could not be trusted to certify the 2028 presidential results. Tiffany responded that he would certify the election “regardless of who the winner is.”
Tiffany supported Trump’s unsuccessful effort to disqualify 220,000 absentee ballots from Milwaukee and Dane counties. He also voted against counting electoral votes from Pennsylvania and Arizona. Trump lost Wisconsin in 2020 and won the state in 2016 and 2024; five of the past seven presidential elections in Wisconsin were decided by less than one percentage point.
Wisconsin voters approved a Republican-backed constitutional amendment in 2024 prohibiting private grant money from being used to run elections. The debate over election administration remains especially consequential in the closely contested state as voters weigh who will oversee Wisconsin’s government and its future elections.