The records of Wisconsin’s two major-party candidates for governor point to sharply different priorities from their years in the state Legislature: Republican Tom Tiffany backed changes to mining regulation and the state Supreme Court, while Democrat David Crowley sponsored proposals addressing criminal justice, racial equity and voting access. Tiffany, 68, represented northwest Wisconsin in the Legislature from 2013 to 2020, when he won a special election to Congress. His legislative work also included tourism, hunting, fishing and forestry issues. Crowley, 40, represented Milwaukee in the Assembly from 2017 until April 2020, when he became Milwaukee County executive. The candidates’ records could offer voters clues about their governing priorities ahead of the Nov. 3 election. Tiffany was the lead sponsor of a 2013 law that overhauled state rules for metal mining. It directed the Department of Natural Resources to issue a mining permit if seven conditions were met, including a finding that the mine would not threaten public health, safety or welfare. Republican Gov. Scott Walker signed the measure. A separate Tiffany proposal that year to limit local governments’ ability to regulate mines did not pass. Tiffany also led a constitutional amendment changing how Wisconsin selects its chief justice. Voters approved the change after it passed two consecutive sessions of the Legislature. It replaced a system in which the court’s most senior justice served as chief with one in which the seven justices elect the chief justice. In 2015, the court elected Pat Roggensack, ending Shirley Abrahamson’s 19-year tenure as chief justice. On firearms, Tiffany sponsored a 2017 bill that would have made exceptions to school suspension and expulsion requirements when a gun was stored in a locked vehicle on school property or possessed for a school-board-approved activity with safety measures in place. The proposal did not become law. Crowley’s proposals included a 2017 bill to let Milwaukee use cameras to issue citations to drivers traveling more than 20 mph over the speed limit. He also proposed $600,000 in grants for counties where at least 10% of residents were members of racial minorities, with the funding intended to improve relations between law enforcement and communities. Other Crowley bills sought to require state transportation officials to record the race, ethnicity, ZIP code and gender of people stopped for motor vehicle violations, and to limit the use of solitary confinement for incarcerated people with mental illness. The latter proposal would have required a mental health evaluation before placement and capped confinement at 10 days. In 2019, Crowley introduced a bill that would have automatically added people issued a Wisconsin driver’s license or state ID to the state’s voter-registration list. Another proposal would have waived tuition at University of Wisconsin campuses and technical colleges for students in foster care or other out-of-home placements. Crowley served in an Assembly controlled by Republicans, which blocked passage of bills authored by Democrats. The proposals reflect the priorities he pursued as a Milwaukee lawmaker, though they did not become law.