Wednesday night at Marquette University Law School was the one and only time Wisconsin voters got to see David Crowley and Tom Tiffany side by side before November 3. An hour of questions on taxes, property taxes, data centers, abortion, immigration, and the surplus. Then it was over. Tiffany walked into the spin room and answered questions from the press. Crowley did not and brought out former Democratic Party chair Ben Wikler showed up instead.
WISN, which hosted the debate, noted that this was only the second time in the history of their gubernatorial debates that a candidate skipped the post-event media availability. These gaggles exist for a reason. Reporters ask follow-ups. Candidates explain what they meant. They push their best lines while the night is still fresh. When a candidate is confident, he goes. When he is not, he sends a surrogate.
Both campaigns had agreed the candidates would participate. They even flipped a coin to decide the order. Crowley’s team committed. Tiffany showed up ready to go second and respond to whatever Crowley said, but Crowley never appeared. Wikler told reporters that Crowley had won and therefore did not need to do damage control. That is a creative way to describe a candidate who just spent an hour dodging specifics on school funding, tax brackets, and data center policy. Most people who believe they just won a debate do not hide from the cameras.
This fits a pattern. Crowley has spent significant stretches of the campaign fundraising in Washington, D.C., and California. Local events have been thinner with a previous empty events page. Skipping the one post-debate moment when every Wisconsin reporter is in the same room does not undercut that argument.
If the narrative coming out of the debate was that Crowley performed well, why did he not walk into that room and press the advantage? He would have heard Tiffany’s answers and had the chance to answer back while the quotes were still being written. Instead, the night ended with Wikler at the podium and Crowley nowhere to be found. Who else skips these gaggles?
The spin room is not a favor the media grants. It is part of the job of running for governor. Voters in Wausau, Green Bay, La Crosse, and Eau Claire are deciding who they trust with the surplus, with property taxes, and with the next four years of budgets. When one candidate answers every question the press throws at him and the other sends a former party chair, the difference is visible. Actions still matter more than the press releases that follow.
