The aircraft lost power on approach to Wausau Downtown Airport Saturday night. Congressman Tom Tiffany — Wisconsin's Republican gubernatorial nominee — was inside with the pilot, coming back from a Lincoln Day Dinner in La Crosse County. The pilot put it down in Lake Wausau. The plane sank. Both men got out.

The air temperature was in the low 60s and dropping toward the upper 40s.

Tiffany, who has represented Wisconsin's 7th Congressional District since 2020, swam to a shallow area and waited for emergency responders to reach him by boat. The Wausau Fire Department pulled him out. He was treated at Aspirus Wausau Hospital for minor injuries.

"God was watching over us tonight," Tiffany said from the hospital. "As the plane began to submerge, we exited the aircraft and swam to a shallow area, where we waited until emergency responders reached us by boat."

The man grew up on a dairy farm in western Wisconsin. He built an excursion business in the Northwoods. He's been in the state legislature and the U.S. House. President Trump endorsed him. And less than two months before the November election against Democratic Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, his plane dropped into a lake on a cold night — and he swam out of it.

"I want to express my deepest gratitude to the pilot, the Wausau Fire Department, and all of the first responders," Tiffany said. "An experience like this reminds you just how precious life is."

Credit where it's earned: Crowley, Tiffany's Democratic opponent, responded the right way. "I'm grateful to God that Congressman Tiffany and no one else was hurt in this horrifying incident, which could have been a tragedy if not for the heroism of the pilot," Crowley said. Whatever else happens in that governor's race, that's the correct statement and he made it.

The pilot deserves more than a passing mention. The aircraft lost power on approach — meaning he had seconds, not minutes, to find a survivable landing option in the dark. He chose the lake. Both men walked away. That's not luck. That's a pilot who did exactly what training exists to teach, at the exact moment it mattered.

Tiffany was back to posting updates the same night, thanking first responders and telling supporters he was fine. No dramatic press conference. No drawn-out hospital stay. The Daily Wire reported the story, noting the crash happened less than two months before what's shaping up to be one of the most closely watched governor's races in the country.

A dairy farm kid from western Wisconsin survived a plane crash into a cold lake on a September night, swam to safety, and ended the evening in a hospital room with his wife by his side.

He's got a governor's race to run.