Republican Rep. Tom Tiffany of Wisconsin swam to safety Saturday after the plane carrying him made an emergency landing in a lake.

Tiffany, the Republican nominee for governor in Wisconsin, said that on a return trip from a campaign fundraising event in La Crosse County, the plane lost power, forcing its pilot to make an emergency landing in Lake Wausau. Both Tiffany and the pilot swam to safety.

“After landing, we called 911. 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,” Tiffany wrote on X, thanking first responders who transported them to a nearby hospital.

He said that he and the pilot were released from the hospital after treatment for minor injuries, including stitches above his right eye.

Tiffany, who is facing Democrat David Crowley in the state’s November gubernatorial contest, said Sunday afternoon at a news conference that “this will not deter me in my efforts that I started a year ago to become the next governor of the state of Wisconsin.”

He estimated he and the pilot were on top of the plane for about 10 minutes “as it was steadily submerging” before they decided to swim. “And we made it,” he said.

The Marathon County Sheriff’s Office identified the aircraft as a Beechcraft K35 that was intended to land at Wausau Downtown Airport. The Federal Aviation Administration said it would investigate the incident.

“God was watching over us tonight, and I am incredibly grateful to be here in the hospital with my wife, Chris, by my side,” Tiffany said. “An experience like this reminds you just how precious life is.”

Crowley, the Milwaukee County executive who scored an upset to win the Democratic nomination, wished his opponent and the pilot a quick recovery in an X post Sunday.

“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.

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