A Brief Look at the Wisconsin Gubernatorial Primary
The seven-candidate Democratic field is second largest in state history and includes four of the 12 major party candidacies for the office by women
Wisconsin’s Democratic primary to vie for the seat of retiring Governor Tony Evers has entertained political observers with enough twists and turns worthy of a soap opera.
In the end, seven candidates will appear on the August 11th primary ballot – including two who suspended their campaigns (Lieutenant Governor Sara Rodriguez and former Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation CEO Melissa Hughes) and a third formerly withdrawn candidate who only recently jumped back into the race (Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley).
The 2026 Democratic primary field goes down in the history books as the second largest of the more than 140 gubernatorial party primaries in Wisconsin history since 1912.
The largest gubernatorial primary field for any political party in Wisconsin history is 10 candidates – set by the Democrats just eight years ago in 2018 when Evers easily defeated nine other opponents en route to unseating Governor Scott Walker.
Democrats have placed more than four candidates on the primary ballot in just two other cycles across the 45 held since the first such contest in 1912:
- 1942: Kaukauna dentist William Sullivan emerged victorious from a six-candidate field by the narrowest victory margin for the office in party history (0.3 points) with a record low 24.3 percent plurality
- 2012: Milwaukee Mayor and former U.S. Representative Tom Barrett cruised to a 24-point victory against ex-Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk in a five-candidate field
The Republican Party, which has consolidated support behind U.S. Representative Tom Tiffany in a two-candidate race this cycle, peaked at six gubernatorial candidates twice and five candidates in four other cycles:
- 1914: Milwaukee Police Commissioner Emanuel Philipp won a six-candidate primary with a plurality of 35.1 percent
- 1920: Attorney General John Blaine was nominated from six candidates with 29.9 percent of the vote – the lowest support ever received by a GOP gubernatorial nominee
- 1944: Ascended Governor Walter Goodland easily held off four challengers with a 47.2 percent plurality victory
- 1946: Governor Goodland was renominated with 42.5 percent – edging Wisconsin Adjutant General Ralph Immell by 3.4 points in a five-candidate field
- 1986: State Assembly Minority Leader Tommy Thompson cruised to a 29.8-point victory against four challengers in the first of his four nomination victories
- 2022: Businessman Tim Michels was nominated with a 47.1 percent plurality in a five-candidate field
The Progressive Party also fielded five candidates once during the six cycles in which they held primaries for governor from 1934 to 1944: in 1940, former Attorney General and state legislator Orland Loomis was nominated with 33.1 percent – 6.2 points ahead of Chippewa Falls attorney Harold Stafford. [Other third parties to appear on a gubernatorial primary ballot over the last century-plus include the Socialists (15 times), Prohibitionists (11), Libertarians (five), Wisconsin Greens (four), People’s Progressives (twice), American (twice), Conservatives (twice), Labor-Farmers (twice), U.S. Taxpayers (twice), and Social Democrats (once)].
In 2018, Evers was victorious by 25.5 points, but with a plurality of 41.8 percent. This cycle’s winner is likewise expected to fall well short of breaking the tape with a majority.
Only six other Democrats have been nominated for governor with a plurality of the vote across the previous 44 cycles:
- 1932: Madison Mayor Albert Schmedeman (44.0 percent) in a three-candidate field
- 1940: Former GOP Governor Francis McGovern (38.9 percent) in a four-candidate field
- 1942: Former Kaukauna Mayor and dentist William Sullivan (24.3 percent) in a six-candidate field
- 1966: Lieutenant Governor Patrick Lucey (45.2 percent) in a four-candidate field
- 1982: Former Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Secretary Tony Earl (45.9 percent) in a three-candidate field
- 2002: Attorney General Jim Doyle (38.4 percent) in a three-candidate field
The 2026 Democratic primary is also noteworthy with four women appearing on the ballot: Assemblywoman Francesca Hong, State Senator Kelda Roys, and the aforementioned Rodriguez and Hughes who suspended their campaigns.
Only once has a woman been nominated for governor by a major party in Wisconsin – Madison School Board member Mary Burke in 2014 secured the Democratic nod. That occurred 12 years after the first woman to ever appear on a major party primary ballot for governor in the Badger State: Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk in 2002. Falk placed third in a competitive contest with 27.2 percent of the vote behind AG Doyle and U.S. Rep. Tom Barrett.
Other women to run in the Democratic primary are Falk again during the 2012 recall election, State Senator Kathleen Vinehout in 2012, Republican-recruited protest candidate Gladys Huber in 2012, and the aforementioned Roys and Vinehout in 2018.
Republican primary voters have had the opportunity to nominate a woman for governor only once: in 2022, former Lieutenant Governor Rebecca Kleefisch fell five points short in a five-candidate race won by businessman Tim Michels.
Follow Smart Politics on X.
Most recent surveys indicate a clear lead by Assembly Member “Fran” Hong over Senator Roys – in apparent contrast to the more closely contested Flanagan v Craig DFL US Senate primary election.
Both of the aforementioned contests are likely to take back seats (by the political media) in August to previously unscheduled electoral contests. On the 11th, a special R primary election to select a replacement nominee for a US Senate seat will be held in South Carolina. On the 13th, a by-election will be held cross the “pond” in Clacton, with Reform Party leader Nigel Farage, who had resigned his seat and is standing for it again in order to attain a so-called mandate from the voters, superficially similar to the move by Strom Thurmond in 1954 for the same Senate seat up this year; novelty aspirant “Count Binface” (Jonathan David Harvey); and 32 others, making this the most number of candidates in any parliamentary election of the United Kingdom.
RE: WI GOV – and many observers are wondering how did the Barnes and Crowley campaigns fail to take off? Meanwhile, all eyes on Michigan next week!
Despite missing even parts of early voting, County Executive Crowley managed a stunning comeback victory. And, yes, just about everyone missed the last-minute shift of primary voters, enough of whom made a conscious choice to coalesce around the most viable alternative to the purported frontrunner.
In yet another twist and turn, Mandela Barnes has suspended his latest campaign, thus continuing the jinx of WI lieutenant governors falling short in their bids for governor (not counting those who had first ascended to the office).
The Badger State has elected both very right-wing Republicans (e.g. Joe McCarthy) and very leftish Democrats (e.g. Gaylord Nelson) to statewide office. The likely match-up between Assembly Member “Fran” Hong and Representative “Tom” Tiffany would offer a seemingly rare occasion of major party candidates from their ideological peripheries directly competing for the same elective office.
Who will win? Without belaboring the obvious, the result will depend on the sentiments of voters in the Greater Milwaukee region, where neither likely nominee has a built-in advantage, with Hong hailing from Dane County (her predecessor in the Assembly, Chris Taylor, will become an associate justice of the Supreme Court on the First of next month) and Tiffany hailing from the predominantly rural central and northwestern parts.
[…] The seven-candidate Democratic field this cycle was the second-largest in a gubernatorial primary in state history. […]