This report has been updated. 

Missy Hughes suspended her campaign for Wisconsin governor Monday and endorsed Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez in the August Democratic primary.

Hughes, the former Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. CEO, called Rodriguez “the best candidate we can put forward to win in November, and to build an enduring coalition to address our state’s most pressing challenges.”

In her announcement, Hughes complimented all of the  Democrats in the race for governor. “Each of the candidates seeks to serve the state, and the nobility of that willingness is without comparison,” she said. But she called Rodriguez, one of three Democrats who have pulled ahead in recent weeks, the “best positioned” of the field.

Hughes said her choice was based on her assessment of Rodriguez’s experience along with what she said was a shared belief in the need for a Democratic candidate who can appeal to a large cross section of voters. Rodriguez, she said, “is the best candidate we can put forward to win in November, and to build an enduring coalition to address our state’s most pressing challenges.”

At a press conference Monday afternoon with Rodriguez, Hughes said she agreed “100%” in response to a reporter’s question whether other Democratic hopefuls should drop out and coalesce behind Rodriguez.

“The bottom line was that we have a great, great responsibility at this moment when we’re looking for a whole transition for the Wisconsin government, and we’re in very, very difficult times,” Hughes said. Acknowledging her own stauts as a first-time candidate, she said, “I saw the opportunity to coalesce behind a candidate who I know will win in November.”

Having been in conferences with Gov. Tony Evers during her years at the WEDC, Hughes said she believes Rodriguez displays “the qualities that we need in the governor, and someone who is willing to listen, someone who has good ideas, but is willing to be challenged.”

Rodriguez, Hughes told reporters, shares her optimism about Wisconsin as well as her concerns about what voters are seeking.

“What I always wanted to come from this race was for Wisconsinites to understand that we have something incredibly valuable that we have created in this state, in our communities, in our schools, in our universities, our tech colleges, our tribal partners,” Hughes said. “We have so much to invest in and so much to think about for the future. We have an incredibly strong foundation. We do not need to tear everything down. We need to build on our foundation.”

Rodriguez complimented Hughes for how she exited the contest.

“She didn’t have to endorse anyone, she could have walked away and let this race play out, but instead she made a choice,” Rodriguez said of Hughes. “It’s a hard one because she believes leadership involves making choices. I respect that enormously, and I do not take that lightly.”

Hughes said Rodriguez will “create a coalition that allows us to create deep policy and enable the large changes that we need to make in the state,” including funding public schools and addressing healthcare costs. “We need someone who brings a lot of people together, so that we can make those changes.”

State Rep. Christine Sinicki (D-Milwaukee), an early Rodriguez backer, told the Wisconsin Examiner Tuesday morning that she wasn’t in on the “behind the scenes” action that preceded Hughes’ decision to end her campaign and endorse Rodriguez. But she said she believes the Wisconsin Democratic Convention helped set the stage for the decision.

Rodriguez finished at the top of a WisPolitics straw poll and Hughes finished with just a handful of votes,  but Sinicki said that struck her as less significant.

“It’s not so much the straw poll,” Sinicki said. “The excitement around campaign was not there.”

While she considers Rodriguez a friend, Sinicki said she made her decision to endorse the lieutenant governor on the basis of her experience.

“When you look at her credentials and history, she has the most executive experience of any of other candidates,” having held private sector positions as a nurse in healthcare as well as serving in Wisconsin’s executive branch, Sinicki said. “She’s very good on all the issues that I support,” she added. “Her background on healthcare is essential right now.”

Hughes entered the Democratic primary contest about two months after Gov. Tony Evers announced he would not seek a third term.

She had hoped to gain an edge in a field of seven top-tier Democratic hopefuls in the governor’s race through her experience both in government and in the private sector, but not as a previously elected politician. She campaigned on the idea of building Wisconsin’s economy in order to strengthen the state’s support of public education and other state services.

In her six years as WEDC CEO and secretary, Hughes helped reshape the agency to emphasize small business and community economic development along with its mission of supporting larger companies relocating to or expanding in Wisconsin.

She was the face of Wisconsin’s economic response to the COVID-19 pandemic and led the state’s renegotiation of tax incentives that under former Gov. Scott Walker had been promised to Foxconn for a factory that never fulfilled its promise  to build high-tech flatscreens in Racine County.

Prior to the WEDC, Hughes served as general counsel at Organic Valley, a national cooperative owned by organic dairy farmers.