“Costs, like everything else, are out of control, and coming from a family that had to make every dollar count, I know what that feels like,” Joel Brennan said in his launch video. (Screenshot from campaign video)

Joel Brennan, formerly the Department of Administration (DOA) secretary under Gov. Tony Evers, announced his campaign for governor Thursday, saying that President Donald Trump’s “chaos and incompetence” are hurting the state and that “the numbers just aren’t adding up for Wisconsin families.”

“Costs, like everything else, are out of control, and coming from a family that had to make every dollar count, I know what that feels like,” Brennan said in his launch video. “I’ll be a governor who will stand up to Trump’s dysfunction and be laser focused on improving the lives of people across our state.”

In the video, Brennan introduces himself, saying many voters “probably don’t know much about me.” He talks about growing up as one of 11 children in a family that was “long on potential, although sometimes a little short on resources.” He relates that he worked in many jobs including landscaping, retail and deep frying egg rolls to help put himself through college and that his first car had no working blinkers.

“I’ve raised two great kids with my wife, Audra, passing on lessons like rolling up our sleeves to get things done and showing up for our community, and for 25 years I’ve worked with businesses and non-profits to create jobs and strengthen Wisconsin’s economy.”

Brennan served as the DOA secretary from 2019 through 2021. The agency is responsible for assisting the governor with the state budget, providing centralized purchasing and financial management for state agencies and working with the 11 federally recognized Native Nations in Wisconsin on gaming and coastal programs. 

“It’s easy to forget how broken things were after [former Gov.] Scott Walker and his right-wing Legislature had spent eight years gutting state government,” Brennan said. “We got to work putting the state on firmer financial footing, generating a budget surplus of nearly $4 billion dollars and growing our rainy day fund to $1.7 billion, then COVID hit and all of that progress was put at risk. We stood up to the extremists and delivered help to tens of thousands of small businesses, farmers, and families across Wisconsin.”

Prior to his time in Evers’ administration, Brennan worked as the executive director of Discovery World, the largest science museum in Wisconsin. 

Brennan stepped down from leading the DOA in December 2021 to serve as the president of the Greater Milwaukee Committee (GMC). The private-sector, nonprofit civic organization works to foster economic development and cultural growth in Wisconsin’s largest metro area.

According to the Greater Milwaukee Committee, Brennan is stepping aside from the role as he runs for governor. 

Brennan joins a crowded field of hopefuls seeking the Democratic nomination next year. Candidates include Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez, state Sen. Kelda Roys (D-Madison), state Rep. Francesca Hong (D-Madison), Milwaukee County Exec. David Crowley, former Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation CEO Missy Hughes, former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes and former state Rep. Brett Hulsey. The primary is scheduled for Aug. 11, 2026.

Roys criticized Brennan in a statement after his announcement over a position the GMC took on a Milwaukee Public Schools referendum last year, saying that Wisconsin needs “a leader who knows how to deliver higher wages, lower costs and the freedom to thrive.”

“While I look forward to a spirited primary, I will not be able to overlook the fact that only one of the candidates in this race tried to defeat a desperately needed referendum to fund our biggest school district,” Roys said. 

The GMC, under Brennan’s leadership, was one of the city’s business organizations that opposed the $252 million operational referendum successfully sought by Milwaukee Public Schools in 2024. GMC expressed concerns at the time over transparency and the “failure to clearly articulate a measurable plan for how these additional financial resources will improve student outcomes.”

The Republican field for governor is not as expansive with just two candidates: U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, the frontrunner in the race, and Washington Co. Executive Josh Schoemann.

A Wisconsin state senator who came in third in the Democratic primary for governor in 2018 is running again, saying in her campaign launch video that “extremists” like President Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk are putting the nation’s democracy at risk.

Kelda Roys, an attorney and small business owner who represents the liberal capital city of Madison in the state Senate, launched her campaign on Monday.

“We are in the fight of our lives for our democracy and our kids’ future,” Roys says in her campaign launch video. It shows people protesting along with images of Trump and Musk.

The two other highest-profile announced Democratic candidates are Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez and Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley. Several other Democrats are expected to join the race in coming days.

On the Republican side, Washington County Executive Josh Schoemann, 43, and suburban Milwaukee business owner Bill Berrien, 56, are the only announced candidates. Other Republicans, including U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany and state Senate President Mary Felzkowski, are considering running.

Roys, 46, served in the state Assembly from 2009 until 2013. Roys ran for an open congressional seat in 2012, but was defeated by a fellow state lawmaker, Mark Pocan, by 50 points. She was elected to the state Senate in 2020.

As a lawmaker, Roys has been an outspoken defender of abortion rights and for union rights. In her launch video, Roys highlights her opposition to then-Gov. Scott Walker’s law that effectively ended collective bargaining for public workers in 2011.

“With everything on the line, Wisconsin needs a governor who’s been training for this moment her whole career and knows how to deliver,” she said.

Roys said she would work to improve public schools, make health care more affordable and create quality jobs.

The race to replace Gov. Tony Evers, who is retiring after two terms, is open with no incumbent running for the first time since 2010. Roys lost to Evers in the 2018 gubernatorial primary, coming in third out of eight candidates behind him and Mahlon Mitchell, president of the Professional Fire Fighters of Wisconsin.

Wisconsin Watch is a nonprofit and nonpartisan newsroom. Subscribe to our newsletters to get our investigative stories and Friday news roundup. This story is published in partnership with The Associated Press.

Wisconsin Democrat Kelda Roys launches run for governor is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.