Reading Time: 2 minutes

In a governor’s race that has focused more on data center construction than artificial intelligence technology, Democratic gubernatorial candidate David Crowley on Tuesday announced a plan for state regulations on AI aimed at protecting vulnerable Wisconsinites. 

In an 11-point plan shared with Wisconsin Watch, Crowley calls for guardrails on AI offerings for minors and holding technology companies responsible for scams and fraud on their platforms. Some key components of the plan include: 

• Limiting access to AI chatbot apps for children under 13. 
• Prohibiting addictive design features, such as infinite scrolling and autoplay, on accounts of minors.
• Increasing penalties for circulating AI-generated sexual images of minors. 
• Allowing families to sue AI platforms if their content harms children, such as by promoting suicide or eating disorders. 
• Penalizing technology companies that profit from scams or fraudulent ads. 
• More funding for adult protective services and resource centers that can help victims of scams or fraud.

Crowley, the Milwaukee county executive, is running for governor against Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany in what polling from Marquette University Law School shows could be another close governor’s race in Wisconsin. AI policy debates between the two candidates in the months since the August primary have mostly been focused on the planning and construction of AI data centers, rather than the technology itself. 

In a statement, Tiffany also said Wisconsin needs “commonsense guardrails” to protect children and older adults, including holding companies accountable for platforms that allow creation of sexually explicit images or engage minors in inappropriate chatbot conversations. Tiffany said he also wants to prevent personal data from “falling into the hands of foreign adversaries, including Communist China.”  

“As governor, I will also support commonsense age-verification requirements for app providers, strengthen parental-consent protections, and give parents greater control over their children’s online activity,” Tiffany said. 

Crowley’s proposed state-level AI regulations land as President Donald Trump has dismissed calls for guardrails and warnings from technology company leaders asking for government oversight as their platforms become more advanced. 

Trump in May 2025 signed the Take it Down Act, which criminalized the online publication of real and AI-generated intimate images and requires social media platforms to remove them once notified of their existence. Tiffany, and the rest of Wisconsin’s congressional delegation, voted for the bill in 2025. 

Other proposed federal legislation has not advanced, including bills requiring public reporting of safety incidents by AI companies and requiring labels on any AI-generated content. Crowley in a statement said he would not “wait around for DC to act” on additional AI regulations if he is elected. 

“Like so many parents, Ericka and I are raising our three girls in the age of social media and AI, and we’re navigating things no generation before us has ever had to, worrying about whether a stranger is messaging our kids, or a fake picture of our daughter is going around school, or even scammers trying to drain a grandparent’s life savings,” Crowley said. 

The proposals in Crowley’s regulatory plan would require state legislative action. They echo recent bipartisan efforts signed into law by Gov. Tony Evers, including a series of bills that classified sextortion as a crime and provided additional recourse for victims and their families. 

Additionally, Attorney General Josh Kaul in August announced Wisconsin could receive up to $313 million in a settlement social media company Meta made with 47 states in a case that alleged addictive components of its platforms threatened teens’ mental health.

As data centers remain potent political issue, David Crowley offers plan to regulate artificial intelligence in Wisconsin 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.

Reading Time: 15 minutes

At a brewery in Mauston, Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley took a question from rural Democrats about what led to his exit and reentry in the chaotic Democratic gubernatorial primary this summer. At a biergarten in Germantown, U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany answered a guest at a picnic table who asked how his property tax plan might help young people purchase a home. 

As Crowley and Tiffany sprint toward Election Day on Nov. 3, they are crisscrossing the state to get in front of potential voters and make their case to be the state’s next governor in a high-stakes election that could determine future political control of the Capitol in Madison. The latest polling from the Marquette University Law School indicates it’s shaping up to be another close gubernatorial contest in Wisconsin. 

Voters are already casting their absentee ballots, and early in-person voting begins Oct. 20. Wisconsinites can watch the candidates participate in the race’s lone televised debate on Oct. 21, but few voters across the state may get the chance to ask Crowley and Tiffany questions about issues that matter in their communities. 

In August, Wisconsin Watch asked readers to send us their questions for candidates running for office in 2026. We caught up with Crowley and Tiffany at their campaign events to pose several of those questions.

Their answers show two very different approaches, with occasional overlap, to issues they may face if they are elected governor in November. We also provided additional context when appropriate. After reading this, find out more about the candidates in our voter guide. 

Reader question: What would your administration do to help fund volunteer fire departments? 

More context

Results of a survey conducted by the Wisconsin Office of Rural Health and published in June 2025 showed that about a third of fire chiefs said they could not cover their annual costs due to the financial status of their departments. The survey also found many fire departments do not have enough firefighters to staff their trucks. 

David Crowley: “I think that’s a very good question. It’s also one of the reasons why I worked to get Act 12 passed and across the finish line because we know how important this type of funding is for communities all across the state, and so we need to step up. We need the state to step up as it relates to shared revenue to make sure that EMS, our firefighters, are getting the support that they need. And I want to continue that work that we started with Act 12 when I become governor.”

More context

In 2023, Gov. Tony Evers worked with the GOP Legislature to pass Act 12, which changed the way local governments receive state funding. The law also provided the city of Milwaukee and Milwaukee County the power to implement new sales taxes, which both governments did later that year. Crowley has highlighted his efforts to pass the legislation on the campaign trail as an example of his ability to work across the political aisle to help Milwaukee County’s struggling financial position stemming from pension costs. Tiffany’s campaign has cited the sales tax increase to suggest Crowley would raise taxes as governor.

Tom Tiffany: “We’re going to review the volunteer fire department programs that are out there because what I’ve heard from local officials is that they’ve made the requirements so onerous now they’re keeping young people from going through the process to get certified. So, like the training hours have basically doubled, and so we’re going to review that because what it’s doing is it’s reducing the number of people that want to go through the process to become a volunteer fireman. And so I always put it this way that the perfect is becoming the enemy of the good. And I understand they want to set really high standards, but let’s make sure we have good standards but we’re not, they should not be excessive.”

Reader question: How will you bring native nations to the table in your administration? Have you met with any of the native nations as you’ve been campaigning?

Crowley: “I know that our state has a long history and a long relationship with our native nations and our tribes all across Wisconsin, and as governor, I want to continue to build that relationship and continue that track record. I think it’s extremely important that you know both our governments sit down to actually figure out how we can help one another moving forward. You know, we just have a duty to do that because these are the lands that they lived in way before our government was actually here, and so I want to make sure that we are committed to building that future together.

I’ve met with a few of the different nations, and actually between now and Election Day, I know that we’re going to be heading up north to visit some of their land as well.”

Tiffany: “I would work with the tribes. I mean, the governor has a responsibility to do that, and I’ll sit down with the tribes both collectively and individually if they choose to, and hear what their concerns are. I’ll share what my concerns are, and we’ll just have good dialogue.

I’ve talked to some of tribal leadership here and there. I’ve had some discussions with them. I would say that I will definitely be sitting down with the Lac du Flambeau in regards to their road closures, because having dealt with that issue federally, and the judges ruled that that’s illegal to do that, I’m hoping we can come to a resolution where we don’t have this disagreement that’s going on, where they’re closing roads illegally.”

More context

An August 2025 federal court ruling found that the Lac du Flambeau Band of the Chippewa Indians could not block public access to roads going through tribal lands after a dispute about expired easements. Tiffany, in a letter later that month, asked former U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi to investigate and recover $600,000 the town of Lac du Flambeau paid the tribe during the conflict, describing the tribe’s actions as an “illegal shakedown.”

Reader question: What policies would you enact to protect Wisconsin from droughts, severe thunderstorms and tornadoes?

Crowley: “The changing of climate is real and you have to follow the science and the data to make sure that we are pivoting the way that we need to to make sure that we’re protecting our land, protecting our water, protecting our air. But I also know that the state of Wisconsin has a 2050 climate action plan as well, but it doesn’t have any teeth or levels of accountability to it. I want to make sure that it’s a plan that we can actually implement and where the community can actually hold us accountable in making sure that we’re addressing climate change in Wisconsin.

The other things that we can do is as we look to the future, how do you build for more resilience, right? How do you build thinking about things, for example, the flooding, right? We’ve seen that here within Milwaukee County within the past couple of years, but it doesn’t just affect urban areas. It also affects farmers, affects our rural communities and affects their crops. So it’s about making sure that we’re building with more resilience because we see more extreme weather patterns.”

Tiffany: “The important thing that needs to be done is, I mean, we’ll make sure that our disaster aid program is fully prepared. I mean, I’ll make sure … that they’re fully prepared for any disasters that may happen in Wisconsin. I think that’s the most important thing that we can do is simply be prepared when they do happen, whether it’s flooding or whatever. 

The other thing is that I’m going to make sure that I have a good line of communication with the White House in regards to this. In case you have a situation like in New London this year, where they had the flooding, and we sent letters to the administration asking them to designate it a federal disaster area, and the administration said yes, we’re going to do that. I think it’s important to have good communication there. And this is one place where I think David Crowley is really making a mistake when he says, almost every time he does an interview, and he’s speaking about me, he says ‘Donald Trump, MAGA, all the rest,’ and he’s basically just saying ‘I’m against everything that Donald Trump stands for.’ Well, you’ve got to work with the White House occasionally when you’re the governor.”

More context

While the Trump administration has approved some disaster declarations for recent storms in Wisconsin, it has also denied some of the state’s requests. For severe rain and flooding in August 2025, individual assistance for Milwaukee, Washington and Waukesha counties was approved but public assistance grants were denied. The administration approved both individual and public assistance for several counties after severe flooding in April 2026, but it denied statewide hazard mitigation grants and public assistance for Bayfield, Manitowoc, Marathon and Racine counties. After an appeal, Racine County was later approved for public assistance. In a social media post on Oct. 7, President Donald Trump said he spoke to Tiffany and would approve $17.9 million for Wisconsin’s “severe storms and tornadoes.” Evers formally requested disaster assistance in August for the storms and tornado that hit the Fox Valley in July. 

Reader question: Are there any rights that transgender children and adults have currently that you would seek to limit, such as access to gender-affirming care?

Crowley: “No, I am not going to limit our LGBTQ community from what they currently have. We have a job in making sure that we protect our LGBTQ community, that we protect all children in this state, to where they can live and be their healthy selves, no matter where they are. And so, you know, I’m always going to be an accomplice when it comes down to the LGBTQ community and making sure that we’re protecting their rights and their ability to live healthy lives in Wisconsin.”

Tiffany: “I would say two things in regards to that. So first of all, public money should not be used for that, including for adults, and it should not happen to minors. I mean, puberty is a very delicate time of life. It’s a time of confusion for young people, and to say to them, to say that we’re going to allow these sexual, what I call, mutilations, to happen, I think is just wrong when they’re minors, and just because it’s a time of great uncertainty, we should let them work their way through it. And then, as adults, if they choose a different path, then you know that’s up to them as adults. But we should not be doing that as minors. And I would restrict that funding for medical facilities that are offering those surgeries to minors, we would restrict those dollars from going to them.” 

More context

Over the course of his two terms as governor, Evers vetoed several Republican bills that focused on medical procedures, names and pronouns of transgender Wisconsinites. In March, Evers vetoed five Republican bills that included: 

• A ban on transgender children and college-age individuals from playing in school sports teams that matched their gender identity. 
• Prohibiting school districts from changing a student’s name or pronouns without parental consent.
• Prohibiting health care providers from providing gender-affirming care for minors in Wisconsin and allowing lawsuits against medical professionals that do so. 

Reader question: Do you envision any reforms to the current campaign finance system that gives political parties the ability to raise unlimited funding for candidates? 

Crowley: “What I’ve realized running for governor is that you spend a lot of time fundraising. Unfortunately, Tom Tiffany has not because he has three billionaire backers, and it takes us away from actually talking to as many voters as possible. And when you think about how much money that we see going into supporting candidates all across this country, when you think about the $24 million that is backing Congressman Tom Tiffany from three billionaire donors, imagine how much more we could afford child care, how much we can help health care stretch across this state, how we can start fully funding our public schools. So yes, we absolutely need campaign finance reform in the state of Wisconsin.

I want to make sure that no one can buy this election. The fact that any political party can receive unlimited amounts of funds and donate that to one particular candidate, that’s insane to me. And so we need to make sure that government continues to stay in the hands of the people, and not in the hands of the ultra wealthy.” 

More context

Recent campaign finance reports from July 1 through Sept. 23 show Tiffany’s largest donor is the Republican Party of Wisconsin, which received nearly 95% of its $29 million in donations from GOP megadonors Diane Hendricks, the founder of ABC Supply Co., and Richard and Elizabeth Uihlein, who founded the Uline shipping supplies company. Crowley’s largest donor in the same time period is the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, whose largest donors include Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and Lynde Uihlein, a cousin of Richard Uihlein, who each gave $1 million. 

Tiffany: “I would work with the Legislature in regards to that and see if they want to make some changes. I think it’s going to take a bipartisan effort in order to be able to do that, and so I would just work with the Legislature to see if they want to change that.

More context

In a December 2025 interview with PBS Wisconsin, Tiffany described the system of unlimited donations to political parties as a “billionaire loophole.” As a state senator, Tiffany voted for the 2015 law, signed by former Republican Gov. Scott Walker, that allowed unlimited donations to political parties.

“I do find it ironic that the Democrat Party is making a big deal out of this when they raised $50 million for the 2023 Supreme Court race, $48 million in the 2025 race, almost all of it out of state, including the governor of Illinois, and now they’re whining about it. I mean, to me, it’s really clear what’s going on. David Crowley is not exciting their base, and they’re having a hard time fundraising because what he’s proposing and just the basement campaign that he’s running, primarily between Milwaukee and Madison, is just not exciting voters around Wisconsin. So he’s having real difficulty being able to raise money.” 

More context

The Democratic Party of Wisconsin donated about $9.9 million in 2023 to then-Supreme Court candidate Janet Protasiewicz’s campaign and about $11.8 million in 2025 to then-candidate Susan Crawford’s campaign. A majority of the donors to Protasiewicz and Crawford’s campaigns did not live in Wisconsin. During those same races, the Republican Party of Wisconsin donated $900,000 to conservative former Justice Daniel Kelly in 2023 and $9.7 million to former Attorney General Brad Schimel in 2025.

Reader question: Do you support restoring local eminent domain for bike and pedestrian purposes?

More context

The 2017 state budget bill, which Tiffany voted for and Crowley voted against, prohibited the use of eminent domain for bicycle and pedestrian paths. The Wisconsin Bicycle Federation has supported bringing back those powers for local governments.

Crowley: “I believe in local control and I think that this is basically what it goes down to. I think that local communities should be able to have a say-so on what they want to be able to do, you know, with the properties that are within their communities. And so, to say whether or not I support it for a particular project, I support anything that gives local municipalities a greater say-so at the table, at the decision-making table.” 

Tiffany: “I think eminent domain should very rarely be used, and if it’s oftentimes that would be going over. I remember the example when I was in the Legislature. It was in St. Croix County, and they wanted to do it over farmland. I am very opposed, whether it’s bike trails or wind and solar, I am very opposed to converting our farmland. It is one of the cornerstones of our economy, and we have got to stop destroying our farmland. So I think eminent domain should be used very, very rarely, just very rarely.” 

Reader question: What’s your position on marijuana legalization and why? What are your concerns if you do not support recreational legalization? 

Crowley: “I believe it should be legalized, and I think that it needs to be legalized. One, you know, we don’t have the same opportunities as folks in Minnesota and in Michigan and in Illinois. I believe that we should support it, one, because this is a personal health position for those who want to utilize it as an alternative to a prescription drug I think is extremely important. But I also look at it as an opportunity, right? Being able to grow our economy here locally, but also finding a new revenue stream to invest in things like public safety, public education and child care.” 

Tiffany: “I think you take a go-slow approach because we’ve seen some states that went straight to it, like I think about Colorado, and they had some real problems as a result of that. Think about Oregon, where they adopted full legalization, but then they also legalized other hard drugs. They had to pull back, and so I think those are a lesson to other states that we should take this go-slow approach. Also, I’ve voted federally for more money to go into research, and I think that research can inform states about what’s the best approach to take in regards to legalization.”

More context

Tiffany’s campaign website says the congressman supports legalizing medical marijuana and establishing a “responsible program” that would help veterans and patients access treatments while also establishing strict age requirements to prevent marijuana from getting in the hands of children.

Reader question: Do you support the BECI and MariBell electric transmission line projects? Will you intervene if they decide to skip public utility corridors and route them through private land?

More context

Two 765 kV transmission line projects are proposed in southwestern Wisconsin, which energy companies say would help meet energy demands and opposition groups say would threaten land and life in the Driftless region. The BECI would run from Crawford County to Walworth County and then to the Wisconsin-Illinois border. The MariBell would run between Marion, Minnesota, and Bell Center, Wisconsin. It will be up to the state’s Public Service Commission, which regulates utilities, whether the projects get approved for construction.

Crowley: “No, I do not support them in its current form, and that’s because it is literally going through many different private properties and agricultural land that could be utilized, and it’s unfortunate. What’s really unfortunate is that they did not pass. ROFR would have utilized existing right of ways instead of creating new pathways, you know, for these lines that’s going to basically power these data centers. And so I want people to recognize and know that this shouldn’t be happening and the only reason why it’s happening is because the Republican-controlled Senate, particularly, didn’t pass the law to utilize the existing right of ways. We want, I want to preserve our beautiful areas. When I think about the Driftless region, I want to make sure that people can continue to have the types of views and in the agricultural lands that they need to produce the products that they harvest. And so, in its current form, I absolutely oppose this line.”

More context

ROFR, or right of first refusal, legislation that would allow in-state utility companies to have first dibs on transmission line construction has often failed in the Wisconsin Legislature, including the recent 2025-26 session.

“I’m not sure of everything related to what the governor’s power is related to this. But as you can imagine, it all depends on when this gets approved, right? Because if it gets approved before you know anybody is sworn in, you know that that pretty much handcuffs anybody’s ability to do anything moving forward. But I want your readers to know that you know they have a friend in me. They can call me their Randy Newman, in a sense, because I’m going to make sure that we’re fighting on their behalf as it relates to these power lines.” 

More context

Newman wrote the song “You’ve Got a Friend in Me” for the Pixar film “Toy Story.”

Tiffany: “I oppose this because we’ve been seeing this across the state of Wisconsin. So first of all, just having a farm background has really given me a sense of what is happening because if we destroy our farmland, one of the most important things we do is grow food, and we’re going to, as we convert this farmland, thousands of acres of it, we’re going to drive food prices up eventually as a result of that. But there’s also the increase in energy prices. The last eight years, over $2 billion worth of rate increases here in Wisconsin, and I think one of the utilities just asked for another 14% increase, so it’s clear they’re going to continue to skyrocket our utility rates here if we continue this conversion, but to bring in something like this line, which is unique to Wisconsin, that we’re not very familiar with. I think there needs to be a timeout here and reassess where we’re going as a state.”

More context

A review of Public Service Commission-approved rate increases from 2021 to 2025 by WisPolitics.com found that Evers’ PSC commissioners approved $2.2 billion out of more than $3.1 billion in rate increases sought by utilities.

“I think the key thing is to be able to get PSC members that are going to respect private property. They’re going to make sure that we’re not using eminent domain, and that we’re seeking low-cost, affordable, reliable energy sources rather than the high-cost sources of energy.”

Reader question: Do you support the Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Program? What changes would you want to see to the program? 

More context

The Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Program, which was created in 1989 to preserve green space and wetlands across the state, expired on July 1 after the Legislature failed to reauthorize the program.

Crowley: “The Knowles Nelson Fund, we’ve never seen this become a political issue until, you know, within the past year and a half, two years. This has always been a bipartisan issue, and I want to make sure that we’re fully funding the entire program, especially when you see Donald Trump and Tom Tiffany stripping safeguards at the federal level that keeps our water and air clean.”

Tiffany: “I support renewal of the stewardship program, and the primary change that I want to make is to make sure that we’re maintaining existing state properties appropriately. I always use the example of someone who has a home, they got a hole in their roof, and their neighbor’s house comes for sale. Do you buy that house or do you fix your roof? And I see that happening with some of our state properties where they’re in disrepair. We need to make sure the roads and the buildings, the outhouses and all the rest. We’ve got to make sure that parking lots, we got to make sure that stuff is all in good repair, so people can enjoy their experience at the existing state properties. So let’s make sure we maintain what we have first before we buy anything else.”

Reader question: How will you protect and ensure the quality of Medicaid-funded home- and community-based services (like Family Care and IRIS programs) for older adults and people with disabilities?

Crowley: “That’s extremely important to me. You know, when I think about our seniors, people with disabilities, we’re talking about the most vulnerable populations, like here within the state of Wisconsin, and we’re going to make sure that they continue to get the direct services that they need. And when we talk about expanding BadgerCare, I mean, this is about actually allowing people to pay into a system to make sure we can keep it sustainable moving forward, and so I’m excited about the opportunities. But we know that we have a long road to go. My job is to focus on how we win in November to make sure that we can provide that relief, those health care services that so many families rely on each and every single day.”

Tiffany: “Part of it’s going to be the audit that I talked about. Part of it’s going to be the auditing. So the auditing, we’re seeking to first of all eliminate the waste, fraud and abuse, but just as importantly, we want to make sure that people get quality care. We’re generous here in Wisconsin in helping people who are in need, and we should make sure they’re getting the best care possible. I would add, just generally in regards to health care, we’re going to have a transparency part to our budget that health care costs have to be fully transparent. Our health care providers have to do that. We’ve seen with the study out of UW-Madison that our health care expenses are 26% higher than Illinois. We should not be worse than Illinois in anything, and so it’s certainly something that needs to be dealt with.”

You asked. We got answers. Wisconsin governor candidates respond to reader questions. 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.

Reading Time: 7 minutes

In an election year filled with high-stakes races up and down the ballot, Wisconsin voters are likely not hearing much about the contests for secretary of state and state treasurer. 

These smaller statewide offices have limited duties, which are written into Wisconsin’s constitution. In addition to the attorney general, the secretary of state and state treasurer lead one of the oldest state agencies, the Board of Commissioners of Public Lands, which oversees school trust funds and timber management on 78,000 acres of land. 

In Wisconsin, these positions lack the powers of officers with similar roles in other states. The Wisconsin secretary of state is responsible for keeping records of official acts from the governor’s office and the Legislature as well as maintaining the Great Seal of the State of Wisconsin, which is attached to official acts taken by the governor. That person does not oversee elections, unlike in 33 other states, where voters get to pick their top election official.  

The state treasurer signs checks and oversees the promotion of Wisconsin’s unclaimed property program. Republicans tried to eliminate the position through a constitutional amendment in April 2018, an effort Wisconsin voters rejected. 

At the heart of both races this year is debate over the scope of these statewide roles. In the secretary of state race, Republican Jay Schroeder and Democrat JoCasta Zamarripa are at odds over whether the secretary of state should have control over elections, which is not a function of the office.

Schroeder is running to end the Wisconsin Elections Commission and bring election administration under the control of the secretary of state. Zamarripa said she doesn’t believe the secretary of state needs to oversee elections and instead views the role as a platform that can protect voting rights. They also face Green Party candidate Pete Karas, who said the focus of his campaign is breaking the two-party system. 

In the state treasurer race, Democratic challenger Yee Leng Xiong said he sees an opportunity for the role to have influence beyond its constitutional duties, while Republican incumbent John Leiber said he wants to provide continuity and direction for the office, not grow its responsibilities. 

Should the secretary of state oversee elections?

The race for secretary of state is open this year after Sarah Godlewski, the current office holder, ran for the Democratic nomination for lieutenant governor. Godlewski, who previously served as state treasurer, was appointed after former Democratic Secretary of State Doug La Follette resigned in 2023. La Follette was first elected in 1974, and after running for lieutenant governor in 1978 he served 40 consecutive years in office. 

The focus of the 2026 contest has become a debate over what role the secretary of state should have in elections.

Schroeder, the Republican candidate, said he believes there is a lack of trust in elections and pointed to issues in Green Bay where the former clerk, who later resigned, sent duplicate ballots to voters earlier this year. He also referenced a misleading claim that there are more dead people on Wisconsin’s voter rolls than those alive. Wisconsin’s voter list includes both active registered voters and inactive ones, who may have been previously registered to vote and died or moved from the state. Only active registered voters can cast a ballot in Wisconsin elections.

If elected, Schroeder said he wants to disband the Wisconsin Elections Commission, the agency created by the Republican-led Legislature in 2016 that oversees election administration with the help of local governments. He also wants to place control of elections under the purview of the secretary of state. Both ideas are efforts that would take action from the Legislature and the governor to change existing laws. 

Schroeder said his election would provide a “bully pulpit” to advocate for changes to elections. Schroeder won the GOP nomination in August with 47% support in a four-way contest, despite the Republican Party of Wisconsin endorsing one of his opponents. 

“I’m running on this crystal-clear issue,” Schroeder said. “So if I get elected, I could go to whoever is the governor, whoever is in the Legislature and say, ‘Look, people. This is my platform. The people in the state of Wisconsin ratified it.’” 

Zamarripa, the Democratic nominee and a Milwaukee City Council member, said she is “fearful” of Schroeder’s goals should he get control of the secretary of state’s office. She specifically pointed to Schroeder’s support of President Donald Trump and described Schroeder as an election denier for past comments questioning the results of the 2020 presidential election. Wisconsin Watch asked Schroeder about a 2021 press release from his prior secretary of state campaign in which he called for the state’s 2020 presidential electors “to be rescinded.” He said not enough research was done into the election results at the time, but that the issue was in the past. 

Zamarripa, who served 10 years in the state Assembly, said she looked into how Wisconsin’s secretary of state could have a role in elections, but believes the Wisconsin Elections Commission is the best fit for the state at this time.

“Having worked with their leadership and knowing what my opponent’s goal is, I feel that the best thing I can do is make sure again that I’m using my soapbox to ensure that Wisconsinites feel safe and secure when they head to the polls,” she said. “And that they will head to the polls because they feel that safety and security and confidence.” 

If she is elected, Zamarripa wants to support the existing duties of the secretary of state, including maintaining public records and constituent services. If Democrats win control of the governor’s office and the Legislature, she sees potential for the office to have more of a role in supporting small businesses across the state. 

“I do think that my office, especially under my leadership, could play that role of some type of convener, some type of clearinghouse for immigrant entrepreneurs, all entrepreneurs, small business folks trying to make it in Wisconsin,” she said. 

Zamarripa, who would be the first Latina elected to a statewide office, said she is inspired by the late Vel Phillips, a former Milwaukee council member who was the first woman and first Black person elected statewide when she won the secretary of state’s office in 1978. 

Karas, a retired small business owner from Muskego, said his campaign could help break the state’s two-party system, which he said is unpopular among voters. An August Marquette University Law School Poll found a majority of registered voters said they had unfavorable views of the Democratic and Republican parties.

“Our campaign’s job is to educate them, to let them know that even if they’re Republican and afraid of the socialists, or they’re Democrats and afraid of the fascists, that this is a race where you can vote third party, and what you’re doing is voting to change the system,” Karas said. 

Karas was elected as a Green Party candidate to the Racine City Council, where he served from 2003 through 2009.  If elected, Karas said he would focus on digitizing records and serving on the Board of Commissioners of Public Lands. Karas said he would additionally prohibit data centers and high-powered transmission lines on public lands under the board’s control. 

Wisconsin hasn’t reelected a state treasurer in more than 20 years 

The race for state treasurer features the one statewide office where Republicans have an incumbent on the ballot this November. 

Leiber was elected in 2022 when he defeated his Democratic opponent by about 38,000 votes in a year in which voters reelected Democratic Gov. Tony Evers and Attorney General Josh Kaul and sent Republican U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson back to Washington, D.C. 

While Republicans have previously sought to eliminate the office, Leiber said the position has allowed him to provide a Republican perspective on various boards. It also has elevated his standing among Republicans. 

Leiber said some of the accomplishments during his first term include supporting programs under the Board of Commissioners of Public Lands, such as the municipal loan program that helps cash-strapped local governments. He also highlighted efforts to grow and protect the BCPL’s $1.6 billion common school fund, which distributes funds to public school libraries across the state. 

If reelected, Leiber said he wants to keep those efforts from his first term moving forward. He also wants to provide more continuity to an office that has not had a multiterm state treasurer since Republican Jack C. Voight served from 1995 through 2007. 

“We had a referendum that people said, ‘Nope, we want that office,’” Leiber said. “The question now is what is it going to do? What benefit can it bring to the people? And that’s really what I’ve been trying to focus on.” 

The key difference between Leiber and his Democratic opponent is how they view the scope of the job. Leiber, who previously worked as a legislative staffer and a tax adviser in the Department of Revenue, said he does not see a need to expand the office beyond what is currently allowed. 

“What I’m not going to do is talk about issues that have nothing to do with the state treasurer,” Leiber said. “I think it’s easy to spread yourself too thin, and it’s important to realize, or to know what you can actually get done with the Legislature.” 

Xiong, a sitting Marathon County Commissioner and a D.C. Everest Area School Board member, said the written duties of the state treasurer should not prevent the person from using the platform to help Wisconsinites. 

“It’s not the constitutional office powers that makes it an influential position,” Xiong said. “It’s what you do with that position that makes it influential.” 

In addition to the state treasurer’s existing responsibilities, Xiong said he wants to make the role more of a fiscal watchdog who can perform state audits, provide transparency portals on how government dollars are spent and convene groups that can do things like boost financial literacy or help navigate retirement savings. Democratic control of the governor’s office and Legislature could provide flexibility to broaden what the state treasurer is allowed to do, Xiong said. 

Xiong, of Weston, said his experience in local government and as the executive director of the nonprofit New Beginnings for Refugees in Wausau would translate well to serving as state treasurer. In those roles, he has managed budgets and built relationships to address challenges in north central Wisconsin, he said. 

While he is the one statewide Democratic candidate taking on an incumbent Republican, Xiong believes he is able to engage Asian American voters who are excited by his campaign. Xiong is the son of Hmong refugees who fled Laos following the Vietnam War and would be Wisconsin’s first Asian American statewide elected official. 

“If I was so lucky to be fortunate to be elected by Wisconsin, it would mark a new era for the Hmong community,” Xiong said.

Candidates for Wisconsin treasurer, secretary of state pitch plans to make obscure offices more visible 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.

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Wisconsin voters on Nov. 3 will decide whether to approve three Republican-led state constitutional amendments that GOP lawmakers say would limit government overreach and Democrats describe as unnecessary. 

The general election referendums would limit the governor’s use of the partial veto to raise taxes and fees, prevent the government from stopping religious gatherings during future emergencies and ban discrimination by state and local governments and public education institutions. 

To amend the state constitution, lawmakers must sign off on identical language during two consecutive two-year legislative sessions before putting the question to voters. Under Democratic Gov. Tony Evers, Republicans have often turned to constitutional amendments as a way to advance their priorities without confronting the governor’s veto pen. 

State Rep. Dave Murphy, R-Hortonville, who led the ballot question on prohibiting government discrimination, said he sees a distinction between the types of issues addressed through legislation, which could reach the governor’s desk, and “fundamental” questions brought in a constitutional amendment. Murphy, who was first elected to the Assembly in 2012, is not running for reelection this year. 

“There are lots of things that I would do that Tony Evers would have vetoed. There are very few things that I would bring as a constitutional amendment to try to get around that,” Murphy said. “I’m glad that I can take this to the people for a signing rather than to Gov. Evers because I think the people will support this, but I think he maybe would have vetoed it.” 

Including the three this year, GOP lawmakers have put 12 constitutional amendments to voters during Evers’ nearly eight years as governor. Voters have approved seven of them. Nearly 63% of voters approved the most recent referendum in April 2025 on requiring photo identification to vote. 

Evers is encouraging voters to reject the Republican-led referendums. 

“I think they’re all frankly off base, and I’m encouraging people to say no,” Evers told Wisconsin Watch. “I mean, if we want our legislators to look like that and do stupid things like that, then vote yes. But I think most people are fine with what it is.” 

Milwaukee County executive and Democratic gubernatorial nominee David Crowley is also splashing cold water on the amendments. He said he would “absolutely not” vote for the governor’s veto amendment. He said the DEI amendment threatens government efforts to help older adults, veterans, people with disabilities and “individuals of all races, genders and religions.” On the amendment to allow religious gatherings during emergencies, he said “under extreme circumstances, leaders must make difficult decisions for the greater good of our state.”

“But let’s be clear: This is a bad faith argument from far-right extremists to distract from the fact they caused an affordability crisis for Wisconsin families,” Crowley said.

Republican nominee and U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany said he plans to support all three questions. 

“No governor, Republican or Democrat, should have unchecked power to raise taxes or fees with the stroke of a pen, especially for the next 400 years. While David Crowley wants to preserve that power, I support ending it regardless of who holds the governor’s office,” Tiffany said. “I also support constitutional protections for places of worship. Our constitutional rights should never be conditional, and our government should never be allowed to discriminate.” 

Here is what you need to know about the three constitutional amendments. 

The governor’s partial veto

Text on the ballot: “Shall section 10 (1) (c) of article V of the constitution be amended to prohibit the governor, in exercising his or her partial veto authority, from creating or increasing or authorizing the creation or increase of any tax or fee?”

The background: Republicans advanced this question as a constitutional amendment after Evers used his veto pen during the 2023-25 budget to raise school revenue limits by $325 a year for the next 400 years. The Wisconsin Supreme Court’s liberal majority in 2025 sided with Evers in a lawsuit that challenged the constitutionality of the 400-year veto. 

Sen. Chris Kapenga, R-Delafield, who led the ballot question through the legislative process, said voter approval will reset the separation of powers between the Legislature, the executive branch and the courts. 

“It’s always about separation of powers,” Kapenga said in an interview. “This is a mechanism put in place specifically for this reason, so that if we feel that those other two branches breached their authority in that separation, we say we’re going to go directly to the people and let them make that decision.”

Republicans running for office this year have claimed incorrectly that the veto raises property taxes for the next 400 years. The veto actually raises annual revenue limits, not a specific tax or fee.

The revenue limit caps how much school districts can receive in revenue from a combination of general state aid and property taxes. Local school boards decide how much property taxes to raise and are not required to levy the maximum allowed amount, though historically most have. Under the revenue limit, the Legislature and governor can reduce local property taxes by significantly increasing general state aid to schools, but that rarely happens.

What groups support it?: Groups including the Wisconsin Property Taxpayers, Americans for Prosperity, the Wisconsin Realtors Association and Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce all registered in support of the resolution during the 2023 and 2025 legislative sessions. 

Who is opposed?: State lobbying records show the Wisconsin Education Association Council, the state’s largest teachers union, and the League of Women Voters registered in opposition to the question. 

Crowley told reporters in August he would be willing to use the partial veto if elected. 

“They want to eliminate the power of the governor, and so what they’re trying to do is just rig the system,” Crowley said. “This is not about rigging the system. This is about listening directly to constituents and figuring out how we can deliver on their behalf.” 

Gathering in places of worship during emergencies 

Text on the ballot: “Shall section 18 of article I of the constitution, which deals with religious liberty, be amended to prohibit the state or a political subdivision of the state from ordering the closure of, or forbidding gatherings in, places of worship in response to a state of emergency, including a public health emergency?”

The background: When the COVID-19 pandemic hit Wisconsin, the Evers administration’s “Safer at Home” order limited what businesses and activities could remain open in an effort to curb the spread of the virus. 

The order limited religious gatherings to fewer than 10 people. It categorized liquor stores as essential businesses allowed to remain open, which state Rep. Ron Tusler, R-Harrison, said sent a bad message to Wisconsinites.

The Wisconsin Supreme Court in 2020, under a conservative majority at the time, struck down Evers’ “Safer at Home” order. But Tusler, who led the question during the 2025 session, said a constitutional amendment would prevent the government from controlling people’s access to places of faith in the future.

“Many of us, you know, dedicate our entire lives toward our faith, and in a situation like COVID, there’s a lot of fear, and there’s a lot of uncomfort, and there’s a lot of strangeness, things we’re not used to,” Tusler told Wisconsin Watch. “When we’re in a situation like that, people of faith need their faith at that moment more than ever, and to deprive people of it is a particularly heinous sin that our government shouldn’t commit.” 

What groups support it? Pro-Life Wisconsin and Wisconsin Family Action, Inc. registered in support of the ballot language during the 2023 and 2025 legislative sessions. 

Who is opposed?: The League of Women Voters opposed the constitutional amendment, according to state lobbying records.

“Closing places of worship does not prevent any person from worshipping God, as such worship can and is practiced on an individual basis in one’s own home during an emergency,” the organization wrote. 

Prohibiting DEI in government

Text on the ballot: “Shall section 27 of article I of the constitution be created to prohibit governmental entities in the state from discriminating against, or granting preferential treatment to, any individual or group on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin in public employment, public education, public contracting, or public administration?”

The background: Murphy, the Republican state representative from Hortonville, said the idea for the ballot question stemmed from the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2023 ruling in Students for Fair Admissions vs. Harvard, which found considering race in admissions to higher education institutions is unconstitutional. Murphy said he saw an opportunity for a broader question that covered discrimination and giving preferential treatment to certain populations across all levels of government and education. 

“I’m just very much of a supporter of the idea that when people put government in charge of something, they want it to be the best it can be,” Murphy said. “One of the ways to do that is not to put a bunch of things that get in the way of picking based on merit.” 

Responding to criticism that the referendum could end programs that help disadvantaged groups in Wisconsin, Murphy said governments and schools can continue those efforts as long as everyone is able to participate.

“People that are disadvantaged are disadvantaged,” Murphy said. “If programs help disadvantaged people, then they will still be helped. It can’t exclude anybody.”

What groups support it? The Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty won a case before the state Supreme Court, which found an undergraduate financial aid program for minority students was unconstitutional.

The case was decided unanimously by the liberal-controlled court, though liberal justices broke from conservatives to point out that the country’s history of racial discrimination continues to be entrenched in societal outcomes. The case advanced to the court as lawmakers were considering putting the constitutional amendment before voters.

The conservative law firm registered in support for the constitutional amendment during the legislative process. WILL Managing Vice President and Deputy Counsel Dan Lennington said the referendum will “end discriminatory DEI programs throughout Wisconsin and ensure our government serves all citizens equally.” 

Who is opposed?: Opponents have claimed the amendment would limit opportunities for disadvantaged groups. The American Civil Liberties Union of Wisconsin and the League of Women Voters opposed the constitutional amendment during the legislative process, according to lobbying records. 

The League said the amendment intends “to weaken the individual rights and liberties of Americans who have been guaranteed protection by the Civil Rights laws of our country.”

Learn more about the three Wisconsin constitutional amendments on the Nov. 3 ballot 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.

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• To build or not to build, that’s the question Wisconsin voters have about state prisons as they choose between Republican Tom Tiffany and Democrat David Crowley.
• Tiffany said this week he supports building new prison capacity, while Crowley said he would prefer reducing prison time for nonviolent offenders.
• Gov. Tony Evers and a bipartisan group of lawmakers has crafted a plan to expand the state’s prison capacity by 530 beds, close Green Bay Correctional Institution and implement other changes to address overcrowding.
• Follow the growth of Wisconsin’s prison population using the Wisconsin Watch prison population tracker.

As Wisconsin’s prison population hits record highs, Republican gubernatorial candidate and U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany said he is open to expanding and building prison capacity to address the rising number of people behind bars without releasing those in custody. 

An Aug. 28 state Department of Corrections report showed 23,854 people were incarcerated in Wisconsin’s adult institutions, exceeding the previous record in 2019 by 28. The population grew to 23,870 as of Sept. 4. That was just over 6,000 beyond the capacity of the state’s facilities, which include the aging Green Bay Correctional Institution. 

“I will work with lawmakers, corrections officials, and law enforcement to determine where we need to expand and build prison capacity so we can safely close Green Bay without releasing violent criminals back into our communities,” Tiffany said in a statement to Wisconsin Watch. “Every decision will be made with the safety of our communities and our corrections officers at the forefront.” 

It has been 25 years since Wisconsin opened any new prisons. The medium-security Redgranite Correctional Institution and the Milwaukee Secure Detention Facility, intended for probation and parole holds, both opened in 2001, according to DOC. 

Tiffany faces Democratic nominee and Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley in the open race for governor this November. When asked about Tiffany’s comments on expanding prison capacity, Crowley said in a statement that “violent criminals must be held accountable for breaking the law, but we have to give nonviolent offenders a second chance.”

“That means expanding mental health services, offering substance use treatment support, and providing job training and career readiness courses so we can save taxpayer dollars by providing a real pathway to rehabilitation,” he said. 

Crowley pointed to Milwaukee County initiatives under his tenure as county executive that he said have “focused on prevention, intervention, healing, housing stability, behavioral health services, and pathways to opportunity for our young people.” 

The candidates’ responses show a stark divide in how the next administration might approach criminal justice issues. Tiffany and Crowley recently clashed over allegations that a Milwaukee County inmate used a county-provided tablet to intimidate witnesses. 

Wisconsin’s governor appoints the head of the Department of Corrections, the agency that oversees the state’s prisons. The governor also has the constitutional authority to grant pardons and commutations. Gov. Tony Evers has issued more than 2,000 pardons during his two terms in office and signed executive orders earlier this year to reinstate commutations. 

Tiffany and Crowley have also taken opposing views on commutations. Tiffany previously told Wisconsin Watch he would rescind those executive orders and said he would “not release violent criminals early.” Crowley said he would also not commute the sentences of those convicted of murder — a break from criteria Evers laid out that bars applications only from those previously convicted of several categories of sex crimes or child abuse. Crowley expressed support for using the governor’s executive clemency powers as a “tool to correct past wrongs” but said cases should be handled in a way that respects victims and communities. 

The state’s next governor is likely to face prison problems that have gone unresolved during years of political gridlock at the Capitol between Evers and the Republican-led Legislature. 

Evers in 2025 proposed a series of projects at a cost of $325 million that included closing Green Bay Correctional Institute and converting Lincoln Hills into an adult facility. Republican lawmakers objected to any plans that would reduce the capacity of the state’s facilities. 

Republicans in the 2025-27 state budget approved just $15 million for Evers’ proposal and suggested a 2029 closure date for GBCI, but Evers partially vetoed the 2029 closure deadline without a detailed plan from the Legislature to do so. The state building commission in October signed off on releasing the $15 million to start the planning process for Evers’ proposed projects. 

Rep. Benjamin Franklin, R-De Pere, told the Allouez Village Board on Sept. 1 that state agencies, the governor’s office and a bipartisan group of lawmakers have been working on draft legislation that would incorporate parts of Evers’ plan to revamp state facilities, close GBCI by 2031 and raise the statewide capacity by 530 beds to 18,503. The Legislature could act on the bill if Evers called a special session, Franklin said. 

The estimated total cost of the projects in the legislation would be about $628.7 million, Franklin told the board members, but a “more solid number” is expected from the Department of Administration in the next 30 to 45 days, Franklin said. 

“People have asked me as I’ve knocked doors and talked to people, attended the events, ‘Well, what about building a new mega facility somewhere?’” Franklin said at the meeting. “That would cost the state, by the estimates, anywhere between $1 billion to $1.3 billion. So, by adopting this plan again, that allows us to literally cut this approximately in half.”

Wisconsin Watch asked the Tiffany campaign whether the congressman supports the elements in the plan Franklin described. The campaign reiterated that Tiffany supports closing GBCI. 

“As governor, he will work with corrections officials, law enforcement, legislators, and local communities to determine the best path forward. Closing Green Bay will require additional prison capacity, whether through new construction, expansion, or other options,” the campaign said in a statement. “Tom will pursue the solution that best protects taxpayers and public safety while ensuring violent criminals remain behind bars and capacity is not reduced.” 

Republican Tom Tiffany backs expanding Wisconsin prisons as population hits record high 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.

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The Wisconsin Supreme Court begins oral arguments in September under a new 5-2 liberal majority and faces a term that could feature politically charged cases, including those challenging the state’s congressional maps and seeking to restore collective bargaining rights for many public sector unions. 

The pending cases before the high court so far, and other legal issues that may arise over the course of the term, provide ample opportunity to observe how the justices operate under a new liberal supermajority, court watchers said. Will they accept more cases following a streak of fewer decisions in recent years than in prior terms? How will the justices respond in real time to election issues during the midterms? Will they change the long-standing approach the court uses to interpret state statutes?  

“Now that there is a clear majority, not just a one-vote majority, it’s entirely possible that the justices will start to differentiate themselves from one another more,” said Chad Oldfather, a professor at the Marquette University Law School. “Because there’s less of a pressure to act as a bloc.” 

The high court’s liberal majority grew to five after Chris Taylor’s dominant April victory in the 2026 Wisconsin Supreme Court race to replace conservative Justice Rebecca Bradley. Liberal justices have won five of the last six Wisconsin Supreme Court elections, shifting the court from a 5-2 conservative majority in 2018. 

The liberal wing includes Taylor, Chief Justice Jill Karofsky and justices Rebecca Dallet, Janet Protasiewicz and Susan Crawford. The conservatives include justices Annette Ziegler and Brian Hagedorn, who is often a swing vote.

“I’m guessing that it’s going to not seem like a 5-2 court this coming term,” said Alan Ball, a Marquette University professor who operates the SCOWstats blog that analyzes Wisconsin Supreme Court statistics. “Maybe like a 5-1-1: five liberals and then Ziegler is a conservative, and then Hagedorn, you know, who knows?” 

During the 2025 term, Hagedorn voted more often with the liberal wing of the court in split decisions than Crawford did in her first year as a justice, according to Ball’s review of the previous term. But Crawford aligned more with fellow liberals and Hagedorn with conservatives on more political issues, such as a case in the last term between Attorney General Josh Kaul and the Legislature over who controls settlement funds, Ball noted. 

Justices are scheduled to hear oral arguments in 16 cases across seven days between Sept. 8 and Oct. 13. More cases could rise to the high court over the course of the new term. 

What decisions will justices make about the congressional map?

Justices will hear oral arguments related to two lawsuits challenging Wisconsin’s congressional map on Sept. 16, but any decisions are not expected to impact the 2026 midterm elections, in which primary elections have already set up the candidates in races this November. 

The Wisconsin Supreme Court last November tapped two three-judge panels to hear the cases challenging the congressional maps as unconstitutional. One case, brought by a group of voters, argued the maps are a partisan gerrymander. The other case, brought by the Wisconsin Business Leaders for Democracy, argues the congressional maps are an anti-competitive gerrymander.

Both panels dismissed the challenges in separate rulings this spring, writing that only the high court could make decisions about the existing congressional maps. The voters and the business group appealed the decisions. 

The issues before the justices in September for the voter-brought case include whether Wisconsin’s constitution allows partisan gerrymandering and, for the Wisconsin Business Leaders case, whether the three-judge panel was wrong in considering “anti-competitive” and partisan gerrymandering as the same argument. 

Lucas Vebber, deputy counsel at the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty, who is representing multiple intervenors in both maps cases, said their position remains that the Wisconsin constitution does not allow the groups in these cases to bring their gerrymandering claims. 

“This is a primary function of the Legislature,” Vebber explained. “Courts have a role to play, but they should stay within that role and not go beyond.” 

Jeff Mandell, general counsel for Law Forward, a progressive law firm representing the Wisconsin Business Leaders for Democracy in its case, said attorneys have asked the justices to issue a decision by the end of this year ahead of jury trial dates in April in that case.  

“If we’re able to hold that trial in April, that should provide time for the trial court to do its work, and for there to be an appeal if need be,” Mandell said. “And for there to be new districts that are constitutional for the 2028 congressional elections.” 

There would be no need for a trial if the high court affirms the three-judge panel’s dismissal, which would leave the existing maps in place. 

Will emergency election issues rise to the high court? 

While the court considers issues in the congressional maps case, legal experts say the stakes of the 2026 midterm elections make it likely that the justices could face potential fast-moving cases on voting and election-related issues. 

“We’ve had these fights over ballot boxes and whether you need to have a witness see your vote if you’re disabled. There was a whole issue of what has to be available for a disabled voter,” said Janine Geske, a former Wisconsin Supreme Court justice and professor at the Marquette University Law School. “Those kinds of things people can go right to the court and say ‘We’re going to bypass everybody. This is an emergency. We need the court to issue a ruling.’ I suspect, especially with all the talk of voting integrity or voting fraud … that we’re going to see that.” 

Recently, the high court ordered an expedited process for briefings in an appeal filed by the Democratic National Committee about a 2024 case that sought answers to whether a circuit court has the authority to extend hours at a polling location past 8 p.m.

The Waukesha-based 2nd District Court of Appeals this summer reversed a Walworth County judge’s order from the 2024 presidential election that allowed polling locations at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater campus to stay open until 10:30 p.m. on Election Day. The 2nd District in July reversed the decision, arguing it is up to the Legislature to determine polling hours. 

The court has yet to accept the DNC’s petition for review, but Ziegler questioned the majority’s motives in her lone dissent against speeding up the briefing process. The majority did not offer an explanation for expediting that timeline.

“We know not why this matter races to the front of the line. One would think further explanation would be forthcoming,” wrote Ziegler, who is not seeking reelection and is in her final year on the court. “One would think the majority would be more cautious to not appear to favor the political party that spent seemingly endless amounts of money to get them elected.” 

Will justices accept a case to restore pre-Act 10 collective bargaining rights? 

In late July, the 2nd District Court of Appeals reversed a 2024 Dane County Circuit Court ruling that restored collective bargaining rights for many public sector unions and employees. The unions in the case appealed to the Wisconsin Supreme Court less than three weeks later. 

The issues in this case stem from whether portions of Act 10 — the 2011 law signed by former Republican Gov. Scott Walker that spurred massive protests at the Capitol — that separate public safety and general public employees violate equal protection guarantees in Wisconsin’s constitution.

Geske said she sees a stronger argument in this case than past legal challenges to Act 10. But the justices will have to determine whether the court is held to previous opinions it has made related to Act 10, she said.

“I think that most of the justices who felt that are gone or no longer in the majority,” Geske said. 

Mandell, who is among the attorneys representing the unions in the case, said he expects the high court to decide whether to take the case sometime this fall. 

“If the court takes the case in the fall, then there’s ample time for it to be briefed and argued this term,” Mandell said. “Which means that by around the Fourth of July, we should have a final answer in Wisconsin about Act 10.” 

If the petition is accepted, the case would move forward without Hagedorn, who in January 2025 said he would not participate in the case. Hagedorn was chief legal counsel for Walker when Act 10 was drafted. 

What should courts use to interpret state laws? 

In a seemingly minor case about whether a former salesperson for a window company was eligible for unemployment insurance, the high court is expected to determine if it should use a new framework to interpret state statutes. 

For years, the courts have relied on a 2004 case that placed limits on when to use outside evidence, such as legislative history, to understand state statutes. Justices and legal experts have described the case, Kalal v. Circuit Court for Dane County, as the most cited in Wisconsin Supreme Court history. 

The question before the high court is whether justices should take “a broader, holistic approach” to interpret state laws than what the Kalal case allows. 

“It’s really about how much we trust judges, or in this case, judges trust themselves to adequately or accurately assess things that legislators say,” Oldfather said. “Because the fear, of course, is that legislators will say self-serving things about what they pass into law.” 

The case has not been scheduled for oral arguments, but is among pending cases before the justices. Oldfather said it’s likely the majority will take the approach that Dallet wrote about in a 2021 case about conditions in a pollution discharge permit issued by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. 

In 2021, Dallet wrote that the court’s approach to statutory interpretation should be “more comprehensive,” although she acknowledged that some sources may be more reliable than others.

“Such a holistic methodology would lead to more transparent analyses in which the court is upfront and honest about considering relevant extrinsic sources to interpret a statute’s meaning,” Dallet wrote in 2021. “That includes being transparent about those sources’ actual analytical value when they support more than one reasonable inference.”

Dallet brought up that approach again in a 2025 concurring opinion for a case that determined employees of University of Wisconsin hospitals and clinics did not have the ability to collectively bargain under Act 10. 

Bradley, who left the court in July, in the same 2025 decision criticized Dallet’s effort and said a “holistic” approach “would remove any remaining constraints on judicial overreach.” 

“It’s an open appeal for judges in this state to legislate from the bench,” Bradley wrote. “This court should stay the course and reject Justice Dallet’s invitation to unmoor the judiciary from the rule of law.”

Elections, Act 10 top list of hot-button issues facing Wisconsin Supreme Court’s new liberal supermajority 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.

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Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, will not face criminal charges in Wisconsin for promising $1 million checks to voters during the 2025 Wisconsin Supreme Court race.

La Crosse County District Attorney Tim Gruenke, a Democrat, who was tapped as a special prosecutor to review the case, wrote in a letter Tuesday that he did not believe a jury would convict Musk of a crime. 

“I have routinely worked with campaigns and candidates from both parties and nonpartisan elections to correct any potential violations of election/campaign laws,” Gruenke wrote. “In this case, without the famous name attached and the large dollar amounts involved, it is a simple case of a poorly worded statement that was corrected and brought into compliance with the law.”

Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, the Democratic nominee for governor, said during a campaign stop in Madison he was “befuddled” by the decision.

Crowley, who said he had not read the reasoning behind the decision, was confused how Musk’s promises ahead of a 2025 event in Green Bay did not violate state laws. 

Wisconsin law prohibits a person from offering, promising, giving or lending anything of value to someone to convince the person to go to the polls, vote or refrain from voting. The Wisconsin Elections Commission in July found that Musk likely broke the law and referred complaints to the Brown County District Attorney’s Office, which earlier this month referred the case to Gruenke as a special prosecutor after identifying a conflict of interest. 

“We are talking about someone who publicly talked about giving a million dollars to folks to actually go vote, which is absolutely against the law here in the state of Wisconsin,” Crowley told reporters outside a health clinic in Madison.

U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, the Republican nominee for governor, did not immediately respond to questions from Wisconsin Watch Tuesday afternoon. 

Crowley on Tuesday did not say whether he would support additional legislation to strengthen the state’s election bribery laws.

“I would assume that our laws are very clear as far as the fact that we cannot give more than $1 to make sure that people are voting,” he said. “I think the laws are extremely clear.” 

Democratic state lawmakers last year proposed bills seeking to expand the state’s election bribery laws to prohibit payments to voters for signing petitions during an election, like in the Musk case. The legislation died without receiving a hearing in the Republican-controlled Legislature. 

The context 

About $144.5 million was spent on the 2025 election between now-Justice Susan Crawford and former Attorney General Brad Schimel, making it the most expensive state supreme court race in U.S. history. Musk spent about $30 million of that total, which included giveaways to conservative voters.

The issues stemmed from social media posts Musk made in March 2025. The first post promoted an event in Wisconsin in which Musk said entrance would be “limited to those who have voted in the Supreme Court Election” in addition to providing million-dollar checks to voters “in appreciation for you taking the time to vote.” 

Musk hours later shared a message that entrance was limited to people who signed a petition “in opposition to activist judges” and the million-dollar checks would be provided to spokespersons for the petition. 

Gruenke said he did not believe a jury would convict Musk given that nothing was given to individuals for voting.

“Even if I could convince a jury that the original post was still a bribe, I do not believe that a jury would convict Elon Musk of a crime after considering the intent, the second post, and the fact nothing of value was ever given to anyone for voting for an incident occurring in March of 2025,” Gruenke wrote. 

Musk still faces a civil lawsuit in Brown County Circuit Court brought by the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign regarding bribery allegations tied to the 2025 state Supreme Court race.

Elon Musk won’t face criminal charges for offering voters $1 million checks during 2025 Supreme Court election 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.

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Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley completed an unlikely political comeback in Tuesday’s primary election, narrowly winning Wisconsin’s Democratic nomination for governor after Gov. Tony Evers gave him a late endorsement. 

Crowley will face U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany in November, with President Donald Trump backing the Republican nominee.

The Associated Press declared Crowley the winner at 2:34 a.m. Wednesday, ending a race that remained unsettled deep into the night.

With 98% of the votes tallied, Crowley led Madison state Rep. Francesca Hong by less than half a percentage point —  State Sen. Kelda Roys and former Department of Administration Secretary Joel Brennan trailed far behind with percentages in the single digits. 

Crowley, who served two terms in the Assembly, often highlighted his experience as Milwaukee County executive as the key difference between himself and his primary opponents. He was elected to lead Wisconsin’s most populous county in 2020 and reelected in 2024. On the campaign trail, Crowley pointed to his ability to work with both Democrats and Republicans to help improve lives in Milwaukee County. He frequently highlighted the 2023 shared revenue law that helped Milwaukee County pay off debts from the pension scandal in the early 2000s. 

Crowley’s revived campaign drew criticism from people who saw his return to the race as efforts by establishment Democrats to stop more progressive candidates, like Hong. Former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, who had been Hong’s closest competition in polls before he dropped out of the race in July, at the only televised debate called Crowley “revived by special interests.” 

Crowley in recent campaign stops has dismissed the “establishment” label and pointed to his early years growing up in Milwaukee where his parents struggled with mental health issues and addiction and his family faced evictions. 

The 2026 election for governor is an open seat after Evers chose not to run for a third term. It’s the first open governor’s race in the state since 2010 when Gov. Scott Walker ushered in a conservative era during which Republicans dismantled public sector unions, increased pension and health insurance contributions for public employees, cut taxes and enacted gerrymandered legislative maps.

Democrats are hoping to take control of the state Legislature for the first time in 16 years after flipping the state Supreme Court to a liberal majority and enacting bipartisan legislative maps. But even with a legislative majority, the ability to enact Democratic legislation would still run through the governor’s office.

Hong, a democratic socialist, led in the polls for months, and her primary victory seemed all but assured heading into Tuesday. But the close race mirrored a similar battle between establishment Democrats and left-wing activists in the Michigan U.S. Senate primary. Polls showed the left-wing candidate with a double-digit lead heading into last week’s primary, but he only won by 1 percentage point.

Hong had led the Democratic field in five Marquette University Law School polls ahead of the primary. Her rise as a front-runner in the race happened alongside significant democratic socialist candidate wins in states like New York and Colorado. 

Hong, though, faced questions from some Democrats over whether she could win in November. Republicans in recent weeks also seized on Hong’s old social media posts on positions such as defunding the police, abolishing the U.S. Senate and canceling Thanksgiving. Hong spent time in national news interviews during the final week of the primary attempting to walk back those past comments.  

A political comeback

Crowley’s strong showing marks a stunning turnaround for a candidate who polled in single digits before he dropped out of the race in early July. Even in the final Marquette Law School Poll before the election, he only mustered 7% support to 38% for Hong, though 34% were undecided.

Crowley initially ended his campaign after he said he saw both poll and fundraising numbers show momentum for Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez. 

But then Rodriguez dropped out of the race after revelations of issues with her campaign finance reports, which led Crowley to return to the race with a historically rare endorsement from Evers. In the final week of the primary, the two-term governor joined Crowley on the campaign trail to champion Crowley as his successor.

At the Atwood Music Hall in Madison on Tuesday night, Hong’s supporters waited for the results as the loudspeakers pumped in Stevie Wonder, Spice Girls and Chappell Roan. One Hong staffer estimated that a couple hundred people were in attendance, but didn’t have an official number. Reporters and TV cameras packed the balcony. 

Luca Farmer, a 21-year-old Madison resident, cheered and waved a poster reading “Hotties 4 Hong” as CNN results showed the state representative pulling closer to Crowley around 10 p.m. Tuesday. 

Farmer said he had been following the race since Evers chose not to run for reelection last year. He said he voted for Hong because she is “policy first.” 

But Farmer said he did not anticipate Hong and Crowley were going to be as close as they were Tuesday night. 

“My heart is palpitating,” he said. “I did not think it was going to be this close. I was very confident, but I am still confident that we will win.” 

Around 11:20 p.m., Hong walked onstage to address and thank supporters, who erupted in cheers. She acknowledged that the results were not final, but “the fight continues no matter what.” 

“In 11 weeks, no matter who’s on the ballot, y’all, we are going to fight to win for one another,” Hong said as the crowd started a chant of “we will win.” 

“We will win together, united, because everyone who’s running in this race, they know that we can make better possible, and we must make better possible.” 

At the Hyatt Regency in downtown Milwaukee, at least 250 people were spread among two ballrooms and a reception area. Chatter was loud but, as of 11 p.m., few cheers went up — the vote totals simply remained too tight.

Early in the evening, Noel Morales, a 21-year-old Crowley supporter from suburban Milwaukee, expressed confidence about Crowley’s chances. But he worried whether young Hong supporters would back Crowley if Crowley wins the nomination because Crowley has been cast as an establishment Democrat.

It’s a very big “it depends” on whether Democrats can find unity, he said.

The first sustained cheer at the Crowley gathering went up about 11:15 p.m. when a TV station went live from the party. Minutes later, the party went mostly quiet to listen to remarks made by Hong at her gathering. At that point, Crowley had yet to appear before his supporters. 

At midnight, Milwaukee election officials said “human error” would delay ballot counting. At the Crowley party, just as supporters appeared ready to claim victory, the news was deflating. 

“I’m at a loss for words,” said Crowley supporter Angela Hinton of the Milwaukee suburb of Glendale. “With the votes so close, we were on pins and needles. Now this.”

U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore told the gathering just after midnight that results were 90 minutes away. “It looks very good, but we have to wait,” she said.

Other results

In other primary results Tuesday, Rebecca Cooke won the Democratic nomination in the 3rd Congressional District for a rematch with Republican U.S. Rep. Derrick Van Orden. The seat is rated a toss-up and one of two that national Democrats are hoping to flip to retake control of the House.

In the other, the 1st Congressional District in southeast Wisconsin, Mitchell Berman won the Democratic nomination to take on U.S. Rep. Bryan Steil.

Michael Alfonso, the son-in-law of U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, won the Republican nomination in the 7th Congressional District in northern Wisconsin. The Democratic nomination was too close to call, though the seat being vacated by Tiffany leans Republican.

Nic Cravillion, a staffer for Sen. André Jacque, R-New Franken, won the Republican nomination for the 1st Senate District to replace Jacque after his two terms in the Senate. 

Rep. Jenna Jacobson, D-Oregon, won the Democratic nomination in the 17th Senate District to challenge Sen. Howard Marklein in November. Jacobson is supported by the Senate Democratic Campaign Committee, which sees this district as a potential flip opportunity. 

Case manager Ismael Luna beat incumbent Rep. Sylvia Ortiz-Velez, D-Milwaukee, by a large margin for the Democratic nomination in the 8th Assembly District. Ortiz-Velez had left the Democratic caucus last year after making a gun-related threat to a fellow Democrat. 

In the 21st Assembly District, Oak Creek Mayor Dan Bukiewicz won the Democratic nomination and will now face Republican Carroll University student Dylan Pfaffenbach in the general election. The winner will replace Rep. Jessie Rodriguez, R-Oak Creek, who won by a narrow margin in 2024.

Former Sheboygan Ald. John Belanger won the Republican nomination in the 26th Assembly District and will face Rep. Joe Sheehan, D-Sheboygan.

In the 76th Assembly District, Hong’s district, Dina Nina Martinez-Rutherford, a former Madison City Council member, won the nomination. She will face Republican Nina Chat in the general election in the solid Democratic district. If elected Martinez-Rutherford would be the first transgender person elected to the Assembly.

David Crowley caps unlikely comeback with win in Wisconsin Democratic primary 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.

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Wisconsin: It’s time to winnow the field. 

Tuesday is the state’s partisan primary election, where voters will choose the candidates to represent the major political parties during the general election this November. 

There are important races up and down the ballot on Tuesday, but the top contest is Wisconsin’s Democratic gubernatorial primary. Seven names will appear on the ballot, but only four are still running for the party’s nomination after a chaotic summer that saw multiple candidates drop out of the race, a historically rare endorsement from Gov. Tony Evers of Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley and increased momentum for Madison state Rep. Francesca Hong, a democratic socialist.

Depending on which party voters choose as they cast ballots on Tuesday, there are also competitive primaries for the state’s congressional districts and legislative seats. The stakes of those races are high as Democrats and Republicans battle for majorities both in Washington, D.C., and at the Capitol in Madison this November. 

Under Wisconsin’s open primary system, primary voters must select a party and then may only vote for candidates running from that party. So if a voter chooses “Republican Party,” that person can’t vote in the Democratic primary for governor, and if a voter chooses “Democratic Party,” that person can’t vote in the Republican primary for the 7th Congressional District. A voter doesn’t need to be a member of the party to vote in that primary, and a selection does not commit a person to joining that party or voting for that candidate in the November general election. Ballots are secret so which party a voter chooses is not publicly disclosed.

As of Friday, the Wisconsin Elections Commission reported more than 234,000 people voted early in person or by mail. In 2022, about 295,000 people voted early when the top races were the Democratic U.S. Senate primary and the Republican gubernatorial primary. Remember: If you already voted, you are not able to spoil your ballot and cast a new one.

Polls are open from 7 a.m. until 8 p.m. on Tuesday. You can find out what’s on your ballot, the location of your polling place and more at myvote.wi.gov. Voters must show a valid photo ID and can register at the polls on Election Day with proof of residency. 

Wisconsin gubernatorial primaries 

At the start of the year, the Democratic gubernatorial primary was a sleepy seven-candidate contest. That rapidly changed over the past month.

Former Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez dropped out of the race in mid-July following revelations of issues with her campaign finance reports. Rodriguez’s exit led Crowley to restart his campaign with Evers’ endorsement and an effort to position himself as the moderate alternative to Hong. Former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, who was Hong’s closest competition in multiple polls, left the race in late July. 

The remaining Democrats include former Department of Administration Secretary Joel Brennan, Crowley, Hong and Madison state Sen. Kelda Roys. Brennan and Roys have struggled to garner more than single-digit support in the polls despite Brennan pitching himself as a continuation of the moderate Evers era and Roys’ endorsement from the state’s largest teachers union.

The winner of the Democratic primary will take on the GOP nominee. The Republican primary features U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany and 27-year-old medical service technician Andy Manske. Tiffany, who is endorsed by President Donald Trump and the Republican Party of Wisconsin, is expected to cruise to a win Tuesday. Tiffany has nearly $5 million cash on hand, as of late July, far exceeding Manske’s $1,600. 

Congressional primaries

Republicans took control of the U.S. House in 2022 and currently hold six of Wisconsin’s eight seats. Democrats, as they try to take back the chamber, are targeting Wisconsin’s 1st and 3rd congressional districts.

Republican U.S. Rep. Bryan Steil has held the 1st District since 2018. The three Democrats vying to unseat Steil are ER nurse Mitchell Berman, Navy veteran Lorenzo Santos and Whitewater Unified School Board Vice President Miguel Aranda. Milwaukee Ald. Peter Burgelis will be on the ballot Tuesday, but ended his campaign in July. 

In the 3rd District in western Wisconsin, Republican U.S. Rep. Derrick Van Orden is running for a third term. 2024 Democratic nominee Rebecca Cooke and former Eau Claire City Council President Emily Berge are competing in the Democratic primary. Political science experts rate the district a toss-up.

The 7th District in northern Wisconsin features a heavily contested Republican primary as U.S Rep. Tom Tiffany leaves the seat to run for governor. The Republican candidates include Wausau financial adviser Kevin Hermening, Chippewa County factory worker Jessi Ebben, Crescent business owner Niina Baum, Superior contractor Don Raihala, and Michael Alfonso, son-in-law of former congressman and current U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy. Alfonso is endorsed by Trump.

Legislative primaries

Democrats are seeking to take control of both chambers of the Legislature this midterm cycle, needing to flip two Senate seats and five Assembly seats to secure majorities. The party is using momentum from new legislative maps two years ago that officially ended a decade-plus Republican gerrymander and allowed them to flip 14 legislative seats in 2024. 

There are three Senate district primaries we’re watching Tuesday. 

The 1st Senate District, covering the Door County peninsula, features four Republicans competing to succeed Sen. André Jacque, R-New Franken, who is not seeking reelection. Barbara Bittner, Jacob VandenPlas, Katie Baney and Nic Cravillion will compete for a place on the November ballot against independent candidate Mark Becker. 

The 17th Senate District has long been a target for Senate Democrats. Sen. Howard Marklein, a co-chair of the Joint Finance Committee, is running for a fourth four-year term. Rep. Jenna Jacobson, D-Oregon, Lisa White and Corrine Hendrickson will face off in the Democratic primary. The Senate Democratic Campaign Committee, which is supporting Jacobson, considers the seat a flip opportunity in 2026. 

Two former state representatives, Erik Severson and Angie Sapik, are competing in the Republican primary for the 25th Senate District to determine who will face Democrat Charly Ray in the general election for an open seat left vacant by redistricting. 

In the Assembly on Tuesday, David Liners and Daniel J. Bukiewicz will face off in the Democratic primary for the 21st Assembly District to replace Rep. Jessie Rodriguez, R-Oak Creek, who is not seeking reelection. The primary winner will face Republican Dylan Pfaffenbach. 

Three Republicans — Tyler Schneekloth, John Belanger and James Brotz — will compete in the Republican primary to unseat freshman Rep. Joe Sheehan, D-Sheboygan, who flipped the 26th District back in 2024. 

Democrats Brian Bock, Ben Brist and Lawanda Chambers will face off in the August primary to challenge two-term incumbent Rep. Bob Donovan, R-Greenfield, in the 61st District — a district targeted by Democrats for control of the Assembly. 

There is also competition for safe Democratic seats in Milwaukee and Madison. Rep. Ryan Clancy, D-Milwaukee, and Bridget Maniaci will compete for a place on the November ballot in the 19th Assembly District. Clancy hails from the socialist wing of the party, and Maniaci is a former Madison City Council member. The winner faces Republican Yasmine Outlaw. 

Assembly District 76 features five Democrats — Isaia Ben-Ami, Dina Nina Martinez-Rutherford, Juliana Bennett, Zoe Sullivan and Tony Castañeda — after Hong opted to run for governor. The winner faces Republican Nina Chat in the general election.

State office primaries

Depending on which party they select, voters will have the opportunity to pick candidates for certain statewide offices. 

Republican primary voters can choose between Will Martin, a Racine consultant, and David Varnam, a Lancaster stay-at-home dad, in the race for lieutenant governor. Secretary of State Sarah Godlewski is the only Democrat running for lieutenant governor. The winning candidates will form a joint ticket with the party’s gubernatorial nominee this November. 

They can also choose their nominee in the four-person GOP primary for secretary of state. The candidates include Braden Myer, Jay Schroeder, Nate Pollnow and Cindy Werner. The winner will face Milwaukee Ald. JoCasta Zamarripa, who is running unopposed for the Democratic nomination.

Democratic primary voters will determine whether Dylan Helmenstine, of Black Earth, or Yee Leng Xiong, of Wausau, will be the party’s nominee for state treasurer in November. The winner will take on first-term Republican incumbent Treasurer John Leiber in November.

Republican attorney general candidate Eric Toney and two-term Democratic Attorney General Josh Kaul are both unopposed in the primary.

Other local elections

Voters on Tuesday can also make decisions in local races, including sheriff and clerk of court contests in counties across the state. 

For more information about specific local races on your ballot, visit myvote.wi.gov.

For more information on statewide and legislative candidates, check out the Wisconsin Watch voter guide.

Wisconsin’s partisan primary election is Tuesday. Learn more about who’s on your ballot. 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.

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Former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes announced he ended his campaign for governor in a video posted to social media on Thursday, July 30. Barnes did not endorse any candidate, but hinted at the growing support for Madison state Rep. Francesca Hong. “It’s become very clear who our nominee is going to be,” he said.

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As early voting gets under way ahead of the Aug. 11 primary, Wisconsin is hurtling toward a gubernatorial matchup between Madison state Rep. Francesca Hong, a democratic socialist, and Northwoods U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, a MAGA Republican.

Hong, a 37-year-old former restaurant owner, has emerged as the front-runner in the Democratic primary, growing a lead over her opponents in four consecutive Marquette University Law School polls. Just in the past week, her support increased — from 26% to 38% — among likely Democratic primary voters even after the chaotic maneuvering by candidates earlier this month. Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez exited the race after issues with her campaign finance reports, and Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley restarted his campaign with a rare primary endorsement from Gov. Tony Evers. 

Marquette Poll director Charles Franklin described Hong’s position in the latest poll as “a pretty sizable lead.” It’s reminiscent of 2018 when Evers’ support in polls grew over the course of the crowded Democratic primary, Franklin said. Evers won the primary with about 42% of the vote in 2018.

“She’s increased her lead compared to last week, and it’s increased across virtually every demographic group we look at,” Franklin said. “That doesn’t necessarily mean it’s an insurmountable lead in the sense that there’s 34% still undecided. But if you look at the trend from a week ago to this week, she’s in a better position than she was then.” 

Hong also faced few attacks from her opponents in the first and only televised primary debate held in Milwaukee this week, even as she faces questions about her past social media posts supporting Democratic Socialists of America organization policies such as abolishing the U.S. Senate and abolishing and defunding police. The July 22 Marquette Poll showed 49% of registered voters in Wisconsin have an unfavorable view of the DSA organization and the democratic socialist label. 

In Tuesday’s debate, Hong said as governor she would not sign a budget that cuts funding for police departments. She also said she does not support the full platform of the national DSA nor is she endorsed by the national organization, while highlighting bipartisan support her campaign has received for policies like a moratorium on the construction of new AI data centers.

“I am looking forward to helping Democrats become the big tent party that they have aimed to become for many years,” she said. 

As Hong rises, some Democrats have questioned whether a democratic socialist can win statewide in November and help down-ballot Democrats. But party leaders have failed to shore up an opponent who can defeat Hong.

Crowley’s reentry with Evers’ endorsement may have muddied the waters, said Barry Burden, a political science professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and director of the Elections Research Center.  

“With in-person voting already underway, it is difficult to see how an issue, scandal, endorsement, or other development can impede her path to the nomination,” Burden said. 

The latest Marquette Poll released Wednesday showed that while a majority of potential Democratic primary voters indicated they heard about Evers’ endorsement, it did not make a significant impact on who they would support in the race. Crowley received 7% support among likely primary voters behind Hong at 38% and former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes at 16%. 

Crowley said in the last two weeks of the primary campaign he will continue to make the case to voters about why he is the best candidate. 

“We still have the same amount of folks when I actually stepped out of this race, right? It’s still five of us,” Crowley said. “So, I truly believe our job is just to make the case. And I do think that folks may be a little bit overwhelmed by how many candidates are in this race and want to make sure they’re making the right choice, but that’s why we’re on the campaign trail.” 

Barnes, who was initially seen as the front-runner in the primary due to the name recognition from his 2022 U.S. Senate campaign, took more swipes at Crowley during Tuesday night’s debate, targeting the Milwaukee County executive for his reentry into the race being “revived by special interests.” Barnes’ support remained flat in the two July Marquette polls.

“I think that people should be frustrated. People are tired of having their politics meddled in,” Barnes said after the debate. “People have seen, you know, the power brokers that be meddling in elections time and time again. And because of that meddling, people have been turned off from politics. People don’t show up to vote. They feel as if there is no place for them if the decision is made before they even get a chance to cast a ballot.” 

It is increasingly unlikely that any consolidation happens ahead of Aug. 11. Madison state Sen. Kelda Roys and former Department of Administration Secretary Joel Brennan, who have continued to poll in the low single digits, told reporters on Tuesday that they had no intention of leaving the race. 

Brennan said he believes potential voters are only just beginning to tune into the race. 

“I still think that there are people who are going to come to me and who are going to see that I am the best path to winning a general election and being the best governor,” Brennan said. 

“​​I’ve made that commitment to the voters and my supporters, and I am confident that we are going to make progress as we have continued throughout this race,” Roys said. 

Meanwhile, Tiffany, who is endorsed by President Donald Trump, also sees Hong as his opponent in November, and the Republican Governor’s Association has run ads casting Hong as being “too liberal for Wisconsin” while highlighting policies, such as abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement, that could appeal to Democratic primary voters. 

In a statement following the debate, Tiffany took aim at “Socialist Francesca Hong” and highlighted Hong’s past social media posts that called for abolishing the police, prisons and the U.S. Senate. 

“While Democrats offer chaos, I’m offering common sense: lower taxes, safer communities, stronger schools, and a government that lets the people of Wisconsin keep more of their hard-earned money,” Tiffany said.

With less than two weeks to go, key indicators point to a Hong-Tiffany matchup for Wisconsin 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.

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The Democratic primary for governor of Wisconsin has changed both dramatically and barely at all since the start of this year.

The size of the field, which remained stagnant at seven major candidates for months, shifted rapidly in the span of 10 days in July that included both the exit of Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez from the race after she revealed problems with her campaign finance reports and the reentry of Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, who secured a historically rare endorsement from Gov. Tony Evers. 

As of Sunday, the race includes former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, former Department of Administration Secretary Joel Brennan, Crowley, Madison state Rep. Francesca Hong and Madison state Sen. Kelda Roys. 

Here is what hasn’t changed: Hong, a self-described democratic socialist, led her opponents in the third consecutive Marquette University Law School poll released last week, which was conducted prior to Rodriguez’s exit from the race. Internal polling released by Barnes and Crowley’s campaigns also showed Hong in front. 

A fractured field means support continues to be spread out across the remaining five candidates and could result in a winner on primary Election Day with far less than 50% of the vote. Meanwhile, Republicans have coalesced around likely nominee U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany for months.

“Hong could certainly win the nomination with 35 to 40% of the vote,” said Anthony Chergosky, an associate professor of political science at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. “All available evidence indicates that Hong is below 50% of the vote, but she doesn’t even need 50% of the vote if the field remains so fragmented and divided.” 

At the same time, the percentage of undecided voters continues to be higher than those who have selected any specific candidate. The Marquette poll found nearly half of registered voters surveyed in mid-July were undecided. 

Wisconsin Watch traveled to forums, farm tours and meet-and-greets around the state as the five remaining candidates have continued to lay out their vision to voters and explain why they are best suited to lead Wisconsin. 

The stakes of the race are high. Democrats see 2026 as an opportunity to win control of the Capitol for the first time since 2010, which could result in dramatic new progressive legislation. After Republicans won the governor’s office and majorities in the Senate and the Assembly in 2010, they used that power to dismantle public sector unions, increase pension and health insurance contributions for public employees, cut taxes, freeze UW tuition, restrict abortion, permit concealed carry of firearms, end the state’s land conservation program and enact gerrymandered legislative maps that protected their majority from a Democratic wave in 2018. 

It leaves a lot for voters to digest as in-person early voting begins Tuesday and two weeks remain before the partisan primary on Aug. 11. Two key moments this week could reshape the race — a debate hosted by WISN on Tuesday evening and a new Marquette Law School Poll of the current field expected to be released on Wednesday. 

Barnes takes aim at political establishment

The same day the Wisconsin Elections Commission determined tech businessman Elon Musk likely broke state election laws during the 2025 state Supreme Court race, former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes slammed the influence of money in politics at a town hall with End Citizens United, a political group that quickly endorsed him upon his entry in the governor’s race in December.  

Wisconsinites rejected Musk’s financial influence last year and must continue to fight against a “rigged system” that doesn’t support policies for working people, like raising the minimum wage, Barnes told the small group gathered at the Goodman Community Center in Madison. 

“These are the same industries that are making money hand over fist, the same people in industries that continue to make it hard for folks to get paid,” Barnes said. “You talk about people working harder and harder but life also getting harder and harder. It’s more difficult to get into the middle class. It’s more difficult to be able to purchase that first home. It’s more difficult to be able to even think about the American Dream now.” 

Barnes grew up in Milwaukee with a mother as a public school teacher and a father who belonged to the United Auto Workers union. He is a former organizer who served two terms in the state Assembly, ran for and lost a state Senate seat and was elected lieutenant governor during the 2018 blue wave. He has led a voter turnout organization and a clean energy advocacy group, but hasn’t run any large organizations, which opponents have highlighted as a weakness for someone seeking to be the state’s chief executive.

In 2022 he won the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate after opponents dropped out ahead of the primary, but narrowly lost to Republican U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson. While the race has driven his name recognition in the gubernatorial primary, that 26,000-vote defeat still eats at him, he told guests at the Wisconsin Democratic Convention in June. 

The loss has opened him to criticism from other Democrats who have questioned whether he can win in a year when the party is striving for a trifecta in the governor’s office and the Legislature. 

While he trails in the polls behind Hong, Barnes insists he remains the most battle-tested candidate to take on obstacles for Democrats after the primary. The recent Marquette poll shows only Barnes leading in head-to-head matchups against Tiffany among the remaining candidates in the race, although last week’s poll did not include Crowley.

Barnes has campaigned on what he calls “The Wisconsin Way,” a policy agenda that includes raising taxes on the rich, expanding BadgerCare, passing universal child care and freezing utility rates, though some experts question whether Barnes would have the legal authority to freeze rates as governor. 

At a Democratic forum in Belmont, Barnes criticized the political moves that led Crowley to reenter the governor’s race with Evers’ endorsement. It’s another example of a system that leaves people frustrated with politics, he said in a clip shared on social media. 

“The only people who win when we continue to play these insider politics games are corporations and special interests,” he said. “We deserve so much more.” 

Brennan brings state government experience

Joel Brennan arrived at an East Troy farm ready to listen. 

Brennan nodded as Jim Stute, a research agronomist, explained how precipitation levels have changed on the property he has lived on for nearly three decades. Brennan leaned against a headless scarecrow in a white lab suit among the neat rows of research crops as Stute described his tactics to scare away sandhill cranes.

It’s a window into how Brennan, a longtime city dweller who grew up in Brookfield and lives in Milwaukee, has approached his campaign for governor. 

“It’s got to be about learning and listening. If we’re going to get stuff done, it has to be around … data-driven decisions and personal stories,” Brennan explained. “For me it is about how do I get out here and do this, how do I learn from people who have been doing it, what are the successes, what are the ways the state’s been involved, and what’s the opportunity for us?” 

Brennan is unabashedly running as a moderate Democrat, often aligning himself with the Evers administration that he helped lead as the secretary of the Department of Administration. He highlights his willingness to continue working across the aisle to get things done for Wisconsinites.

Like many of Brennan’s primary opponents, his campaign has focused on ways to make life more affordable in Wisconsin, such as expanding Medicaid and providing a public option for BadgerCare. But his ideas have often differed from some of the large-scale policies of his primary opponents. While the other Democrats have backed universal child care, Brennan has instead favored tax credits for child care businesses, caps on out-of-pocket costs for families and expanding eligibility for the existing Wisconsin Shares program. 

He entered the race in mid-December and has leaned on his career experience holding executive-level roles in businesses and nonprofits, including serving as CEO of Discovery World and president of the Greater Milwaukee Committee. In 2018, Evers tapped Brennan to lead the DOA, the top state executive agency tasked with overseeing financial management of state agencies and helping the governor draft the biennial budget. Brennan left that position in 2022. 

Brennan is the only one of the remaining candidates who has not held elected office before, which has limited his name recognition. Though he was the first Democratic candidate to launch a campaign ad in June, he only mustered 5% support in last week’s Marquette poll. 

Still, he has tried to find ways to push through the crowd, including questioning the electability of front-runners or his primary opponents’ leadership decisions. He was the first to attack Rodriguez with pointed questions after she fired her campaign manager over inaccuracies in her financial reports and released an ad last week criticizing Hong, Barnes and Crowley as unelectable in a general election. The ad, however, received pushback from Black Democrats, who called the spot racist for specifically highlighting candidates of color. It left out mention of Roys, who is white like Brennan. 

Brennan insists his executive experience gives him an edge over the candidates with legislative experience who “don’t have defined duties.” 

“That’s what I’m going to keep leaning into,” Brennan said. “That, plus listening and learning, I think, gets you to a point where people can see me doing the job, know that I could win and could be effective as governor. Those are the ingredients that get me to where I need to get to.” 

Crowley returns with Evers’ endorsement

The first question for Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley from a smattering of people gathered at the Concordia Ballroom in La Crosse was about why he dropped out of the governor’s race in early July. 

“It’s a long story,” Crowley said. He explained he initially chose to leave the race based on the numbers and campaign ad buy announcements that seemed to show Rodriguez with the best path forward, but more information came out about Rodriguez’s financial position that showed it was not the case. 

Crowley restarted his campaign on July 18. While Crowley acknowledged he may be the “double Dutch candidate” in the race, he told the group in La Crosse he feels a momentum propelling his campaign that was not there before. 

The most significant boost came from Evers, who endorsed Crowley on July 18 over the remaining candidates who served in his administration. Evers in a statement described Crowley as “the right candidate for the people of Wisconsin.” 

“He’s not just a candidate who can win in November,” Evers said. “But he’s the kind of person who cares about doing the job right, he has the experience to make tough decisions, and he’s proven he can work together with others to get good things done.” 

Crowley, at 40, is both the youngest and first Black person to serve as Milwaukee County executive, the job that oversees the most populous county in Wisconsin. It’s a role previously held by former Republican Gov. Scott Walker. “I’m not like him, though,” Crowley said with a chuckle to a guest in La Crosse.

Crowley grew up in Milwaukee and navigated challenging early years as his parents struggled with mental health and addiction and his family faced evictions. He credits public schools with his path to success and eventually became a community organizer. 

His entry into politics first began with work on former U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold’s campaign. Crowley was first elected to office in 2016 when he ran for state Assembly. He served two terms and left the Legislature in 2020 to run for Milwaukee County executive. 

Crowley tells audiences at campaign events how, as county executive, he has not shied away from working with anyone, including lawmakers across the aisle, to improve the lives of people in Milwaukee County. In La Crosse, he told the group about his efforts in passing the 2023 shared revenue law that has helped Milwaukee County pay off debts incurred from the pension scandal in the early 2000s, although Crowley acknowledged the law did not solve all municipal funding problems across the state.

Crowley has focused his campaign on an affordability plan referred to as the “Badger Basics,” which includes proposals such as building more housing, creating a public option for BadgerCare and easing child care costs for families with a child under age 5 by capping their costs at 7% of their household income. 

The key question for Crowley’s campaign is whether any momentum following his reentry into the race can actually push Crowley to the front of the field with just two weeks left to go. 

The new Marquette poll this week will provide a window into if his support has grown among registered voters, but in recent days, Crowley has also had to field questions about profane social media posts on an account he said he once shared with others. Crowley’s campaign told news outlets that although he had access to the account, he did not write any of the posts. 

Crowley said Evers’ endorsement shows the governor, whose job performance remains favorable among Wisconsin voters, believes in Crowley’s judgment.

“I think indirectly, people are wondering, ‘OK, who the hell is this dude, and why did Governor Evers pick him?’” Crowley said. “So, people are showing up. They’re paying attention to our social media posts, and they’re coming out to volunteer and donating their hard-earned money to support this campaign because they trust his judgment.” 

Hong rides momentum into final weeks of primary campaign 

Francesca Hong diced tomatoes for pico de gallo as she told guests at Dan Wegmueller’s farm in Monroe about the top question she hears on the campaign trail. 

Why is she a democratic socialist? 

“It’s less about the labels and more about the solutions,” Hong explained as her knife hit the cutting board, a familiar task for the chef and former restaurant owner. “When we are focusing on local, on the means of taking care of people and lowering costs, that has to mean being less reliant on industry. Right now, our community is being dominated by billionaires and mega corporations not paying their fair share, and then deciding a lot of the pricing and the way that we live our lives.”

Hong, a 37-year-old state representative from deep-blue Madison, has emerged as a top contender in Wisconsin’s Democratic gubernatorial primary. Her surprising rise comes as democratic socialists are winning primaries across the country and rejecting establishment policies. Hong has led in three Marquette polls since October and finished second behind Rodriguez in the WisPolitics straw poll at the Wisconsin Democratic Convention in June. 

If Hong wins the nomination, the key question for Democrats in swing-state Wisconsin is whether her policies appeal to voters across the state. The Marquette poll last week showed more registered voters have an unfavorable view of the democratic socialist label than a favorable one.

Republicans appear to be rooting for her nomination. A recent ad from the Republican Governors Association ominously casts her as being too liberal, opposed to President Donald Trump and supportive of abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement — all statements that could entice Democrats to vote for her in the primary.

Hong has had to answer questions about controversial democratic socialist views, such as her past social media posts in support of defunding and abolishing the police. She told radio station WTMJ in July that she does not believe police funding should go away. At the same time, Hong has faced backlash from Republicans for her statement that described the fatal shooting of Corey Ruiz in Madison as “an execution.” 

Hong also has had to fend off questions about appearing on a fundraising live stream with Hasan Piker, the controversial political commentator and streamer, who has been criticized for antisemitic comments. Hong told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that she disagrees with some of Piker’s comments, but said candidates should not give up opportunities to address large audiences. 

Hong, a single mother who was elected to the Assembly in 2020, has leaned on her service industry background and economic policy proposals, including universal child care and a moratorium on data center construction, to connect with voters.

In the final weeks, Hong said she plans to continue to show up in communities not expecting to see a candidate and engage in one-to-one conversations to drive curiosity about her vision and policies. People underestimate the extent that policy matters more than labels and existing political boundaries, Hong said. 

“I’m lucky that I get to say and show up as a chef, a mom, a renter, a service industry worker,” Hong said. “That from worker to worker we’ve got to talk about how we’ve got to fix this.”  

Roys has teachers union endorsement, campaign experience

Kelda Roys, sitting center stage in Evansville High School’s auditorium, eagerly chose a bucket brimming with education questions as the first category of the night during a forum on rural issues in early July. Just three candidates — Roys, Hong and Republican Andy Manske — participated. 

It was an obvious move for the Madison state senator, who won the endorsement of Wisconsin’s largest teachers union and bills herself as the “education candidate” in this year’s Democratic primary. 

Roys used the question — explain your position on separation of church and state regarding public schools in Wisconsin — to share her broader vision for public education in the state. 

“What my kids are getting in our public schools is not the same as what my sisters and I got, and it’s not OK with me,” Roys told the crowd. “A huge part of that reason is because we are diverting public resources into private unaccountable vouchers, many of them religious in nature. So, as governor, I will fully fund our public schools.” 

Gubernatorial forums are familiar spaces for Roys. She ran for governor in 2018, when 10 candidates competed in the Democratic primary for the chance to unseat then-Republican Gov. Scott Walker. Roys finished third far behind Evers, who defeated Walker that November. 

Before that, she served two terms in the Assembly from 2009 through 2013, which overlapped with the early years of the Republican trifecta control of state government and the passage of Act 10. Roys led protests against the law that dismantled collective bargaining rights for most public employees while serving as the Assembly’s Democratic caucus chair. 

In 2012, she ran for Congress and lost the Democratic primary to now-U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan. Roys returned to the Legislature when she was elected to the state Senate in 2020 after winning a seven-candidate Democratic primary on Madison’s west side and ran unopposed in 2024. She is also an attorney and a real estate agent. 

Roys has focused her campaign on funding public schools, but also lowering costs and raising wages. Her policies include plans to open the state’s insurance plan to all Wisconsinites to decrease the cost of health insurance. She also proposes universal access to Wisconsin Shares, the state’s child care subsidy program for low-income families, with costs capped at 7% of parents’ income per child. The state would fund its portion of the costs through legalizing marijuana. “You’re going to be able to get baked for babies,” she said to laughs in Evansville. 

She is quick at campaign events to describe the Trump administration as a “dangerous authoritarian regime,” while promising to safeguard Wisconsinites and their rights from attacks by the federal government.

Roys, though, has not made inroads in polling over the course of the primary, and last week’s Marquette poll shows her at the bottom of the pack among registered voters with support at just 2%. 

Still, Wisconsin needs an experienced leader in this moment when Democratic control is on the line, and her experience in the Legislature makes her best suited for the job, she said. 

“For over 20 years I have been turning progressive ideas into law in the toughest of political environments, and that is the kind of experience and deliverables that we should expect from our next governor,” Roys said. “Not just somebody with good ideas, because we’ve got six (now five) great Democrats running … but you’ve got to be able to turn them into law.”

Editor’s note: This story corrects that Joel Brennan was president of the Greater Milwaukee Committee.

Wisconsin’s Democratic primary for governor has changed a lot since January — and not much at all 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.