In the final days before Tuesday’s primary, Wisconsin Democrats are still grappling with who will be their party’s gubernatorial nominee. The stakes couldn’t be higher — the party has a chance to take full control of state government for the first time in 16 years.
The struggle is real: Should they go with a more moderate, establishment-backed candidate with executive experience or a rising progressive popular among young grassroots activists?
Wisconsin Watch traveled to different polling locations and coffee shops around the state to talk with Wisconsin voters about how they’re feeling about the upcoming election.
Kathleen O’Laughlin, a 69-year-old former Milwaukee public school teacher and Souls to the Polls volunteer, said she will likely vote for Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley because she thinks he has the best chance at winning in November.
While O’Laughlin said she supports democratic socialism, she’s not impressed with Madison Rep. Francesca Hong, a democratic socialist who has steadily grown her lead in polling over the past eight months.
“I don’t feel like she has the personality,” O’Laughlin said. “I don’t think she has what it takes to represent the party.”
Steven Daw, a 24-year-old retail worker and Milwaukee chapter member of the Democratic Socialists of America, sees Hong as someone who engages people who may not be as in tune with politics.
“She’s made it tangible for people to feel that she can actually improve things,” Daw said. “She has to follow through on that, which comes with the Democrats winning a legislative majority too.”
Democratic primary voters will decide Tuesday on a gubernatorial nominee among four candidates: Hong, Crowley, state Sen. Kelda Roys, D-Madison, and former Department of Administration Secretary Joel Brennan. Roys and Brennan have lagged in polling, while Crowley received a rare endorsement from Gov. Tony Evers, who has been stumping with Crowley for the past week.
Republicans have held a majority in the state Legislature since 2011. The GOP enacted an aggressive conservative agenda, including gerrymandered legislative maps that protected their majority against a Democratic wave election in 2018, when Evers was first elected. Over two terms, Evers mostly moderated the legislative Republican agenda and notched few major Democratic wins. Democrats need to keep all of their current seats as well as flip two Senate and five Assembly seats to gain a majority and then hold on to the governor’s office to enact progressive policies.
Whoever wins the Democratic primary will likely face Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, who is endorsed by the state party and President Donald Trump. Tiffany was elected to the Legislature as part of the 2010 Republican tea party wave and advocated for overturning the 2020 presidential election results.
Crowley leads fundraising among Democratic candidates in recent campaign finance reports with about $463,000 cash on hand. Hong trailed closely with $406,000, while Brennan had about $284,000 and Roys had about $81,000. Tiffany had nearly $5 million on hand, with $4 million coming from the state GOP in July.
A July 29 Marquette University Law School poll found that 34% of Democratic primary voters were undecided. Hong has grown her polling lead over her opponents throughout the race with strong support among young voters.
The final Marquette Poll before the primary showed Hong with 38% support among all Democratic primary voters and 66% among ages 18 to 29.
Sophie Cleveland, a 2026 University of Wisconsin-Madison graduate from East Troy, said she aligns more with Hong’s views, and she liked the approach Hong took after a Madison police officer fatally shot Corey Ruiz in July in the legislative district she represents. Hong called the incident an “execution.”
“I appreciate the … working with community members to find a source, not being afraid to speak out about certain issues that matter, but also acting in partnership with the community and not shying away from the ugly,” Cleveland said.
Alyssa Wisneski, 29, a public school teacher and small business owner from Bay View, said she feels frustrated with the Democratic Party as leaders push for a candidate other than Hong.
“The majority of voters want Francesca Hong,” Wisneski said. “The party itself is trying to get people around a candidate that’s not her. I feel like that’s very frustrating.”
In the last Marquette Poll before the election, Hong held a strong lead with voters 30 to 59 years old. But among voters over 60 she was behind former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, who dropped out two weeks ago.
Hong has received backlash from Republicans as old social media posts have resurfaced in which she voiced support for canceling Thanksgiving and abolishing the U.S. Senate. In the final weeks of the primary campaign she has made multiple national media appearances on CNN, Fox News and Politico defending herself for those comments.
Some Democrats have criticized Hong’s response, with Evers saying during recent campaign stops with Crowley that Hong has spent more time dealing with what she posted on social media than focusing on issues.
Crowley’s support is stronger among older voters. He polled at 4% among 18 to 29 year olds, but 9% with voters 45 and older.
Gary, in his mid-70s, who declined to give his last name, said he wished the Democratic primary hadn’t been as “congested” with all the seven original candidates still on the ballot. He said Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez was his first choice before she dropped out.
He said while Hong “talks about some good things,” he doesn’t think she can win over northern Wisconsin.
“I’m sure the Republicans are gonna be happy if she gets it,” Gary said.
The Marquette Poll shows Tiffany leading Hong in the general election by 3 percentage points, though among those who say they are certain to vote in November, the two are tied.
While several Democratic voters said they were upset Evers endorsed Crowley, Gary said it didn’t bother him because he believes Crowley can beat Tiffany in November. He hopes the next governor can work across the aisle, but he’s skeptical Tiffany would do that.
“You need somebody that’s got to compromise,” Gary said. “I think the guy from Milwaukee has a good shot at doing that.”
Michelle Novak, who’s in her late 50s from Delafield, said she’s “not jazzed about the candidates,” but likes that the Democrats have been given more options and can have a “real primary.” She said she doesn’t define herself within a party, but does look into people’s positions and voting records.
She noted her pro-life stance, which typically aligns with the Republican Party, but she said she’s not happy with there being so few options in the Republican primary.
“We’re in a place right now where I just feel like we have to hear people, and the more people that enter into a debate or into a conversation, politically, is better,” Novak said. “I feel like it’s the party’s responsibility to bring people into more of a discussion.”
While Roys and Brennan have trailed behind their primary opponents in polling, their supporters are bucking Evers’ call to rally behind one alternative to Hong.
Jill Kessenich, a 63-year-old artist from Fort Atkinson, said she feels “discombobulated” with the state of the Democratic primary.
Crowley had originally caught Kessenich’s eye, but after watching the July 28 debate hosted by WISN, she said she will likely vote for Roys. She said Crowley didn’t do as well in the debate, while Roys’ performance, on the other hand, impressed her, and she said Roys has the right experience to be governor.
Robert Schroeder, 67, doesn’t know if Brennan stands a chance in the primary, but said he will likely vote for him. He did note that his vote was still “up for grabs,” but also said he thinks Brennan stands out to him and is a “common sense, get things done kind of guy.”
He mentioned that he likes Crowley, but it might be difficult for a Milwaukee Democrat to win. He also said Hong’s stance as a democratic socialist likely won’t win over Wisconsin.
“(Hong) is in her moment,” Schroeder said. “Here in Wisconsin, I don’t think it’s gonna sell.”
Wisconsin Watch is a nonprofit, nonpartisan newsroom. Subscribe to our newsletters for original stories and our Friday news roundup.
A year ago, most Wisconsin residents thought little about data centers.
But today, the computing facilities — and where they get their energy — are a key issue in the hotly contested Aug. 11 Democratic primary for Wisconsin governor.
At a lively town hall last week in Milwaukee, five Democratic candidates vied to outdo their peers in tough talk about data centers and their developers, described as “Big Tech oligarchs” by state Rep. Francesca Hong, the leading contender according to recent polling.
Whoever wins the nomination will likely run against Tom Tiffany, a Republican candidate and a current U.S. representative for north and central Wisconsin. He too has focused part of his campaign on curbing data centers, promising to prevent the use of farmland for the facilities and repeal tax breaks for them. But unlike the Democratic hopefuls arguing that AI facilities should be powered largely by clean energy, Tiffany is pushing state regulators to keep decades-old coal plants online past their retirement dates to help meet ballooning power demand.
While data centers are an increasingly hot-button topic nationwide in the run-up to the November elections, the tension is particularly pronounced in Wisconsin as developers have recently flocked to the state, drawn by its cool climate, access to water, robust transmission and generation infrastructure, and generous tax incentives passed by the Republican-dominated Legislature and signed by current Democratic Gov. Tony Evers in 2023.
That’s spiked public fears about the facilities’ impacts, including that the boom in energy demand will drive a buildout of polluting power plants and increase household utility bills. A July 22 Marquette University Law School poll found that over three-quarters of Wisconsin voters say the costs of data centers outweigh the benefits, up from 55% in October 2025. Almost nine out of 10 Democrats and two-thirds of Republicans who answered the poll held this viewpoint.
“This story isn’t going away. It will only grow in importance to people,” said Elizabeth Ward, director of the Sierra Club’s Wisconsin chapter. “People are worried about air pollution, water pollution, land impacts, especially when gas plants are being built just to serve data centers. We hope to have a strong governor who passes safeguards against them.”
How the candidates want to curb data centers
All the Democratic candidates at the data center–focused town hall vowed to keep the industry on a tight leash and ensure that community protections are enforced by the Legislature, governor’s office, utility regulators, and state agencies.
Hong, the choice of 38% of respondents in a July 29 poll by Marquette University Law School, is calling for a moratorium on data center development to give the state time to develop a robust regulatory framework. New York’s Democratic governor instated a similar policy last month, the first of its kind in the U.S.
While none of the other candidates support a moratorium, each says they would aggressively pursue ratepayer protections and clean energy investments from data centers and utilities that serve them.
Hong calls her data center plan “Control-Alt-Delete,” and her website says that “if a community decides it wants to proceed with data center construction, it needs to be powered by clean energy.” She says taxes paid by data center developers should be invested in a green bank to fund energy and climate solutions, and utilities should be forced to report how much energy large customers use, to ensure regular customers aren’t footing the bill. Hong also advocates for the expansion of public utilities, which her campaign says currently provide 11% of the state’s power and charge significantly lower prices than We Energies does.
Joel Brennan, a civic leader and former official in Evers’ administration, wants to make data centers invest in larger transmission upgrades and clean energy. At the town hall, he said the Legislature needs to pass a law codifying the commitment to 100% carbon-free energy by 2050 that Evers set with a 2019 executive order. He also said data centers should use battery storage instead of diesel generators for backup power.
Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley said he’d order data centers to bring their own 100% clean energy to the grid. Crowley had dropped out of the race July 8, then reentered 10 days later, and won Evers’ endorsement when another candidate — Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez — withdrew.
State Sen. Kelda Roys pledged to work with the Legislature to “immediately pass” a bill introduced by Democrats in the last session that would — among other things — require data centers to get at least 70% of their energy from renewables in order to qualify for tax breaks. (Republicans backed a separate data center bill in the last session that likewise did not advance.)
Roys previously told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, which sponsored the town hall, that she would require “significant upfront payments from large data center projects, hundreds of millions of dollars each, to capitalize a public clean energy infrastructure bank,” which would provide zero-interest revolving loans for clean energy upgrades to public buildings.
Longtime environmental justice advocate and former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes was also at the town hall and pledged to demand a renewable energy commitment from data centers. But he withdrew from the increasingly chaotic primary contest the day after the event.
It appears the November election will be a close one. Polls show Hong and Tiffany evenly matched, with people largely voting along party lines. Wisconsin is a purple state, with Republicans modestly outnumbering Democrats, and independent voters making up about a third of the electorate.
Coal plant concerns mount
Wisconsin Rapids residents Aryana Khan and Cloey Hilliker drove nearly three hours to attend the town hall. A proposal for a data center on the site of a defunct paper mill has drawn controversy in their town. Khan has asthma and worries that fossil fuel generation that is built or continues to run to fuel data centers will have serious health impacts on Wisconsinites.
“Why should a Silicon Valley man that was born into wealth get to dictate whether or not I can open my windows because the air is so bad I can’t breathe?” Khan told Canary Media. “This is an industry that will not last long. Something new will come along that is shiny, and people will flock to it, and we will have overbuilt for an obsolete technology.”
During the town hall, Peg Sheaffer, spokesperson for the public interest law firm Midwest Environmental Advocates, lamented that utilities are rolling back their plans to retire coal plants because of data centers.
“What actions would your administration take to hold utilities accountable and to keep Wisconsin on track to retire coal-fired power plants?” she asked the candidates.
Hong suggested that a public health expert should be added to the state’s Public Service Commission, whose three members are appointed by the governor and confirmed by the state Senate, for staggered six-year terms.
Multiple candidates emphasized the role that the Public Service Commission plays in deciding where data centers get their energy, and who pays. Brennan called the commission a “black box for people outside state government” and “one of the most powerful entities inside state government.”
The commission has long been criticized for acquiescing to utilities’ requests to raise rates and invest in fossil fuels. Roys referred to the body under former Republican Gov. Scott Walker as “lapdogs for utilities.”
But the regulatory body has recently taken some steps to limit data centers’ impacts. In April, the commission instituted a special electricity rate for data centers in the Milwaukee-area service territory of We Energies to prevent regular customers from paying for the energy to serve data centers, a move praised by environmental and consumer advocates.
Tom Content, executive director of the Citizens Utility Board, a consumer watchdog group, thinks the gubernatorial race helped influence the commission to reject We Energies’ original proposal and institute a standard that goes further to protect ratepayers.
“You had candidates on the right and the far left that said the Public Service Commission is not doing its job,” Content told Canary Media. “I think the commissioners themselves were like, ‘We’re going to side with the consumer.’”
Content and other advocates said that data centers underscore Wisconsin’s need for integrated resource planning, a centralized process that many other states use to ensure demand is met with the most cost-effective and cleanest energy. Currently, Wisconsin regulators consider utility proposals piecemeal.
Roys is in favor of such a reform. At the town hall, she said, “The fastest, cheapest new sources of energy are wind and solar, and I’ll add geothermal in there, too.”
She noted that energy efficiency, grid improvements and virtual power plants can help utilities retire coal plants even as electricity demand grows.
“There’s so much that we can do, some of it enabled by modern technology and AI to actually make better use of what we’re already generating, and to waste less,” she said. “This is absolutely within our reach.”
A version of this article was first published by Canary Media.
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.
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.”
State Rep. Francesca Hong, D-Madison, second from right, addresses the moderators during a gubernatorial debate at Marquette University in Milwaukee, July 28, 2026. (Andy Manis for Wisconsin Watch)
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.”
State Rep. Francesca Hong, D-Madison, addresses the media in the spin room after a Democratic gubernatorial candidate debate at Marquette University in Milwaukee, July 28, 2026. (Andy Manis for Wisconsin Watch)
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.
U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany of Wisconsin addresses supporters of Donald Trump at a campaign rally in Green Bay, Wis., on April 2, 2024. (Jeffrey Phelps for Wisconsin Watch)
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.
Wisconsin Watch is a nonprofit, nonpartisan newsroom. Subscribe to our newsletters for original stories and our Friday news roundup.
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
Mandela Barnes, a Democratic candidate for governor, is seen with End Citizens United President Tiffany Muller at a town hall about money in politics on July 14, 2026. Barnes, the former lieutenant governor who lost a close U.S. Senate race in 2022, is one of five candidates running for an open seat after Gov. Tony Evers chose not to seek reelection. (Brittany Carloni / Wisconsin Watch)
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, right in white shirt, a Democratic candidate for governor, campaigns at a farm in East Troy, Wis., on July 2, 2026. Brennan spoke with research agronomist Jim Stute (green shirt), who owns the farm, and Chuck Anderas (blue shirt), the policy director at Michael Fields Agricultural Institute. (Brittany Carloni / Wisconsin Watch)
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
David Crowley, a Democratic candidate for governor, speaks to guests at a meet-and-greet at the Concordia Ballroom in La Crosse, Wis., on July 23, 2026. Crowley, who dropped out of the race in early July, reentered on July 18 with an endorsement from Gov. Tony Evers. (Brittany Carloni / Wisconsin Watch)
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, a Democratic candidate for governor (green hat), visits the Wegmueller farm in Monroe, Wis., on July 12, 2026. Hong, a Madison state representative, is a democratic socialist and has gained national attention for her campaign as democratic socialists have won big races in other states. (Brittany Carloni / Wisconsin Watch)
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, a Democratic candidate for governor (blue blazer), speaks at a rural issues forum at Evansville High School in Evansville, Wis., on July 9, 2026. Roys, a Madison state senator, is one of five candidates running for an open seat after Gov. Tony Evers chose not to seek reelection. (Brittany Carloni / Wisconsin Watch)
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.
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