Democratic Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers announced Thursday he will not seek reelection to a third term in 2026.
Evers’ retirement sets the state up for its first wide-open gubernatorial race since 2010 and second since 1982. The governor, 73, said he wants to spend more time with his family adding that he thinks he would win a third term if he had decided to run again, in his announcement shared via a video he posted to X on Thursday afternoon.
“I promised you when I ran for this office that I always worked to do the right thing, and I’d always give it to you straight,” Evers said in the video. “I’m a science teacher at heart who ended up running for office and won five straight statewide elections. So would I win if I ran the sixth time? Of course, no question about that. But whether I’d win or not that’s never been part of my calculus about running again.”
Both parties have multiple potential candidates who may jump into the race.
Potential GOP candidates include Republican Wisconsin Rep. Tom Tiffany, State Sen. Patrick Testin, State Senate President Mary Felzowski, 2024 Senate nominee Eric Hovde and 2022 gubernatorial nominee Tim Michels. Currently declared Republican candidates include Washington County Executive Josh Schoemann and businessman Bill Berrien.
Democrats that could enter the fray are Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez, Attorney General Josh Kaul, Secretary of State Sarah Godlweski, Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson and former Wisconsin Democratic Party Chair Ben Wikler — who lost an election to lead the Democratic National Committee (DNC) in February.
Sabato’s Crystal Ball, a nonpartisan elections newsletter from University of Virginia Center for Politics, changed its rating of the Wisconsin gubernatorial race from “Lean D” to “Toss-up,” shortly after the news of Evers’ retirement.
Crystal Ball managing editor Kyle Kondik wrote on X that Democrats “should still have a decent chance to hold” Wisconsin’s governorship “but incumbency is still valuable in GOV races, so there’s added variability now.”
Republican Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson told reporters on Thursday that Republicans will now have an advantage to take back the governor’s mansion.
“Hopefully, this gives us an opportunity to win the governor’s race,” Johnson said.
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