Who might run for Wisconsin governor in 2026?

The Democratic field depends on whether Gov. Tony Evers decides to run for a third term

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Wisconsin Democratic Party leaders hope Gov. Tony Evers seeks a third term in 2026. Evers has won five statewide elections, they proudly note, and knows how to win. 

Evers will celebrate his 73rd birthday in November and he’d be 79 at the end of a third term. Although Evers is healthy and actively travels the state, President Biden, who is 81, decided to not seek a second term because of his age and slowing cognitive functions.

What if Evers repeats the decision of the last two-term Democratic governor, Jim Doyle, and retires after decades of public service?

That would most likely trigger 2026 primaries with candidates from both parties — primaries that would be held exactly two years from this month. The last time there was a Democratic primary for governor — in 2018 — eight candidates ran; the 2022 Republican primary for governor had five candidates.

One political veteran says the 2026 governor’s race could depend on whether a Democrat or former President Trump wins on Nov. 5. That logic: If a Democrat wins, the odds are 60% to 40% that Evers does not seek a third term. But, if Trump wins, the odds that Evers retires go up significantly — to 80% — because a Trump administration would do no favors for an Evers administration.

Isthmus requested an interview with Evers on the factors that will go into his decision to seek a third term. Instead, Britt Cudaback, a top aide to the governor, emailed this statement: “As the leader of the Democratic Party, Gov. Evers is busy working to defeat two Republican-backed August ballot initiatives aimed at obliterating checks and balances and electing Democrats up and down the ticket this November.”

“But make no mistake,” she adds, “after signing fair maps for Wisconsin, saving Milwaukee from bankruptcy, providing per pupil increases for public schools for the next 400 years, repairing 7,400-plus miles of roads, ensuring over 410,000 homes and businesses will have new or improved high-speed Internet, making one of the largest housing investments in state history, fixing the Walker-Kleefisch Foxconn boondoggle, keeping the Brewers in Wisconsin through 2050, vetoing every GOP attack on LGBTQ folks and reproductive freedom, and overseeing the largest budget surplus in state history, if Gov. Evers wants to seek a third term, there will be no one better positioned to run for governor and win.”

Although it’s dangerous to predict anything in Wisconsin politics two years from now, who might run?

First, one caveat. Three top elected Democrats — Attorney General Josh Kaul, Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez, and Secretary of State Sarah Godlewski — did not respond to questions about 2026. They may have declined out of respect for the third-term decision Evers, his family and advisers must make. Or they may not want to be seen as ambitious potential successors. 

But all three are considered top contenders to run for governor should Evers decide against a third term, according to political insiders. To arrive at a list of potential 2026 candidates, Isthmus interviewed current officials, former officials, leaders and strategists from both parties, business executives who could self-fund a campaign, and Capitol veterans.

The Democrats

Attorney General Josh Kaul, 43, was elected in 2018 with 49.4% of the vote and re-elected in 2022 with 50.6% of the vote. A former federal prosecutor, he is the son of former Democratic Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager.

Kaul’s record includes fights to restore a woman’s right to have an abortion, for tougher gun-control laws, for funding for school safety measures, and for the restoration of “drop boxes” for voters’ ballots. He has claimed progress in eliminating a backlog in the testing of sexual assault kits and joined national settlements against opioid manufacturers.

On June 4, Kaul announced felony charges against Wisconsin lawyer James Troupis and Trump advisors Kenneth Chesebro and Mike Roman for their roles in trying to overturn the 2020 presidential election won by President Biden.

Some Democrats, however, ask why Kaul didn’t charge all 10 fake electors who met in Wisconsin’s Capitol and submitted a document claiming that Trump had won Wisconsin.

Four appeals to Kaul’s spokesperson and his campaign for comment on a potential 2026 run for governor went unanswered.

“In terms of a traditional candidate, Josh Kaul would appear to be in the strongest position,” says UW-Madison political science professor Barry Burden. “He has been elected to statewide office twice and holds the position held by former Democratic Gov. Doyle.” 

Lieutenant Governor Sara Rodriguez, 49, served one term in the Assembly before winning the primary to be Evers’ running-mate. The nurse and health care executive from Waukesha visited every county in Wisconsin last year as an ambassador for the Evers administration.

In May, Evers named Rodriguez chair of the Governor’s Task Force on Healthcare Workforce, which has not yet made any recommendations. With her schedule and public appearances controlled by Evers aides, Rodriguez is expected to continue partisan attacks on Republican candidates before the Nov. 5 elections.

“A sitting lieutenant governor would often be considered a leading candidate for governor,” Burden says, although two past lieutenant governors — Rebecca Kleefisch and Mandela Barnes — ran for statewide office and lost.

“In her role, Rodriguez has the opportunity to become acquainted with Democrats across the state, but it’s nonetheless a tall order to run from an office with few responsibilities and resources while mostly unknown to the public,” Burden adds.

Secretary of State Sara Godlewski, 42, who can fire up crowds at Democratic rallies, got 1.3 million votes in November 2018 to win the job of state treasurer. She gave up that job to run for the U.S. Senate in 2022 but quit that race before the primary and was appointed by Evers as secretary of state early last year following the resignation of Doug La Follette.

A campaign aide to Godlewski issued this statement in response to a request for an interview: “Secretary Godlewski is focused on helping Democrats win in 2024 and not commenting about future political endeavors at this time.”

In a March Wisconsin Examiner profile of Godlewski, she outlined her statewide travels to help local clerks administer elections and “protect the integrity” of government actions. “Our office is not in the limelight, but it’s critical,” Godlewski told Wisconsin Examiner.

Burden says: “Godlewski might be the most politically ambitious of the bunch. She has run for statewide office once before and holds office now, although it has few formal responsibilities. She is diligent about staying visible as a public figure.”

Missy Hughes came close to running for Ron Kind’s old 3rd District congressional seat in 2022 and she now has almost five years under her belt as CEO of the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation. 

When asked whether she would consider a 2026 run for governor she says in an email that she loves working with Evers and looks “forward to continued service and doing great work for Wisconsin for years to come.” Hughes lists economic victories “like our work with Microsoft leading to the announcement that it is building the crown jewel of its AI enterprise here in Wisconsin” as well as “leading Kikkoman to choose to reinvest another $850 million in Wisconsin” and “securing the designation by the federal Department of Commerce of the Wisconsin Regional Tech Hub with funding of $49 million.”

“Wisconsin is having a moment,” she writes, “and we are turning that into momentum.” 

Will 2026 be the year that Kevin Conroy enters politics? The CEO of the Madison-based medical technology giant Exact Sciences considered running for governor in 2018 but did not.

Katie Boyce, senior director of corporate impact and community relations at Exact Sciences, says Conroy declined an interview request because he is “focused on running a global company getting people screened and treated for cancer.” Exact Sciences reported revenues of $2.5 billion in 2023.

One Democratic leader suggested that, if Evers retires, Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson or Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley might consider running.

Burden notes that Johnson and Crowley “have relatively short tenures in office.”

“As Black office holders from Milwaukee, they might also be seen as facing more opposition when running statewide, although Mandela Barnes’ strong finish against incumbent Ron Johnson demonstrates that a racial minority candidate from Milwaukee can perform well,” Burden adds.

Barnes, who got 49% of the vote for U.S. Senate in 2022, did not respond to a query about 2026.

The Republicans

Who might run on the Republican side? 

Veteran Republican Bill McCoshen, a lobbyist and owner of the Janesville Jets hockey team who handicaps politics on WTMJ Radio in Milwaukee and a Madison TV station, considered running for governor in 2021. McCoshen learned politics as a top aide, cabinet secretary and campaign manager for four-term Gov. Tommy Thompson.

McCoshen says he isn’t “running for anything in 2026,” but identifies those who might: “The three names being circulated in GOP circles today regarding the 2026 gubernatorial election are Washington County Executive Josh Schoemann, Congressman Tom Tiffany, and businessman Bill Berrien. Those are the only names out there at this point.”

Schoemann was Washington County administrator from 2014 until 2020, when he was elected county executive. An Army National Guard veteran who served in the Iraq War, he was re-elected in April.

Schoemann, who turns 43 this month, says he gets asked to run for governor but at this point is busy “helping candidates at every level…. There will be plenty of time to talk about 2026.”

But, sounding like a potential candidate, Schoemann adds: “In Washington County, we don’t wait for Madison or Washington to tell us what needs to be done. Instead we listen, set a clear vision with specific priorities and deliver solutions, and this approach has led to a record of success positively impacting people’s daily lives, including next generation housing, transportation sustainability, a UW campus closure solution, a shared services initiative, and confidence in our elections.”

Bill Berrien, CEO of the Waukesha County manufacturing company Pindel Global Precision, says he does not plan to run for office.

But another Republican who seems to be laying the groundwork to run for governor is former Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch, 48, who served eight years as the governing partner with Gov. Scott Walker. In that role, she championed small businesses and opportunities for women.

Kleefisch got 291,000 votes in the 2022 Republican primary for governor but lost to constructive company executive Tim Michels. Michels and former state Sen. Roger Roth lost to Evers and Rodriguez.

Kleefisch signaled a return to politics in a June 16 op-ed essay in the Wisconsin State Journal.

“I am concerned about the rapid erosion of trust in the [election] system that allows us to sort out and determine winners and losers,” she wrote. “Many Wisconsinites harbor doubt about the integrity of our elections, and the worst outcome for America is that those doubts cause voters to stop participating in elections.”

Vowing to be part of that public dialogue, Kleefisch added: “It is my hope that civic leaders across the Badger State will join with me to rebuild that trust in the coming months.”

Asked about running for governor in 2026, Kleefisch says: “Shouldn’t everyone, including the editors of the Isthmus, be focused on legislative races and the Supreme Court? I’m out here doing events for candidates and separately working on winnable races and policy battles locally.”

“There are a lot of levels you have to make it through before you fight that one,” she adds, referring to a 2026 run for governor.

Burden notes that Kleefisch “continues to make the rounds as a public figure” and, “as a former lieutenant governor and primary candidate for governor, she has as much of a record of electoral promise as any other Republican.”

Other potential GOP candidates?

State Sen. Pat Testin, 36, of Stevens Point, was one of eight candidates in the 2022 primary for lieutenant governor. Testin got 109,373 votes in that primary, finishing second to Roth, now a candidate in the 8th Congressional District.

Would Testin consider running for governor in 2026? “It’s something to think about in the future,” he says in an interview. If he ran, Testin says he would campaign on making Wisconsin “more competitive as it relates to our tax climate.”

Residents of high-tax states like Illinois, California and New York are “voting with their feet” and moving to lower-tax states in the Midwest, Testin says. Wisconsin should consider a “flat tax,” which would attract those seeking lower taxes, he adds.

For now, Testin says his first goal is to win a third four-year term in the Senate representing central Wisconsin’s 24th District. His opponent in the Nov. 5 election is Democrat Collin McNamara.

Republicans must keep control of the Legislature on Nov. 5 to prevent Wisconsin from becoming the “next Minnesota,” where progressives now dominate state politics, Testin says.

Burden says Congressman Tom Tiffany, 66, is another potential contender: “Tiffany certainly seems interested in a statewide run and will have more experience under his belt as a member of Congress by the time the gubernatorial election rolls around.”

Three veteran Republicans agree that Tiffany is interested in running for governor, but has floated similar trial balloons in the past. One year, for example, “Tom was running for the U.S. Senate until he wasn’t,” one of them notes.

Tiffany represents northwest Wisconsin’s 7th Congressional District, which includes an area bigger than many states. He served in the state Legislature before winning a special 2020 election for the U.S. House.

Asked about running for governor, Tiffany says, “I am focused on serving the good people of northern and western Wisconsin and committed to turning Wisconsin red in the November election. Wisconsinites know our state is headed in the wrong direction. Strong leadership is needed to get the Badger State back on track.”

Political veterans also note that Republican Congressman Bryan Steil, 43, could consider running for governor if Democrats control the U.S. House after November elections. 

And what about Eric Hovde or Robin Vos? 

Hovde, who is running for U.S. Senate, has twice run for jobs in Washington, but never for Madison’s Capitol. 

And Assembly Speaker Vos, the Republican Party’s most experienced Capitol leader, has been the subject of two recall attempts and is a divisive figure unlikely to run for governor.

Evers has plenty of time to make his retire-or-run decision. Former two-term Gov. Doyle announced that he would not run again in August 2009 — 15 months before the next election, for example. Still, potential 2026 candidates are beginning to ask, “Why not me?”