Elections today in Wisconsin put a Democratic gubernatorial primary before voters on Tuesday as they choose Tony Evers’s successor. Four active candidates are still in the field, and the winner will move into a general election against Tom Tiffany, the likely Republican nominee.
Tony Evers and David Crowley
David Crowley, the Milwaukee County executive, is one of the four active candidates. He dropped out in July and later reentered after getting an endorsement from Tony Evers, a turn in the race that left his name on the ballot alongside the others.
Francesca Hong entered the race in 2025 and called herself a “wild card.” Joel Brennan and Kelda Roys are also running. The field still carries the names of Sara Rodriguez, Mandela Barnes and Missy Hughes even though each left the contest earlier.
Tom Tiffany and fundraising
Tom Tiffany enters November with President Donald Trump’s endorsement and far more money than the Democratic field. As of July 27, Tiffany had raised $13.3 million and had about $5 million in the bank. Hong and Crowley had each raised slightly more than $1 million and had less than $500,000 in their campaign coffers.
The money gap leaves the Democratic nominee facing a Republican who has already built a larger campaign operation. Tiffany is also facing minimal opposition in his own primary, which makes Tuesday’s vote the main contest deciding the party’s general-election nominee.
Wisconsin and the legislature
The race comes with a wider governing question in Wisconsin. The state has a 64-year streak of electing new governors from the opposite party of the outgoing governor, and the winner this fall will try to extend or break that pattern. The result also comes ahead of 2026, when about half of Wisconsin’s 33 state Senate seats and all 99 state Assembly seats are up, with Republicans holding slight majorities in both chambers.
The state Supreme Court struck down Wisconsin’s heavily gerrymandered legislative maps in 2023 and ordered them redrawn ahead of the next election cycle. That redraw leaves the next governor and legislature with a chance to shape control of state government after November. The question now is whether the Democratic primary produces a nominee strong enough to meet Tiffany on those terms.
