Wisconsin Governor 2026

Election day is November 3, 2026. A statewide contest in Wisconsin.

Who is favoured in Wisconsin Governor?

Run the forecaster to pull current reporting on this race, score it issue by issue, and see who it favours.

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What the Wisconsin Governor election decides

State government decides most of what touches daily life directly: schools, roads, policing, public health, utilities regulation, and the state's share of healthcare programs. A governor's veto and budget proposal set the boundaries of what a legislature can do.

A governor signs or vetoes state law, proposes the state budget, commands the state's emergency response, and in most states shapes how elections themselves are administered. Wisconsin decides this alongside its 8 House seats. Governors are judged on results inside the state rather than on national mood alone, which is why governor's races often break differently from federal contests held the same day.

How Wisconsin votes

Wisconsin is a perennial tipping-point state, balanced between Milwaukee and Madison, the suburban WOW counties, and a rural north and west. Manufacturing, dairy and turnout wars keep its margins historically thin. That backdrop is the ground any Wisconsin campaign fights on, and it is what the Electorate HQ simulation reads first when it weighs a ticket's platform against this contest.

About this race

The 2026 Wisconsin gubernatorial election is scheduled to take place on November 3, 2026, to elect the governor of Wisconsin. Democratic Milwaukee County executive David Crowley and Republican U.S. representative Tom Tiffany are the nominees for their respective parties. Incumbent Democratic governor Tony Evers declined to seek re-election to a third term.

Primary elections were held on August 11, 2026. Tiffany won the Republican nomination without serious challenge. Crowley, despite having temporarily withdrawn his candidacy, won the Democratic nomination in an upset victory over state representative Francesca Hong, receiving 39.8% of the vote.

This is the first Wisconsin gubernatorial election since 2010 in which the incumbent is not seeking re-election, along with being one of five Democratic-held governorships up for election in 2026 in a state won by Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential election.

Latest coverage of the Wisconsin Governor race

Wisconsin Governor Primary Election Live Results 2026AP News · 28 Aug 2026Here Are All the Candidates Running for Wisconsin Governor in 2026Milwaukee Magazine · 11 Aug 2026Wisconsin primary offers mixed signals for Democrats, and other election takeawaysPBS · 12 Aug 2026Democratic primary turnout soars in Wisconsin, other states in 2026PBS Wisconsin · 16 Aug 2026Wisconsin's 2026 primary for governor hits the home stretchPBS Wisconsin · 05 Aug 2026What does Wisconsin’s chaotic Democratic primary for governor mean for progressive politics?Wisconsin Examiner · 13 Aug 2026Mandela Barnes drops out of Democratic primary race for Wisconsin governorPBS · 30 Jul 2026David Crowley pulls off upset over Francesca Hong in Wisconsin’s Democratic primary for governorNBC News · 12 Aug 2026

The rest of the Wisconsin ballot

Every Wisconsin House district, the counties inside each one, and an address lookup that resolves your exact districts are on the Wisconsin state page.

Analysis covering Wisconsin

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