When Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers announced he would not seek a third term, names of potential candidates for the office ballooned. Two Republicans – Milwaukee metro businessman Bill Berrien and Washington County Exec. Josh Schoemann — and one Democrat — Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez — have so far formally declared their candidacies. Many others have been talking about a run, like U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, R-7th Congressional District, and others are expected to emerge, such as Democratic state Attorney General Josh Kaul. Here & Now’s political panelists — Bill McCoshen and Scot Ross — unpacked the upcoming gubernatorial race along with the 2026 Wisconsin Supreme Court election.
 

Scot Ross and Bill McCoshen
Democratic and Republican political panelists

• Upon news that two-term Gov. Evers would not seek reelection, national political analysts changed their rating of the 2026 Wisconsin governor’s race from leans Democratic to toss-up. Some political observers have considered whether the 10-point victory of liberal Court of Appeals Judge Susan Crawford in April 2024 to the Wisconsin Supreme Court portends any confidence for Democratic candidates waging a statewide race going forward. Ross acknowledged the midterm elections aren’t fully comparable, but said the momentum should be with Democrats.
• Ross: “Well, they’re two different races, but it also shows that Democrats are able to, have been able to mobilize their voters in a way that Republicans simply have not been able to do for a very, very long time. They’ve won a couple statewide elections, but the margins, percentage-wise and number-wise, are so much more narrow than the blowouts that the Democrats have been able to do. They are talking about the things that people want. They want to make sure that people are protected. They want to make sure abortion rights are protected and restored in some cases. They want to make sure that when you go into court that you have your day in court and it’s not balanced towards the rich. That’s completely different to what the agenda of the Republicans are.”
• The next election for Wisconsin Supreme Court – also in 2026 – arises with the end of conservative Justice Rebecca Bradley’s 10-year term, with liberal Court of Appeals Judge Chris Taylor on the ballot. The race will have conservatives trying to stop the high court’s narrow 4-3 liberal majority from expanding to a 5-2 margin. McCoshen said this election pales in comparison to such contests in recent years that decided the majority and will be superseded by the race for governor.
• McCoshen: “We have Rebecca Bradley, who hasn’t decided whether she’s going to seek reelection or not — on our most recent finance report, she hadn’t raised any money. My advice to her is, if you’re not going to run, get out and give people time to raise money. I think one of the dynamics is that there’s a relationship between the two races. I don’t think the Supreme Court race is going to be as hotly contested as the last two were. I don’t think it’ll be a $100 million race, because it isn’t for the majority. I think the gubernatorial race, now that it’s an open seat, will be the political Super Bowl in Wisconsin in 2026.”

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