With less than six weeks to Wisconsin’s 2026 primary election, political panelists Bill McCoshen and Scot Ross traded barbs about the spate of candidates running for office. Charles Carlin of Gathering Waters described hopes for the future of the state’s Knowle-Nelson Stewardship Program after its expiration on June 30.

Bill McCoshen and Scot Ross
Republican and Democratic political panelists

• It’s mid-summer and absentee ballots are going out. Voters are poised to make their choice in the August 11, 2026 primary election. In the Democratic primary for governor, there are still six candidates in the running after one dropped out in late June. Ross and McCoshen discussed who may be breaking through in that primary race.
• Ross: “It seems like it still could be anybody’s ball game. There’s a lot of spending going on right now. I guess, you know, they say ‘it’s not a sprint, it’s a marathon,’ but we have crossed the 20-mile marker, and we’re getting to the point where people are going to have to start making up their minds about who their candidate is going to be. I think the Democrats have an embarrassment of riches. I think they are fighting. You know, they’re running downhill because the Republicans are so in trouble because of the record of Donald Trump and the fact that their nominee, Tom Tiffany, is a radical extremist who is completely and totally tied to Trump in every single way.”
• McCoshen: “I don’t agree that it’s anybody’s ballgame. One has already dropped out: Missy Hughes. I wouldn’t be surprised if two more dropped out in July. We got 38 days to go. I think it’s really three people are seriously in contention to win this. It’s Francesca Hong, a legislator for Madison; Mandela Barnes, former lieutenant governor; and current Lt. Gov. Sarah Rodriguez. I think those are the only three who have a legitimate shot to win at this point based on all the polling. We will have a new Marquette poll out in about 10 days here in Wisconsin. That will sort of tell — give everyone the picture of where things are at. But what we know from private polls and some other publicly released polls is those are the top three, and Hong is the one that’s surging at this point.”

Charles Carlin
Director of Strategic Initiatives, Gathering Waters: Wisconsin’s Alliance for Land Trusts

• The Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Program expired at the end of June after more than 35 years of funding infrastructure for outdoor recreation and the purchase of land for conservation. It was created by Republican former Gov. Tommy Thompson and the state Legislature, but Republican lawmakers declined to renew its funding in the 2025-27 state budget and didn’t take up standalone bills over disputes over who can veto new projects. As gubernatorial candidates voice support for a renewal of funding, Carlin said there are hopes among supporters that the next Legislature will restore the program because of its impacts.
• Carlin: “The Wisconsin landscape and the outdoor recreation infrastructure that we have in Wisconsin simply wouldn’t be here today without the successes of the Knowles Nelson Stewardship Program. The program has been operating for over 35 years, has helped us permanently protect more than 650,000 acres of land, most of which is open for public recreation. Getting out there, birdwatching, going hunting, going for a hike with your family and every single neighborhood in the state has been touched by Knowles-Nelson. It’s not an exaggeration. You know, more than 90% of households are within a mile of a Knowles-Nelson investment. So these are the trails that we walk and bike on, the beachfronts where we go swimming, the weed harvesters that help keep our lakes clean, the playground equipment that our kids play on at local parks. All of this is made possible by the Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Program.”

Watch new episodes of Here & Now at 7:30 p.m. on Fridays.