MADISON, Wis. (CN) — Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers, a Democrat, announced on Thursday that he will not seek reelection for a third term, inviting a tough race in the battleground state.
“Would I win if I ran a sixth time? Of course, no question about that,” Evers said in a video posted to X announcing his decision. “But whether I would win has never been part of my calculus. The only thing I love more than being your governor is being a husband, a dad and a grandpa.”
Evers, 73, said that his family has sacrificed plenty for his career, and, though this is the best job he’s ever had, it’s time to focus his energy at home.
Speculation has been swirling for weeks over whether Evers will run for a third term after his first two were absorbed by the constant struggle to work with the Republican-controlled state Legislature to achieve any part of his progressive agenda.
He spent much of his tenure negotiating with state Republicans, frequently resulting in a questionable partial veto to be worked out by the courts.
Where he couldn’t negotiate, he simply said no. Evers may be remembered best as the Democrat who shot down nearly every attempt by the Legislature to move the state to the right on just about every hot-button issue since President Donald Trump’s first term.
The Legislature tried and failed to get bans on abortion and gender transition for minor children, restrictions on transgender kids in team sports, heavy immigration enforcement actions, changes to election commission operations and more across Evers’ desk — partisan issues either saving or destroying America’s dairyland, depending on who’s speaking.
Evers unseated former Governor Scott Walker in 2018, a Republican best known for Act 10 — a bill that stripped collective bargaining rights from many public sector workers and set back unions for years to come.
Since then, he saw Wisconsin through periods of extreme turmoil, including the Covid-19 pandemic and Trump’s nearly successful effort to overturn his 2020 election loss, which was ultimately blocked by the state Supreme Court. Some are still facing legal repercussions for that effort, including a campaign lawyer who is facing felony charges in Dane County after forging elector documents.
The Democrat has never expressed interest in higher office, yet has drawn national attention countless times for his high-profile clashes with Trump and other Republicans who are frustrated with his success in keeping Wisconsin strongly purple.
Evers’ announcement is likely to generate an aggressive and highly partisan race to decide which direction the state will move over the next four years. No Democrats have officially thrown their hats into the ring, but two Republicans are already building momentum for the primary next spring.
Bill Berrien, a former Navy SEAL, announced his candidacy in July, angling himself early on as a businessman looking to fire the “bureaucrats,” according to his announcement on YouTube. Berrien promised to take the fight to China, increase immigration enforcement in the state and remove transgender athletes from team sports.
Likening himself to Trump’s “taking back” of Washington D.C., Berrien says he will take back Wisconsin.
Washington County executive Josh Schoemann, former National Guardsman, announced his candidacy one month before Berrien in May. He represents a suburb of Milwaukee where Trump won 67% of the vote in the 2024 presidential election.
His campaign is focused on shrinking state government, cutting taxes, supporting veterans and attracting young families to the state to restore the American dream in Wisconsin. Conspicuously missing is repeated mentions of Trump or buzzwords used by his Republican competitor like gender, China or ICE.
With Evers out, Democrats are likely to enter the race soon to make up for lost ground as ads already begin to play on local stations.
The 2025 spring election in the dairy state smashed records in campaign spending, drawing $100 million to fill a vacancy on the Wisconsin Supreme Court. Elon Musk played a significant role in the Republican candidate’s campaign, taking out attack ads and even giving voters money to vote a certain way, a move he is currently being sued for in Dane County.
With so much on the line, the state is likely to see another divisive election season as Evers takes his leave.
To conclude his announcement on Thursday, Evers blew a kiss and finished with a modified farewell message: “Forward for you and for Wisconsin, always.”
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