Update: Mandela Barnes has withdrawn from the Democratic primary for governor (July 30, 2026) →
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State Executive · Primary August 11, 2026

Who is running for Governor of Wisconsin in 2026?

18 candidates are running. Incumbent: Tony Evers (D) — not seeking re-election (term-limited).

Cook Political Report: Toss-upInside Elections: Battleground DemocraticSabatos Crystal Ball: Toss-up
ⓘ What do the party and ideology labels mean?

On the ballot, partisan candidates run under a party — in Wisconsin almost always Democratic or Republican, with the occasional third-party or independent candidate. Words like progressive, conservative, libertarian, or democratic socialist are labels people use to describe themselves, not separate parties on the ballot. A label is a starting point; each candidate's sourced positions show where they actually stand.

How we do this →

Democratic primary

Joel Brennan

Democratic

Former Secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Administration

David Crowley

Democratic

Milwaukee County Executive

Francesca Hong

Democratic

State Representative

Missy Hughes

DemocraticSuspended

Former WEDC CEO

Sara Rodriguez

DemocraticWithdrawn

Lieutenant Governor

Kelda Roys

Democratic

State Senator

Mandela Barnes

DemocraticWithdrawn

Former Lieutenant Governor of Wisconsin

Not on the Aug 11 ballot (4)

Brett Hulsey

DemocraticNot on ballot

Small business owner (energy and environmental)

Tim Jacobson

DemocraticNot on ballot

Zachary Roper

DemocraticNot on ballot

College student

Ryan Strnad

DemocraticNot on ballot

Beer vendor (American Family Field)

Republican primary

Tom Tiffany

Republican

U.S. Representative (WI-7)

Andy Manske

Republican

Medical service tech

Josh Schoemann

RepublicanWithdrawn

Washington County Executive

Independent — November general election only

Oliver Carranza

Independent

Student (UW-Madison)

Crystal Harper

Independent

Mike Kohn

Independent

Korey Streich

Independent

Polls

19 published polls of the Governor of Wisconsin, one of which is a straw poll rather than a poll of voters, newest first. Figures are shown exactly as each pollster published them. We don’t average polls— an average is a number no pollster published, and doing it properly takes modelling we don’t do. For averages, use the trackers below.

  1. Marquette Law School Poll

    2026-07-22 – 2026-07-29

    Democratic primary · n=407 · Democratic primary voters · MoE ±6.6 percentage points

    Fielded July 22-29, so all but the final day of interviewing was completed BEFORE the July 28 televised debate — this is not a post-debate poll. Marquette's previous release (fielded July 8-16) had Hong 26%, Barnes 15%, Brennan 2%, Roys 1% and 45% undecided, and did not include David Crowley, who had left the race before re-entering it.

    wisn.com →wbay.com →law.marquette.edu →

  2. Public Policy Polling (D) [partisan/Democratic-affiliated pollster]

    2026-07-20 – 2026-07-22

    Republican primary · n=708 · Likely voters

    • Tom Tiffany35%
    • Undecided28%
    • Other candidate15%
    • noteFull breakdown available via Wikipedia table; conducted by a Democratic-aligned pollster.

    en.wikipedia.org →

  3. Marquette University Law School Poll

    2026-07-08 – 2026-07-16

    Democratic primary · n=430 · Registered voters (Democratic primary voters) · MoE +/- 6.1%

    Sara Rodriguez excluded from this survey after dropping out (then briefly re-entering) the race. Fourth consecutive Marquette poll in which Hong led.

    wpr.org →usatoday.com →law.marquette.edu →

  4. Generic Democrat vs. Tom Tiffany (Marquette hypothetical head-to-heads)

    2026-07-08 – 2026-07-16

    Marquette University Law School Poll · General election matchup · n=838

    usatoday.com →wpr.org →

  5. Wedgewood Polls

    2026-07-06

    Democratic primary · n=413 · Likely voters · MoE +/- 5.3%

    270towin.com →

  6. Mandela Barnes vs. Tom Tiffany

    2026-07-06

    Wedgewood Polls · General election matchup · n=707 · Likely voters · MoE +/- 4.4%

    270towin.com →

  7. Sara Rodriguez vs. Tom Tiffany

    2026-07-06

    Wedgewood Polls · General election matchup · n=707

    270towin.com →

  8. Francesca Hong vs. Tom Tiffany

    2026-07-06

    Wedgewood Polls · General election matchup · n=707

    270towin.com →

  9. Mandela Barnes vs. Tom Tiffany

    2026-03-23

    TIPP · General election matchup · n=1175 · Likely voters · MoE +/- 2.9%

    270towin.com →

  10. Sara Rodriguez vs. Tom Tiffany

    2026-03-23

    TIPP · General election matchup · n=1175

    270towin.com →

  11. Francesca Hong vs. Tom Tiffany

    2026-03-23

    TIPP · General election matchup · n=1175

    270towin.com →

  12. David Crowley vs. Tom Tiffany

    2026-03-23

    TIPP · General election matchup · n=1175

    270towin.com →

  13. Marquette University Law School Poll

    2026-03-11 – 2026-03-18

    Democratic primary · n=393 · Registered voters (Democratic primary voters) · MoE +/- 6.7%

    270towin.com →wihpca.org →

  14. Marquette University Law School Poll

    2026-03-11 – 2026-03-18

    Republican primary · n=396 · MoE +/- 6.3%

    wihpca.org →270towin.com →

  15. Marquette University Law School Poll

    2026-02-11 – 2026-02-19

    Democratic primary · n=394 · Registered voters (Democratic primary voters) · MoE +/- 6.3%

    fox6now.com →x.com →

  16. Marquette University Law School Poll

    2026-02-11 – 2026-02-19

    Republican primary · n=371 · MoE +/- 6.4%

    fox6now.com →today.marquette.edu →

  17. TIPP

    2026-02-17

    Democratic primary · n=646 · Registered voters

    270towin.com →

  18. Badger Battleground Poll (Platform Communications)

    2025-09-28 – 2025-09-30

    Democratic and Republican primary · n=500 · General population, phone (cell + landline)

    Democratic

    Republican

    tmj4.com →

  19. WisPolitics / Democratic Party of Wisconsin convention straw poll

    2026-06-13 – 2026-06-14

    Non-scientific straw poll (Democratic activists/delegates) · n=~600 delegates/guests

    Not a scientific poll — self-selected participants

    Not a scientific poll — reflects only convention-attending party activists.

    wispolitics.com →wisconsinwatch.org →youtube.com →

Poll trackers & averages

Who has raised the most money?

IndividualsParty committeesUnion PACsPACs & committeesBusinessesOther
CandidateRaisedWhere it's fromSpentCash on handThrough
Tom Tiffany$13,352,653$10,062,887$4,970,100filings through Aug 3, 2026
Mandela Barnes$1,138,843$1,477,818$124,498filings through Aug 3, 2026
David Crowley$1,135,726$1,164,972$463,070filings through Aug 3, 2026
Francesca Hong$1,126,758$776,113$406,117filings through Aug 3, 2026
Joel Brennan$824,472$1,079,814$283,629filings through Aug 3, 2026
Show all 10 candidates
CandidateRaisedWhere it's fromSpentCash on handThrough
Kelda Roys$717,297$905,552$81,110filings through Aug 3, 2026
Sara Rodriguez$699,307$1,029,469$651,690filings through Aug 3, 2026
Missy Hughes$148,439$536,717$14,066filings through Aug 3, 2026
Ryan Strnad$7,163—$0$1,073filings through Jun 30, 2026
Josh Schoemann$7,137$355,403$144,229filings through Aug 3, 2026

Federal data: FEC. State data: WI Ethics Commission Sunshine (non-commercial voter education use).

Ad money in this race

Who is paying to influence this race — supporting or attacking each candidate, and how much is a candidate's own committee vs. outside groups. Spend and reach are platform-disclosed ranges; figures are estimated midpoints. This shows pressure, not who wins.

Tom Tiffany

$1.2M

Supporting

$297

Attacking

42.4M

Reach

$1.2M own committee · $4k outside (estimated)

David Crowley

$94k

Supporting

$0

Attacking

2.7M

Reach

$94k own committee · $0 outside (estimated)

Sara Rodriguez

$11k

Supporting

$0

Attacking

337k

Reach

$0 own committee · $11k outside (estimated)

Kelda Roys

$3k

Supporting

$0

Attacking

74k

Reach

$3k own committee · $0 outside (estimated)

Joel Brennan

$1k

Supporting

$0

Attacking

148k

Reach

$1k own committee · $0 outside (estimated)

Missy Hughes

$695

Supporting

$0

Attacking

70k

Reach

$695 own committee · $0 outside (estimated)

Josh Schoemann

$399

Supporting

$0

Attacking

40k

Reach

$0 own committee · $399 outside (estimated)

Francesca Hong

$250

Supporting

$50

Attacking

16k

Reach

$250 own committee · $50 outside (estimated)

Mandela Barnes

$198

Supporting

$50

Attacking

5k

Reach

$198 own committee · $50 outside (estimated)

Tim Jacobson

$149

Supporting

$0

Attacking

7k

Reach

$149 own committee · $0 outside (estimated)

Ryan Strnad

$149

Supporting

$0

Attacking

13k

Reach

$149 own committee · $0 outside (estimated)

Who's paying. $1.3M in tracked ads — an estimated 1% from outside groups. Tom Tiffany is the most-attacked candidate here.

Broadcast TV ads

$49k across 1 order · reported on FCC orders

Crowley/D/GovernorSupport

WISN-TV · Milwaukee · 40 spots · Jul 27–Aug 9

$49kFCC order ↗

In the news about the Governor of Wisconsin race

Coverage a BadgerBrief editor reviewed and confirmed belongs here. We link out — we don’t summarize. How we handle coverage ↗

Compare all Governor of Wisconsin candidates →

Sources

Last updated:

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