On Tuesday, August 11, the Partisan Primary Election took place in Wisconsin. Statewide turnout was approximately 26% to 29% of the voting age population. That is slightly higher than turnouts in primary elections in 2024, which was 26%, and in 2022, which was between 25.5% and 25.8%.

Hoven Consulting has drafted this memo to provide you with results for state legislative and federal races of interest. As the campaign season progresses, we will provide you with a post-general election report on various races, including those at the federal level, as well as polling data.

Bearing in mind the divisive political environment nationwide, as well as the state legislative redistricting that took place in recent years, the election cycle could result in the most significant changes since the 2010 election. At this time, control of Wisconsin state government is divided. Incumbent Governor Tony Evers (D) has been in office for eight years – two terms – and has decided not to run for re-election. Republicans currently control both chambers of the state legislature. In the Senate, there are 18 Republicans and 15 Democrats. In the Assembly, there are 54 Republicans and 45 Democrats. As State Senate terms are four years, 17 of the 33 State Senate seats are on the ballot in 2026. All 99 State Assembly seats will be on the ballot this year, as those legislators serve two-year terms. If the Legislature were to flip to Democratic control, Democrats would need to win two new seats in the Senate and win five new Assembly seats.  The conventional wisdom is that there is a significant chance for the Democrats to win a majority in the State Senate. Political observers generally feel that it is possible for the Democrats to win control of the Assembly, also, but it is less likely than in the Senate. 

State Government Elections

Gubernatorial Race – Democratic Primary

The 2026 Democratic gubernatorial primary has likely been the most volatile Wisconsin primary election in recent memory. Initially, there were seven major candidates – State Rep. Francesca Hong of Madison, Lieutenant  Governor Sara Rodriguez, former Lieutenant Governor Mandela Barnes, Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, former Evers Administration official Joel Brennan, State Senator Kelda Roys of Madison, and former  Evers Administration official Missy Hughes. However, as of the day of the primary election, only four candidates – Hong, Crowley, Brennan, and Roys – remained in the race. Hughes and Crowley were the first two candidates to  drop out of the race. Amidst a campaign finance scandal, Rodriguez ended her candidacy. At the time, Rodriguez  was attempting to coalesce support as the mainstream Democratic alternative to Hong, who was the leading  candidate at the time in the polls. In an attempt to be the new mainstream Democratic alternative to Hong, Crowley re-entered the race, with Democratic Governor Tony Evers’ endorsement. Following that endorsement, Barnes dropped out of the race amidst media reports about his personal conduct.

In a stunning upset victory, as noted below, Crowley beat Hong by less than one percentage point on primary election day. According to Wisconsin election law, a recount is not automatic. A losing candidate would need to formally request a recount – and in this case, since the margin of victory is greater than 0.25% - pay for it. However, that point is now moot since media reports indicate that Hong has conceded to Crowley. The winner is marked in bold font.

Democratic Primary Results

• Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley                      39.8%
• State Rep. Francesca Hong (Madison)                                    39.3%
• State Sen. Kelda Roys (Madison)                                              7.5%
• Former Evers Administration Official Joel Brennan             4.7%
• Former Lieutenant Governor Mandela Barnes*                  4.1%
• Lieutenant Governor Sara Rodriguez*                                    4.1%
• Former Evers Administration Official Missy Hughes*         0.4%

*While these candidates dropped out prior to primary election day, they remained on the ballot.

Gubernatorial Race - Republican Primary

In contrast to the Democratic primary, the race for the Republican primary was quite uneventful. Much earlier in the race, Milwaukee-area businessman Bill Berrien and Washington County Executive Josh Schoemann had filed to run for the Republican nomination. However, both of them ended their respective candidacies months ago. Congressman Tiffany ultimately received the coveted endorsement from President Trump, effectively making him the leading candidate for the Republican nomination. Andy Manske is generally viewed as a minor candidate due to his extremely low polling numbers. The winner is marked in bold font.

Republican Primary Results

• Congressman Tom Tiffany (Minocqua)                                 95.3%
• Medical Service Technician Andy Manske                             4.6%

Race for Lieutenant Governor

The primary winner is marked in bold font.

Republican Primary

• David Varnam                                                                              55.5%
• Will Martin                                                                                     44.3%

Democratic Primary

• Sarah Godlewski
• This was an uncontested race.

In late July, Governor Tony Evers (D) informed state agencies that they should not submit FY2027-2029 budget requests to the Office of the Governor that include funding increases. Exceptions include funding for K-12 education, the University of Wisconsin system, Medicaid, and overhauling the state prison system.

Current practice is that state agencies submit budget requests to the Office of the Governor on September 15, then the Governor consolidates those requests – often with modifications – and then submits his full budget request to the Legislature early the following year. Of course, a new governor will be elected in November 2026, and the new governor could make significant modifications.

On July 20, Governor Tony Evers (D) announced that he approved a new state regulation that will allow more qualified nurses to teach clinical nursing courses. This change was one of the recommendations made by the Governor’s Task Force on the Healthcare Workforce. Previously, in order to teach a clinical nursing course to nursing students, a nurse would need to have a master’s degree. According to the Governor’s press release, nursing faculty must now meet the following updated criteria:

• Hold a bachelor’s degree in nursing;  
• Be a current, active, and unencumbered RN with license or privilege to practice in Wisconsin;  
• Have at least two years of clinical experience relevant to the specific clinical area that they would be teaching; 
• Be enrolled in a graduate program and maintain steady progress towards completion, have completed graduate-level courses or education in clinical best practices, or have a national certification in a nursing field specialty relevant to the assigned clinical field they would be teaching; and 

On July 31, the state Department of Safety and Professional Services (DSPS) – the state’s occupational credentialing agency – announced that they intend to start issuing Advanced Practice Registered Nurse (APRN) credentials in September. Each such credential will indicate a recognized role for which the nurse has been certified. The roles are: Nurse Practitioner (NP), Certified Nurse Midwife (CNM), Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS), and Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist (CRNA).

For more information, DSPS has posted an APRN frequently asked questions document on its website.

With less than one month until the primary election, Lieutenant Governor Sara Rodriguez announced on Friday, July 17, that she was ending her campaign for the Democratic nomination for governor. This followed a very challenging week for her campaign, during which she discovered that her campaign’s financial reports included a very significant number of errors. These errors resulted in her campaign account having a significantly lower balance than originally reported. In response, she fired her campaign manager.

On July 15, candidates for the Office of Wisconsin Governor were required to report campaign finance data – including all contributions – from January 1, 2026, through June 30, 2026. The following campaign finance data from this time frame addresses the current candidates for governor, as of July 17:

Former Lt. Governor Mandela Barnes (D)

• Raised $840,000
• Spent $1.1 million
• Had $240,000 cash on hand as of June 30

State Rep. Francesca Hong (D-Madison)

• Raised $709,000
• Spent $433,000
• Had $411,000 cash on hand as of June 30

Former Evers Administration Official Joel Brennan (D)

• Raised $666,000
• Spent $858,000
• Had $360,000 cash on hand as of June 30

State Sen. Kelda Roys (D-Madison)

• Raised $527,000
• Spent $454,000
• Had $406,000 cash on hand as of June 30

Congressman Tom Tiffany (R-Minocqua)

• Raised $8.72 million
• Spent $6.4 million
• Had $3 million cash on hand as of June 30

In the June edition of the WiAHC Madison update, it was noted that state legislative leaders created the Legislative Council Study Committee on the Use of Artificial Intelligence in Health Care. In July, the following committee members were announced:

• Chair/State Sen. Rachael Cabral-Guevara (R-Appleton)
• Vice Chair/State Rep. Adam Neylon (R-Pewaukee)
• State Sen. Sara Keyeski (D-Lodi)
• State Rep. Mike Bare (D-Verona)
• Polly Anderson, RN, Senior Lecturer, University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh School of Nursing
• Phillip Blair; Vice President of Human Resources; Gamber-Johnson, LLC; Stevens Point
• Dr. Justin Boge, Chief Medical Officer, Incubation Studio, La Crosse
• Glenn Martin Fung, Vice President of Artificial Intelligence, Abbott Cancer Diagnostics, Madison
• Matthew Harris, Chief Digital Information Officer, Rogers Behavioral Health, Oconomowoc
• David Hoffert, Director of Artificial Intelligence Policy, Epic Systems, Verona
• Dr. Mark Huth, President & CEO, Group Health Cooperative of South Central Wisconsin, Madison
• Frank Liao, Senior Director, Digital Health & Emerging Technologies, UW Health, Madison
• Krister Mattson, Vice President, Enterprise Analytics & Data Science, Emplify Health, Onalaska
• Madeline Nevermann, Artificial Intelligence Technology Director, Elevance Health Insurance, Milwaukee
• Julie Pawola, Clinical Informatics Pharmacist, UW Health, Middleton
• Erin Skold, Legal Counsel, Mayo Clinic, Eau Claire

This committee will likely hold its first meeting in the coming months in Madison and Hoven Consulting will monitor committee activities.

The Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional Services (DSPS) – the state’s occupational credentialing agency – recently announced several upgrades to serve customers. Specifically, they have implemented interactive voice routing on their customer service phone line, which will allow callers to select different options based on their needs. This will help free up DSPS staff – which are limited in number due to budget constraints – to assist callers with complex questions. In addition, their customer service phone line will also inform callers what place “in line” they are in to speak with a DSPS representative. In the future, DSPS will also implement an artificial intelligence pilot project, which will be available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and is intended to answer common questions from callers.

In early July, Forward Analytics – a Wisconsin-based non-partisan research organization that is a division of the Wisconsin Counties Association – released a report that found that, for the first time, the health care and social assistance industry is now the state’s largest employer. Previously, the manufacturing industry was Wisconsin’s largest employer. In particular, the report found that health care and social assistance positions increased from 321,000 to over 463,000 between 2001 and 2025. During that same time period, manufacturing positions declined from 560,000 to less than 460,000.

To read the summary of the report, as well as the report itself, go to the Forward Analytics website.

According to state law, each July 1, the state Department of Health Services (DHS) is required to adjust the amounts that health care providers may charge for patient health care records to account for inflation during the prior calendar year. The following are the updated amounts:

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