Tommy Washbush / Freepik
A slot machine hitting a jackpot with three images of Tony Evers
Gov. Tony Evers is coming off his best budget in four tries. Now he’s set to decide if he wants to go for another four years at the helm. I hope he does.
I haven’t always felt this way. In fact, back in 2021 I was so upset that Evers had signed a Republican-written budget that I called for someone to challenge him in the primary the following year.
My view back then was that Evers should have vetoed the first budget sent to him in 2019 in part because it was a thoroughly Republican document after Speaker Robin Vos tossed Evers’ proposal and essentially wrote his own. I thought Evers needed to show strength to Vos so that that would govern their relationship going forward. When the same thing happened again in 2021, I was even more convinced that Evers needed to assert himself and when he didn’t I called for a primary. Okay, okay, so I even called him the “Stockholm Syndrome Governor” for his caving to Vos. And I wonder why I don’t get a holiday card.
But nobody cared what I called for and nobody challenged him and Evers skipped to a convincing win over Republican Tim Michels in 2022. So what do I know?
And now something’s changed. Even without the complete budget vetoes that I thought were necessary in 2019 and 2021, Vos’ tone has been remarkably more civil in the budget cycle that just ended. Vos and Evers kept talking, apparently throughout the process. They arrived at a bipartisan compromise that delivered over a billion dollars in tax cuts, provided another $256 million for the university system, raised the state share of special education funding to 45% in the second year of the budget, up from 30% today, and invested $330 million more money in child care. And it spends a lot of money while still being fiscally responsible. About $770 million is projected to remain in the bank at the end of this two-year budget cycle.
Some Democrats did the obligatory griping about it not going far enough, but this was by far Evers’ best budget. In light of the fact that he had to compromise with a Republican Legislature, he did a great job.
So not only has Evers become more effective at advancing his agenda, but he’s proven he can win elections and this budget sure won’t hurt. The guy has won five statewide races, three for Superintendent of Public Instruction and two for governor. He’s the kind of low-key Democrat with a moderate image who can win in a purple state. And, since 2026 should be a good year for Democrats overall with Trump in the White House, you have to like Evers’ chances to win again.
Somebody else could ride that wave too, but they’re untested commodities. Should Evers retire, the potential candidates are Attorney General Josh Kaul, Secretary of State Sarah Godlewski, Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez, Sen. Kelda Roys, former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, Outagamie County Executive Tom Nelson, Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley and Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson. All of those candidates are plausible contenders and some of them have already won statewide. It’s not a bad bench.
But here’s the problem. Virtually none of them has a high profile. Even Kaul hasn’t cut a deep image as AG and the one candidate who may have an established brand is Barnes, who was tagged as too far-left when he ran in 2022 against U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson. That leaves them open to being defined by a Republican opponent. Cue the grainy images morphing their faces into that of the likely next mayor of New York, the Democratic Socialist Zohran Mamdani.
That’s much harder to pull off when you’re running against a guy who’s been governor for eight years. People already know who Evers is and threatening he is not. He comes off like the school principal he once was. Maybe you’d worry that he’d send you home with a note for your parents, but that’s about it.
Would I like a Democrat with more exciting ideas? I suppose, but what I really want is a Democrat who can win. And if Evers runs again I think he’ll do just that, especially if he goes up against the lineup that is forming on the Republican side. It’s looking like a cast of candidates who have lost before and others with no experience at all. And if they get into a heated race where they all vie to be the most Trumpy, so much the better.
I have no idea what Evers will decide to do and I wouldn’t blame him if, at 73, he decided to live a quieter life. But as a Democrat who just wants to win, I hope he goes for one more term.
[Editor's note: This post was corrected to state that Gov. Tony Evers recently completed his fourth, not third, budget.]
Dave Cieslewicz is a Madison- and Upper Peninsula-based writer who served as mayor of Madison from 2003 to 2011. You can read more of his work at Yellow Stripes & Dead Armadillos.
