The 2022 Wisconsin gubernatorial election was held on November 8, 2022, to elect the governor of Wisconsin. Incumbent Democratic Governor Tony Evers won a second term by a margin of 3.4%, defeating Republican nominee Tim Michels.
As Lieutenant Governor Mandela Barnes ran for the U.S. Senate in the concurrent election, a new Democratic running mate, state assemblywoman Sara Rodriguez, was nominated in the partisan primary. Barnes was the second lieutenant governor not to run with the incumbent governor since the state constitution was amended in 1967. The partisan primary was held on August 9, 2022, with businessman Tim Michels defeating former lieutenant governor Rebecca Kleefisch in the Republican primary. State senator Roger Roth received the Republican nomination for lieutenant governor.
This election result was the first since 2006 in which a Democrat in Wisconsin won with an outright majority of the vote, the first since 1990 in which the winner was from the same party as the incumbent president, and the first since 1962 in which Wisconsin voted for a Democratic governor at the same time the party held the presidency. This was also the first gubernatorial election in the state since 1998 in which the winning candidate was of a different party than the winner of the concurrent U.S. Senate election.
Evers's victory was labeled a slight upset, as he was initially elected back in 2018 by a meager 1.1%, despite 2018 being considered a much more favorable year for Democrats than 2022. In addition, many polls showed Michels in the lead in the weeks leading up to the election. According to Ron Brownstein of CNN in 2023, Evers won independent voters by 6âÂÂ7 percentage points, which contributed to Michels's defeat.
Evers did substantially better than Mandela Barnes did against incumbent senator Ron Johnson in suburban areas of the state in this election as well as compared to his initial election in 2018, chiefly in the "WOW" counties of Waukesha, Ozaukee, and Washington that form a ring around the north and west of Milwaukee, performing in line with Biden's 2020 margins. On the flip side, Michels did better in most rural areas than former governor Scott Walker had in 2018, winning the counties of Crawford, Grant, and Richland, three counties that Evers had previously won four years earlier. Michels also flipped the county of Kenosha. One exception to the trend toward Republicans in rural areas was Door County, which flipped to Evers after having voted for Walker in 2018. Notably, Evers carried the 3rd congressional district, which Republican Derrick Van Orden concurrently won after losing in 2020 to then-Representative Ron Kind; Evers also came within 0.2% of carrying the 1st congressional district.
Graphical summary<br />
Aggregate polls<br />
Graphical summary<br />
Tony Evers vs. Rebecca Kleefisch<br />
Tony Evers vs. Tim Ramthun<br />
Tony Evers vs. Kevin Nicholson<br />
Tony Evers vs. Jonathan Wichmann<br />
Tony Evers vs. generic Republican<br />
Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic
Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican
Despite losing, Michels won five of eight congressional districts. Evers won three of eight congressional districts, including one that elected a Republican.
Partisan clients<br />
Official campaign websites
Official lieutenant gubernatorial campaign websites