The 2010 Wisconsin gubernatorial election took place on November 2, 2010, to elect the governor and lieutenant governor of Wisconsin. The primary elections on September 14 determined which candidates advanced to the general election.
Incumbent Democratic governor Jim Doyle did not seek re-election in 2010, making for the first open gubernatorial election in Wisconsin since 1982. Republican nominee Scott Walker, the Milwaukee County Executive, defeated Democratic nominee Tom Barrett, the mayor of Milwaukee. As of 2022, this was the last gubernatorial election in which a Republican gubernatorial candidate carried La Crosse and Columbia counties, and the last in which a Democratic candidate carried Trempealeau County.
There were no qualified candidates in the Libertarian gubernatorial primary.
Seven candidates appeared on the primary election ballot: two Democrats, three Republicans and two other candidates. After Walker and Barrett won their respective primaries, they faced each other and independent candidates using the "Independent" and "Common Sense" labels in the November general election.
Debates
Official campaign websites (Archived)