The 2018 Wisconsin gubernatorial election took place on November 6, 2018. It occurred concurrently with a Senate election in the state, elections to the state's U.S. House seats, and various other elections. Incumbent Republican Governor Scott Walker sought a third term, and was challenged by Democratic candidate and then-Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Evers, as well as Libertarian Phil Anderson and independent Maggie Turnbull. Evers, along with his running mate Mandela Barnes, managed to defeat Walker and Lieutenant Governor Rebecca Kleefisch in a closely fought and widely watched race, ending the state's Republican trifecta.
The result was considered "too close to call" on election night, with Walker and Evers being separated by a mere few hundred votes for much of the night as counties reported their results. Shortly after midnight on November 7, Milwaukee County reported around 46,000 uncounted absentee ballots. From those ballots, Evers received 38,674 votes, or 84% of the total, and Walker 7,181, giving Evers a narrow lead. The race was called for him shortly after. As of 2026, this is the only Wisconsin gubernatorial election since 2002 where the incumbent was defeated.
Wisconsin was the only state in the 2018 gubernatorial election cycle to elect a Democratic governor while voting more Republican than the national average. With a margin of 1.1%, this election was also the second-closest race of the 2018 gubernatorial election cycle, behind only the election in Florida. Walker was one of two incumbent governors to be defeated for re-election in 2018, the other being Republican Bruce Rauner in neighboring Illinois, who had lost decisively to J. B. Pritzker.
As previously mentioned, the deep purple state of Wisconsin hosted among the most competitive contests for governor in the nation, with Evers edging out Walker by just around 1.1%. He received 49.5% of the statewide vote to Walker's 48.4%, making it the closest gubernatorial election in the state since 1964. It also marked the first time a Democrat won the state's governor's office since Jim Doyle was re-elected in 2006. Despite a relatively small shift from the 2016 presidential election, in which Donald Trump narrowly and shockingly flipped the state, to this one, Evers carried seven counties that were won by Trump two years prior: Columbia, Crawford, Grant, Kenosha, Richland, Sauk, and Vernon.
In comparison to the last gubernatorial race (2014), both candidates improved their parties' vote shares; Walker received around 35,000 more votes than he did in 2014, while Evers received over 200,000 more votes than that of Mary Burke, the Democratic nominee in the last election who ultimately lost to Walker by around 5.7%. Evers' 2018 victory margin was significantly lower than that of Democrat Tammy Baldwin in the concurrent Senate election, in which she was re-elected by a double-digit margin in an impressive display of ticket-splitting.
Evers' victory came amidst key Democratic victories in all other statewide races held concurrently, including pickups in the state's Attorney General (Josh Kaul) and State Treasurer (Sarah Godlewski) races and a solid re-election for Democrat Doug La Follette as Secretary of State.
An asterisk (*) denotes that a candidate withdrew before the primary but remains on the ballot.
Mandela Barnes, a former state representative from Milwaukee, defeated opponent Kurt Kober by a 2 to 1 margin for the nomination, becoming the first African American to be nominated by a major party for a Wisconsin gubernatorial ticket.
Despite the fact that Scott Walker had won three prior races for governor in 2010, 2012, and 2014 by fairly comfortable margins, his bid for a third term was complicated by rising unpopularity due to his policies concerning public education and infrastructure. Walker also faced backlash for a deal his administration made with Taiwanese company Foxconn in 2017 to create jobs in the state in exchange for around $4.5 billion in taxpayer subsidies. In 2018, the deal resulted in around $90 million of funding for roads being diverted to a stretch of I-94 that was set to be near a future Foxconn plant from the rest of state. The poor condition of many roads around the state as well as the lack of work being done to redo them prompted a campaign where potholes were being labeled as âÂÂScottâÂÂ-holes.
Walker's approval ratings were hobbled further by the unpopularity of Republican U.S. President Donald Trump in Wisconsin. Walker himself sounded the alarm on this several times in early 2018 after Democrats won two special elections to the Wisconsin State Senate in typically Republican districts and an election to the Wisconsin Supreme Court. In April 2018, Walker warned that Wisconsin was "at risk of a blue wave" in November. The Walker campaign generally focused on promoting the popular parts of his record, such as a freeze on tuition at public universities and record low unemployment.
The result was expected to be close, with a record $93 million spent on the race by the two major campaigns and special interest groups from in and out of the state. In the end, Walker was ultimately defeated by Democrat Tony Evers, who garnered a slightly more than 1% margin of victory, as Democrats swept every statewide race up for election.
with Kelda Roys<br />
with Matt Flynn<br />
with Mike McCabe<br />
with Mahlon Mitchell<br />
with Josh Pade<br />
with Paul Soglin<br />
with Kathleen Vinehout<br />
with Andy Gronik<br />
with Dana Wachs<br />
Evers won the election by a 1.09% margin.
Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic
Despite losing the state, Walker won five of eight congressional districts.
Despite the close result, Scott Walker was unable to request a recount due to a law he had signed himself two years prior, which requires the margin of difference to be within 1%.
Early in December 2018, a special legislative session was called by Walker to pass a series of bills to limit the powers of Governor-elect Evers, as well as incoming Democratic Attorney General Josh Kaul, who had defeated incumbent Brad Schimel in the concurrent Attorney General election.
Other bills being considered included restrictions on early voting and the passage of Medicaid work requirements, which Walker had previously held off on due to the election. A similar law restricting early voting that was passed several years prior had been ruled as unconstitutional.
The bills were widely denounced by Democrats and others as a "power grab." Representative Gwen Moore described the move as a "coup" that "hijacked the voters' will." Walker and other Republicans meanwhile argued that the bills were necessary âÂÂchecks on powerâ and that they did not actually strip any real powers from the executive. Lawsuits were filed by Evers and various labor unions almost immediately after Walker signed the bills into law.
Official campaign websites