Missy Hughes
Missy Hughes (Democratic Party) ran for election for Governor of Wisconsin. She is on the ballot in the Democratic primary on August 11, 2026. Hughes unofficially withdrew from the race but will continue to appear on the ballot.[source]
Governor Tony Evers (D) appointed Hughes to lead the state's Economic Development Corporation in 2019.[1]
Biography
Missy Hughes earned a bachelor's degree in political science from Georgetown University and a law degree from the University of Wyoming. She served for 17 years as a dairy executive at Organic Valley.[1]
2026 battleground election
Ballotpedia identified the August 11 Democratic primary for governor of Wisconsin as a battleground primary. The summary below is from our coverage of this election, found here.
Mandela Barnes (D), Francesca Hong (D), and two other candidates are running in the Democratic primary for governor of Wisconsin on August 11, 2026. As of July 2026, Barnes and Hong led in endorsements, polls, and fundraising.
Incumbent Tony Evers (D) is not running for re-election. Wisconsin Public Radio's Anya Van Wagtendonk said, "[T]he sizeable field means the candidates will have their work cut out for them as they seek to build name recognition and war chests ahead of the August primary."[2] Wisconsin Watch's Brittany Carloni quoted professor Anthony Chergosky as saying, "there are multiple factors that could play a role in pushing one of the Democrats out in front ... [including electability], a compelling biographical story, unique political experience or signature policy issues."[3]
Barnes was elected lieutenant governor on a ticket with Evers in 2018 and ran for U.S. Senate in 2022 rather than seeking re-election. He served in the Wisconsin Assembly from 2013 to 2017. In a campaign ad, Barnes said, "The only way for our state to move forward is to reject the Washington way and get things done the Wisconsin way. It isn't about left or right. It's not about who can yell the loudest. It's about whether people can afford to live in the state they call home."[4]
Hong was elected to the Wisconsin Assembly in 2020. She works as a chef and community organizer. In a campaign ad, Hong said, "We can fully fund our public schools and have universal childcare. We can guarantee paid leave and have cheaper health care. We can fix a rigged system that puts oligarchs over workers and small businesses."[5]
Also running in the primary are Joel Brennan (D) and Kelda Roys (D). Three other candidates will appear on the ballot. Missy Hughes (D) suspended her campaign on June 22, 2026, and endorsed Sara Rodriguez (D).[6] David Crowley (D) suspended his campaign on July 8, 2026, and endorsed Rodriguez on July 9.[7][8] Rodriguez suspended her campaign on July 17, 2026.[9]
As of July 2026, major election forecasters rated the general election Toss-up. In 2022, Evers defeated Tim Michels (R) 51.1%–47.8%. In 2024, Donald Trump (R) defeated Kamala Harris (D) 49.6%–48.7% in the presidential election in Wisconsin. The last Republican to win election as governor of Wisconsin was Scott Walker (R) in 2014.
Elections
2026
See also: Wisconsin gubernatorial and lieutenant gubernatorial election, 2026
Wisconsin gubernatorial election, 2026 (August 11 Democratic primary)
Wisconsin gubernatorial election, 2026 (August 11 Republican primary)
General election
The primary will occur on August 11, 2026. The general election will occur on November 3, 2026. General election candidates will be added here following the primary.
The candidate list in this election may not be complete.
General election for Governor of Wisconsin
Jamie Jo Carothers (Independent) is running in the general election for Governor of Wisconsin on November 3, 2026.
Candidate | ||
 | Jamie Jo Carothers (Independent) (Write-in)  | |
| ||||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Jill Ferguson (G)
- Oliver Carranza (Olive Party)
- Crystal Harper (Independent)
- David King (Independent)
- Mike Kohn (Independent)
- Travis Swenby (Independent)
- Dennis Williams (Independent)
Democratic primary
Democratic primary for Governor of Wisconsin
The following candidates are running in the Democratic primary for Governor of Wisconsin on August 11, 2026.
Candidate | ||
 | Mandela Barnes | |
 | Joel Brennan | |
 | David Crowley (Withdrew, still on ballot) | |
 | Francesca Hong | |
 | Missy Hughes (Withdrew, still on ballot) | |
 | Sara Rodriguez (Withdrew, still on ballot) | |
 | Kelda Roys | |
| ||||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Kirk Bangstad (D)
- Brett Hulsey (D)
- Zachary Roper (D)
- Ryan Strnad (D)
Republican primary
Republican primary for Governor of Wisconsin
Andrew Manske (R) and Tom Tiffany (R) are running in the Republican primary for Governor of Wisconsin on August 11, 2026.
Candidate | ||
 | Andrew Manske | |
 | Tom Tiffany | |
| ||||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Bill Berrien (R)
- Josh Schoemann (R)
Campaign finance
Polls
- See also: Ballotpedia's approach to covering polls
Polls are conducted with a variety of methodologies and have margins of error or credibility intervals.[10] The Pew Research Center wrote, "A margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points at the 95% confidence level means that if we fielded the same survey 100 times, we would expect the result to be within 3 percentage points of the true population value 95 of those times."[11] For tips on reading polls from FiveThirtyEight, click here. For tips from Pew, click here.
Below we provide results for polls from a wide variety of sources, including media outlets, social media, campaigns, and aggregation websites, when available. We only report polls for which we can find a margin of error or credibility interval. Know of something we're missing? Click here to let us know.
| Poll | Dates | Barnes | Brennan | Crowley | Hong | Hughes | Rodriguez | Roys | Other | Undecided | Sample size | Margin of error |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Marquette Law School Note"Other" includes 0% who said they would vote for Brett Hulsey (D) and 0% who said they would vote for Zachary Roper (D). | – | 11 | 2 | 3 | 14 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 65 | 393 RV | ± 6.7% |
Marquette Law School Note"Other" includes 1% who said they would vote for Brett Hulsey (D). | – | 10 | 2 | 3 | 11 | 2 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 65 | 394 RV | ± 6.3% |
Marquette Law School Note"Other" includes 0% who said they would vote for Brett Hulsey (D) and 0% who said they would vote for Ryan Strnad (D). | – | -- | -- | 3 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 81 | 378 RV | ± 6.9% |
| Note: LV is likely voters, RV is registered voters, and EV is eligible voters. | ||||||||||||
Candidate spending
The tables below contain data from financial reports submitted to state agencies. The data is gathered and made available by Transparency USA. Transparency USA tracks loans separately from total contributions. View each candidates’ loan totals, if any, by clicking “View More” in the table below and learn more about this data here.
Satellite spending
- See also: Satellite spending
Satellite spending describes political spending not controlled by candidates or their campaigns; that is, any political expenditures made by groups or individuals that are not directly affiliated with a candidate. This includes spending by political party committees, super PACs, trade associations, and 501(c)(4) nonprofit groups.[12][13][14]
If available, this section includes links to online resources tracking satellite spending in this election. To notify us of a resource to add, email us.
Endorsements
Ballotpedia is gathering information about candidate endorsements. To send us an endorsement, click here.
Campaign themes
2026
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Missy Hughes has not yet completed Ballotpedia's 2026 Candidate Connection survey. If you are Missy Hughes, click here to fill out Ballotpedia's 2026 Candidate Connection survey.
Who fills out Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey?
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Campaign finance summary
Campaign finance information for this candidate is not yet available from OpenSecrets. That information will be published here once it is available.
See also
2026 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Information submitted to Ballotpedia via email on December 19, 2025
- ↑ Wisconsin Public Radio, "Wisconsin’s crowded governor’s race remains crowded after filing deadline," June 1, 2026
- ↑ Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service, "In Wisconsin governor’s race, Democrats have a range of options with no clear front-runner," February 2, 2026
- ↑ YouTube, "Reality Check – Barnes campaign ad," accessed June 10, 2026
- ↑ YouTube, "We Make Better Possible," accessed June 10, 2026
- ↑ Wisconsin Examiner, "Hughes suspends campaign for Wisconsin governor, endorses Rodriguez," June 23, 2026
- ↑ Fox 11 News, "Crowley ends campaign for Wisconsin governor," July 8, 2026
- ↑ Wisconsin Examiner, "David Crowley endorses Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez in Democratic primary," July 9, 2026
- ↑ NBC News, "Wisconsin Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez drops out of the governor’s race," July 17, 2026
- ↑ For more information on the difference between margins of error and credibility intervals, see explanations from the American Association for Public Opinion Research and Ipsos.
- ↑ Pew Research Center, "5 key things to know about the margin of error in election polls," September 8, 2016
- ↑ OpenSecrets.org, "Outside Spending," accessed December 12, 2021
- ↑ OpenSecrets.org, "Total Outside Spending by Election Cycle, All Groups," accessed December 12, 2021
- ↑ National Review.com, "Why the Media Hate Super PACs," December 12, 2021
