Tony Evers

Anthony Steven Evers ( EE-vərz; born November 5, 1951) is an American politician and educator serving since 2019 as the 46th governor of Wisconsin. A member of the Democratic Party, he served from 2009 to 2019 as Wisconsin's 26th superintendent of public instruction. Born and raised in Plymouth, Wisconsin, Evers was educated at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, where he earned bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees in educational administration. After working as a teacher, he became a school administrator, serving as a principal and later as a district superintendent. Evers ran unsuccessfully for Superintendent of Public Instruction in 1993, 1997, and 2001. After his 2001 loss, state superintendent Elizabeth Burmaster appointed him deputy superintendent, a position he held from 2001 to 2009. In 2009, he ran for Superintendent of Public Instruction again and won. He was reelected in 2013 and 2017. In August 2017, Evers announced that he would run for governor of Wisconsin in the 2018 election. He won the crowded Democratic primary in August 2018 with 41.8% of the vote. Incumbent Republican governor Scott Walker was seen as vulnerable and had been criticized for his education policies. Evers defeated Walker by a margin of 1.1% and was reelected by a larger margin of 3.4% in 2022, defeating Republican nominee Tim Michels. Evers frequently uses the governor's veto power due to his opposition to much of the Republican-controlled Wisconsin Legislature's agenda. Under Wisconsin law, the governor's veto power is stronger than it is in other U.S. states. Evers has used his veto power more often than any other governor in Wisconsin history, and has used his line-item veto power to change Republican-authored bills. In July 2025, Evers announced he would not seek reelection in 2026.