2026 Midterms State GuideWisconsin
Hold on to your cheese curds and cranberries.
Polls are closed
Polls are closed in Wisconsin, and results aren’t finalized yet.
Ballots are still being counted, close races can take days to call, and no result is official until it’s certified.
A prayer for Wisconsin
Father of all, in the midst of Wisconsin’s nationally watched election, we ask that You would steady the hearts of its people with Your steadfast care. Protect voters’ judgment from being swept up in pressure or noise. Anchor them in wisdom instead, seeking the righteousness of Your Kingdom and the flourishing of their communities.
Read the whole prayerUpdated
Hi! It’s me, Shadrach. Apparently, I’m your civic guide today. If you’ve been complaining about how things are going (and I’ve heard you... the walls are thin), this guide will help you feel informed and able to vote in this year’s midterms. Now, hold on to your cheese curds and cranberries, and let’s get into it.
Wisconsin at a glance
Wisconsin votes on Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026, for governor, all 8 U.S. House seats and three statewide ballot measures.
- Election Day
- Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026
- Voter registration
- Oct. 14: Last day to register online or by mail (deadline for mailed forms to be postmarked).
- Early voting
- Oct. 20 to Nov. 1: In-person absentee voting at local municipal clerk's offices.
- Governor
- 3 candidates
- U.S. House
- 8 seats
- Statewide ballot measures
- 3
What happens next
The counting continues
Election-night numbers are unofficial. Mail, provisional, and military ballots are still being counted, so close races can take days to call.
Officials double-check the count
Local election officials review the ballots and the tallies (the canvass). A very close race can go to a recount.
Wisconsin certifies the results
Results become official once Wisconsin certifies them, usually a few weeks after Election Day.
Winners take office
The new Congress takes office in early January. Governors and other state officials take office on dates set by state law, most of them in January too.
Important dates
- Aug. 11Primary This date has passed.
- Oct. 14Last day to register online or by mail (deadline for mailed forms to be postmarked). This date has passed.
- Oct. 20 to Nov. 1In-person absentee voting at local municipal clerk's offices. This date has passed.
- Oct. 29 (5 p.m.)Deadline to request an absentee ballot. This date has passed.
- Oct. 30 (5 p.m.)Last day to register in person at your municipal clerk's office. This date has passed.
- Nov. 3General Election Day. Polls open 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. (You can register at your polling place with proof of residence. Absentee ballots must reach clerk by 8 p.m.) This date has passed.
What’s at stake
Wisconsinites have inflation on the brain. In a 2026 Marquette Law School poll, 70% of voters said they were “very concerned” about inflation and cost of living, followed by healthcare (61%), taxes (50%), abortion policy (50%), and jobs and the economy. Record numbers of voters value reducing property taxes over funding K-12 schools, which is where the majority of that revenue goes, with 49% of voters being “very concerned” about property taxes. The purple state’s gubernatorial race is expected to be one of the country’s most closely watched, and with WI-3 being one of the most competitive House seats in the country, America’s Dairyland is poised to be a likely pickup in Dems’ race to reclaim Congress.
Who’s on your ballot
Tap a race to see the candidates.
Wisconsin is choosing a governor
See whose priorities line up with yours
Here are the top priorities each candidate lists, in their own words. Pick the 2 that matter most to you. Names stay hidden until you see your results.
0 of 2 picked
- Top priorities
David CrowleyDemocrat- Growing local businesses and union jobs by expanding his Building Bridges program statewide
- Modernizing and expanding apprenticeships in the trades, health care and green energy
- Streamlining permits and expanding access to capital for small businesses
Tom TiffanyRepublicancurrent U.S. House Representative, district seven
Top priorities- Freezing property taxes and repealing the 400-year school-funding increase Gov. Evers created by partial veto
- Expanding manufacturing and reliable energy and protecting Wisconsin workers from foreign labor competition
- Raising teacher pay and holding schools accountable
- Jamie Jo CarothersIndependent
write-in
All U.S. House of Representatives seats are up for election every two years. Find your district here.
- Shadrach’s big picture
Wisconsinites will elect eight candidates to represent them in the House. Republicans are expected to hold five of those seats.
- Open seats
One. WI-7’s incumbent Rep. Tom Tiffany (R) is on the ballot for governor.
- Competitive districts
WI-3 is considered a competitive toss-up district (currently held by a Republican) and is among the most competitive seats in the country. WI-2 and WI-4 are ranked solidly Democratic, WI-1 is ranked likely (but not solidly) Republican, and the rest are ranked solidly Republican. WI-2 is guaranteed to Democrats because no Republican filed to run.
Statewide ballot measures
3 to read before you go. Tap one to open it.
This amendment would prohibit the state or any political subdivision, such as cities and counties, from ordering the closure of, or forbidding, gatherings in places of worship in response to a state of emergency, including a public health emergency.
Voting yessupports banning the state and local governments from closing places of worship or forbidding gatherings in them during an emergency, including a public health emergencyVoting noopposes this amendment, keeping the government’s power to close places of worship during emergenciesThis amendment would prohibit any governmental entity from discriminating or granting preferential treatment based on race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin in public employment, public education, public contracting, or public administration.
Voting yessupports banning every level of government from discriminating or giving preferential treatment based on race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin in public hiring, education, contracting, and administration, including through diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) hiring programsVoting noopposes this amendment, maintaining the government's ability to have hiring programs that prioritize historically marginalized groupsThis amendment would place a new limit on the governor's partial veto power. Wisconsin's constitution already lets the governor strike individual words or letters from spending bills to change their meaning, though it currently bars the governor from inventing new words or combining sentence fragments in the process. This amendment would add a further restriction: prohibiting the governor from using that veto power to create or increase any tax or fee.
Voting yessupports barring the governor from using the partial veto to create or raise any tax or feeVoting noopposes the measure, keeping the governor’s partial veto as it is now, with no specific bar on using it to create or raise a tax or fee
Also on the ballot
Other races Wisconsin voters will decide.
- Lieutenant Governor
- Attorney General
- Secretary of State
- Treasurer
- State Senate
- State House
- State Supreme Court
- Intermediate appellate courts
- School boards
- Municipal government
- Local ballot measures
Whose job is it?
Ten things government does. Tap the office that does each one.
Whose job is it to…
1 of 10
Declare a state of emergency after a hurricane or flood?
Pass it on
Know someone voting in Wisconsin?
Send them the guide. It takes one tap, and it saves them an evening of arguing in a group chat.
From the newsroom
How TPO has covered Wisconsin this cycle. Tap one to read it here.
A prayer for Wisconsin
Father of all, in the midst of Wisconsin’s nationally watched election, we ask that You would steady the hearts of its people with Your steadfast care. Protect voters’ judgment from being swept up in pressure or noise. Anchor them in wisdom instead, seeking the righteousness of Your Kingdom and the flourishing of their communities.
Keep candidates from performance, posturing, and contempt. Instead, help them campaign with transparency and integrity. May whoever wins steward the weight of this office well, leading with dignity and discernment.
For the Wisconsinites who will be disappointed by the result, comfort them and make Yourself known in their fear of tomorrow. And for those who will be pleased, turn their hearts toward love of neighbor, humble service, and gracious speech. Open doors for conversations about the good news that Your sovereignty is not suspended on election night, and Your good purposes aren’t undone by any election cycle.
Amen.