In a nail-biting election, state Superintendent Tony Evers slid past incumbent Gov. Scott Walker to win the highly-anticipated, narrow race for governor.
Final absentee ballots in Milwaukee County pushed Evers over the line as the Democrat won over the Trump state, despite Walker’s significant advantage in both funds and name recognition.
"I look forward to working with Speaker [Robin] Vos and Majority Leader [Scott] Fitzgerald in the days and months ahead to work for a better Wisconsin," Evers told supporters at his Madison victory party.
Campaigning against much of Walker’s platform, Evers plans to repeal Act 10, protect the Affordable Health Care Act, boost public education and expand current infrastructure funding.
As the state’s chief of schools, Evers hit Walker, who dubbed himself the “education governor,” on public education, advocating expanding levels of state support.
With this win comes one for former state Rep. Mandela Barnes, who will now serve alongside Evers as lieutenant governor.
"As you know, Mandela and I have been traveling around the state and I'm proud to say we ran a positive campaign, focused on the issues that matter most," Evers said. "Better schools, better roads and more affordable health care that includes protections for preexisting conditions."
Evers’ margin of victory marked one of the closest races for governor in the history of the state, just outside the 1 percent threshold for a margin of victory to warrant a recount.
Republicans, however, seem undeterred and will likely pursue a challenge to the final results.
"Thousands of ballots were damaged and had to be recreated," Walker said in a statement. "Until there is a comparison of the original ballots to the recreated ballots, there is no way to judge their validity."
Dane and Milwaukee County showed up big for Evers, voting at about 75 and 65 percent, respectively. Dane County alone yielded 50,000 more votes than in the 2014 midterm.
