These were Wisconsin’s biggest political stories of 2025

A governor decides not to run. A judge is prosecuted by the president. Schools’ pleas are ignored, pushing property taxes higher. Farmers and families get rolled by Trump’s Washington.

As 2025 comes to a close, the president ends the first year of his second term clearly less popular in Wisconsin (and the rest of the country) than when he started — but Donald Trump and congressional Republicans were able to use this time to enact measures that will hammer Wisconsin families, farmers, manufacturers, and small businesses for many years to come. 

The Trump agenda makes up many of the top political stories we covered in Wisconsin in 2025. In fact, other than a liberal governor and a conservative justice making waves by bowing out of office and a state budget debate that failed to fix the way we fund our schools, there was little in the way of Wisconsin political news this year that wasn’t smudged by MAGA fingerprints.

Evers kicks off 2026 campaign by quitting it

In the early afternoon of July 24, Gov. Tony Evers released what he called “A Love Letter from Me to Kathy and My Family—and to You, Wisconsin.” In it, the governor said he was confident he would win a third term if he sought it, but had instead decided to retire after 50 years in public service.

“Here’s the truth: Wisconsin, the only thing I love more than being your governor is being a husband, a dad, and a grandpa,” he wrote. “Marrying Kathy is the greatest accomplishment of my life because it gave me a lifetime with her, three amazing kids, and nine incredible grandkids. For five decades, my family has sacrificed to give me the gift of service. They’re my world. And I owe it to them to focus on doing all the things we enjoy and love doing together. It’s why, Wisconsin, I’m announcing that I will not be running for a third term.”

Evers was the mild-mannered foil to frustrated Republicans whose control of the Legislature only extended to the limits of the governor’s veto pen. He frequently blocked GOP efforts to restrict voting accessibility, increase gun availability, limit reproductive rights, and strengthen private school vouchers at the expense of public education.

A thundering herd of candidates for governor

The day after Evers’ announcement, Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez was ready with an announcement, complete with video, declaring her intention to seek the state’s top post. She told us voters appreciate that she isn’t a career politician—and the former nurse and healthcare executive criticized GOP lawmakers for doing little to address major problems like the crisis of affordable childcare.

Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley was also quick to express interest in running, not long after a visit to the Chippewa Valley to discuss affordable housing.

The gubernatorial field includes two legislators, Sen. Kelda Roys and Rep. Francesca Hong, both Madison Democrats, and two former members of Evers’ administration: Missy Hughes, former chair of the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation, and Joel Brennan, former secretary of the Department of Administration. 

On Oct. 7, Attorney General Josh Kaul announced he would not run for governor and would instead seek a third term as the state’s top law enforcement officer. 

Former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes joined the race on Dec. 2, saying he would push to expand Medicaid healthcare coverage for Wisconsin families, close tax loopholes for the very wealthy, and cut taxes for middle class families. 

There are currently two Republican candidates for governor: US Rep. Tom Tiffany and Washington County Executive Josh Schoemann.

State Supreme Court campaigns past and future

The world’s wealthiest man — and arguably the most powerful at one point — found his political Waterloo in Wisconsin. Elon Musk poured nearly $20 million in personal and outside spending into April’s state Supreme Court race to succeed retiring liberal Justice Ann Walsh Bradley. His chosen candidate, Brad Schimel, was easily beaten by Justice Susan Crawford, whose victory cemented a progressive majority.

Anticipation was building for a 2026 race that would have seen conservative Justice Rebecca Bradley seeking reelection, likely against progressive Appeals Court Judge Chris Taylor, a former legislator. But Bradley abruptly announced in late August her intent to not run for a new 10-year term. If Taylor wants to increase the liberal majority, she will likely face off against conservative Appeals Court Judge Maria Lazar.

Trump II: Pain Now, More Pain Later

President Donald Trump returned to power in January and moved quickly with a Republican Congress to enact an agenda that was heavy on promises to enact painful cuts for years to come and noticeably light on addressing the affordability issues that won him a narrow victory in Wisconsin and nationwide.

The year began with a question: “Trump’s inaugural speech is at odds with the Wisconsin economy. Could he trash the ongoing recovery?”

The year ends with another query: Does Trump’s Wisconsin economy seem ‘A+++++’ to you? He thinks so.

Wisconsin farmers and manufacturers were among the first to feel the impact of a new trade policy rooted in conflict and tariffs against global trading partners as well as adversaries.

An analysis by the New York Times in March showed how tariffs imposed by Canada, China, and the European Union in response to Trump’s trade war would be concentrated on industries that account for 9.5% of the Wisconsin workforce, while the other 49 states will see an impact on 1% to 8% of their labor force. Adding insult to injury, as China stopped importing soybeans from US farmers and turned to purchases from Argentina, Trump announced a $40 billion bailout to that South American competitor to Wisconsin exports.

In early July, Trump signed a package of massive spending cuts that only partially offset an even larger set of tax breaks geared to corporations and the very wealthy. Trump called the bill big and beautiful, but it calls for generational pain for families having a hard time making ends meet. More red tape was added to Medicaid. Enhanced tax credits that made health insurance more affordable were allowed to lapse. An estimated 270,000 in Wisconsin could lose coverage as a result. More restrictions on nutrition assistance could force nearly 44,000 in Wisconsin to have a harder time affording groceries and cost state taxpayers $70 million in administrative costs.

The Trump package passed out of Congress with only two House Republicans and two GOP senators opposing it. All of Wisconsin’s Republicans voted yes, with US Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-Prairie du Chien) even screaming at and belittling those who pointed out the many constituents who would face devastating cuts.

“I’m over it! Stop it!” Van Orden yelled at a Northwestern University professor who works to improve nutrition education and health programs. Like many Republicans, Van Orden claimed any cuts would be borne fully by undocumented immigrants, despite that being mathematically impossible.

Rural health care also found itself in an even more perilous position once the Trump-GOP cuts came into focus. 

“About half of rural hospitals are working on a negative margin, so they are taking in less money than they’re spending,” said Dr. Jill McMullen of Tomah. “So [they will] stop delivering babies, or stop having various specialists, or closing different areas of the hospital.”

Care for pregnant women became more challenging in 2025 with a Trump-supported increase in government intimidation and limits on medical options. Others who were encouraged by Trump’s campaign pledge to cover infertility treatment options saw their hopes dashed by the presidential reality of another promise broken.

Veterans were another group that learned early on that Trump saw them as “waste” to be cut from the federal budget, with an estimated 80,000 firings expected, according to one memo.

“I’ve been blindsided,” said James Stancil, a 62-year-old Army veteran who was fired from his job as a supply technician at a VA hospital in Milwaukee. “My life has been completely upended with zero chance to prepare. I’m not dead weight. You’re tossing off the wrong stuff.”

Even Wisconsinites suffering weather disasters weren’t spared from Trump’s redistribution of wealth away from middle class families, as he refused some of the disaster aid requests that followed 1,000-year flash flooding in the southeastern part of the state. Trump’s rejection statement even included his ongoing false claim about the results of a presidential election from five years ago.

An Outbreak of McCarthyism

Taken alone, the September murder of conservative provocateur Charlie Kirk was already one of the year’s most significant news stories and also a tragic reminder of the dangers of political violence in a free democracy. But the situation was made worse by Van Orden’s rage-filled campaign to get people fired for expressing opinions on social media about Kirk. 

In an environment reminiscent of disgraced Wisconsin Sen. Joseph McCarthy’s ‘Red Scare’ in the 1950s, Van Orden and others unleashed a torrent of social media posts that led to the firings, resignations, or other punishments to hundreds of Americans, including Ellsworth teacher Krista Lesiecki, before others spoke out.

Legislature forces more school referendums

The state of Wisconsin ends the year with a general fund surplus of nearly $4 billion, a figure that provides affirmation for legislative Democrats who claimed the new state budget adopted in July was filled with missed opportunities to provide better investments in education, health care, child care, and services for homeless veterans.

Republican legislators refused to provide any increase to state general school aid, continuing a 16-year streak of state aid failing to keep up with inflation. As a result, K-12 school property taxes in Wisconsin rose 7.8% on December bills, the largest increase in more than three decades,” according to the Wisconsin Policy Forum. And of the state’s 421 school districts, a record 241 had some kind of referendum in 2024 and another 94 in 2025, asking voters to approve higher property taxes to make up for the Legislature’s intentional shortfall.

Shipbuilding, a shutdown, and a judge targeted

Among the other stories likely to have resonance beyond 2025: 

Milwaukee County Judge Hanah Dugan was arrested and later convicted after the Trump administration singled her out for prosecution for directing an undocumented immigrant to use a door that exited her courtroom steps away from the main door.

Marinette Marine loses a major shipbuilding project after the Trump administration canceled a new line of frigates.

A federal government shutdown hurt services and federal workers for 43 days because Republicans in Congress refused Democrats’ic demands to restore tax credits that made health insurance more affordable.

Former Dane County judge Jim Troupis was ordered to stand trial in Dane County on a felony forgery charge for his role in Trump’s fake elector scheme in the 2020 presidential election.

And Republican lawmakers took time over the summer to write letters to Canadian officials and complain about the smoke from wildfires. Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew called it a “timber tantrum” and called them “attention-seekers who can’t come up with a good idea on health care or on making life more affordable, so they’re playing games with something that’s very serious.”