By
Ed Kilgore,
political columnist for Intelligencer since 2015
The front-runner in Wisconsin.
When I first assessed the Wisconsin gubernatorial race in late March, it was accurate to say Democrats had “a huge field with no real favorite.” The field to succeed incumbent Governor Tony Evers included the current lieutenant governor, a former lieutenant governor, the chief executive of the state’s largest county, two prominent state legislators, and one head of a gubernatorial agency. Democrats in this ultimate battleground state had a good range of choices and policy predispositions in a year when a rare governing trifecta seemed within their reach. There was some buzz about the Madison-based democratic socialist legislator Francesca Hong because of her budding grassroots organization and compelling personal story (she’s a young single mom and a former chef). But the undecided vote in the early polls was sky-high and all sorts of scenarios seemed possible.
