MADISON, WISCONSIN – Joel Brennan, a former senior aide in Gov. Tony Evers’ administration, officially announced Thursday that he is entering the 2026 Wisconsin governor’s race, joining an already crowded Democratic primary. Brennan, currently president of the Greater Milwaukee Committee, said he aims to be a governor capable of confronting President Donald Trump’s “chaos and dysfunction” while also building bipartisan cooperation within the state.
Speaking about his background as the tenth of eleven children, Brennan emphasized his experience navigating challenges and finding solutions. “You don’t grow up in a family of 11 kids without learning how to fight,” he said. “But there’s a difference between just fighting and getting something done.” He added that his goal is to foster collaboration with both Democrats and Republicans to achieve tangible results. Brennan faces competition in the Democratic primary from Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez, former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, state Sen. Kelda Roys, state Rep. Francesca Hong, Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, and former state economic development director Missy Hughes.
On the Republican side, U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, a prominent Trump supporter, leads the field and is being challenged by Washington County Executive Josh Schoemann. An August primary will determine the nominees for the November general election. Wisconsin, a politically divided swing state, narrowly supported Trump in 2016 and 2024, and President Joe Biden in 2020.
Brennan, 55, highlighted his 25 years of experience in both the private sector and as Evers’ chief aide during the first three years of his administration. He said he plans to leverage his statewide network to fundraise and assemble a strong campaign team. “It seems as if there’s an opportunity that I may bring something to this field that others don’t,” he said, noting that every candidate will need to prove they can govern effectively from day one.
Brennan previously served as secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Administration from 2019 to 2022 before becoming president of the Greater Milwaukee Committee, an organization of roughly 200 business, nonprofit, and civic leaders focused on southeastern Wisconsin’s economic and civic growth. Earlier, he spent 11 years as executive director of Milwaukee’s Discovery World, the state’s largest science museum.
