Tony Evers

Anthony Steven Evers (/ˈiːvərz/ EE-vərz; born November 5, 1951) is an American politician and educator serving since 2019 as the 46th governor of Wisconsin. A member of the Democratic Party, he served from 2009 to 2019 as Wisconsin's 26th superintendent of public instruction.

Born and raised in Plymouth, Wisconsin, Evers was educated at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, eventually receiving a Ph.D. After working as a teacher for several years, he became a school administrator, serving as a principal, until he assumed the office of district superintendent. Evers first ran for Superintendent of Public Instruction in 1993 and again in 2001, losing both elections. Evers was instead appointed deputy superintendent, a position he served in from 2001 to 2009. In 2009, he ran for Superintendent of Public Instruction again, this time winning. He was reelected twice, in 2013 and 2017.

In August 2017, Evers announced that he would run for governor of Wisconsin in the 2018 election. He won the crowded Democratic primary in August 2018, defeating ten other candidates with 41% of the vote. Incumbent Republican governor Scott Walker was seen as vulnerable and had been criticized for his education policies. Evers defeated Walker by a margin of 1.1% and was reelected by a larger margin of 3.4% in 2022, defeating Republican nominee Tim Michels.

Evers frequently uses the governor's veto power due to his opposition to much of the Republican-controlled Wisconsin Legislature's agenda. As governor of Wisconsin, his veto power is stronger than veto power in other U.S. states. He has used his veto power more frequently than any governor in Wisconsin history, and has used line-item veto power to change Republican-authored bills.