Tony Evers

Anthony Steven Evers (, born November 5, 1951) is an American educator and politician serving as the 46th governor of Wisconsin since 2019.

Evers was born in 1951 in Plymouth, Wisconsin, the son of Jean (Gorrow) and Raymond Evers, a physician.

His first job was "as a kid, scraping mold off of cheese" in Plymouth.

As a young adult, Evers worked as a caregiver in a nursing home.

He attended Plymouth High School.

He earned bachelor's (1973), master's (1976), and doctoral degrees (1986) in educational leadership from the University of Wisconsin–Madison.

He began his professional career as a teacher and media coordinator in the Tomah school district.

From 1979 to 1980 he was principal of Tomah Elementary School, and from 1980 to 1984 he was principal of Tomah High School.

From 1984 to 1988 Evers was superintendent of the Oakfield school district, and from 1988 to 1992 he was superintendent of the Verona school district.

From 1992 to 2001 he was administrator of the Cooperative Education Service Agency (CESA) in Oshkosh.

Evers first ran for Superintendent of Public Instruction in 1993 and again in 2001, losing both elections.

Evers first ran for state superintendent, a nonpartisan post, in 1993 and was defeated by John Benson.

Evers was instead appointed deputy superintendent, a position he served in from 2001 to 2009.

In 2001, he ran again and finished third in the primary to Elizabeth Burmaster.

After her election, Burmaster appointed Evers deputy superintendent, a position he held until Burmaster was appointed president of Nicolet College.

Evers served as president of the Council of Chief State School Officers and from 2001 to 2009 was Wisconsin's Deputy Superintendent of Public Instruction.

A member of the Democratic Party, he served as Wisconsin's Superintendent of Public Instruction from 2009 to 2019.

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.

In 2009, he ran for Superintendent of Public Instruction again, this time winning.

Evers then ran again in 2009, this time winning.

He defeated Rose Fernandez in the general election.

In 2009, Evers used government email accounts for fundraising purposes.

He and another government employee were fined $250 each for soliciting campaign donations during work hours.

He was reelected twice, in 2013 and 2017.

In April 2013, Evers defeated Don Pridemore and won reelection.

In March 2016, the United States Department of Education announced that Evers had been selected to serve on the Negotiated Rulemaking Committee for Title 1, Part A, of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA).

The committee was charged with drafting proposed regulations for two areas of ESSA.

Evers proposed the "Fair Funding for Our Future" school finance reform plan.

The plan sought to address some of the challenges with the Wisconsin school funding system and proposed changes to ensure equity and transparency in the quality of Wisconsin schools.

On August 23, 2017, Evers announced his candidacy for governor of Wisconsin, challenging two-term Republican incumbent Scott Walker.

Walker was seen as a vulnerable incumbent and had been criticized for his education policies.

In 2017, Evers defeated Republican candidate Lowell Holtz, a former Beloit superintendent, with about 70% of the vote.

Evers won the Democratic primary in August 2018.

Former state representative Mandela Barnes won the primary for the lieutenant governorship, becoming Evers's running mate.

The pair defeated the Scott Walker-Rebecca Kleefisch ticket in the 2018 election.

Evers was reelected by a larger margin in 2022.

Evers is known for his frequent use of his veto power, which is significantly greater for Wisconsin governors than for those of other U.S. states, due to his opposition to the vast majority of the Republican-controlled Wisconsin Legislature's agenda.

He has used his veto power more frequently than any governor in Wisconsin history, and has used line-item veto power to rewrite Republican-authored bills.

In October 2018, a divided federal appeals court found that Evers had violated neither the U.S. Constitution's Free Exercise Clause nor its Establishment Clause when he denied busing to an independent Catholic school because there was a nearby archdiocesan school.