This summer, Wisconsin voters quietly make a very loud decision: who stands one heartbeat from the governor. On August 11, partisan primaries for lieutenant governor will decide who lands on each party’s November ticket. On the Republican side, it is a straight one-on-one between Will Martin and former Lancaster mayor David Varnam, which will likely settle U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany’s running mate. Democratic Secretary of State Sarah Godlewski, meanwhile, is cruising through unopposed. The job often flies under the radar, but the choice can reshape a campaign’s message and, every so often, produce a governor in waiting.
How Wisconsin Picks Its No. 2
In Wisconsin, the lieutenant governor is not handpicked in some back room. Instead, voters choose the nominee in a separate partisan primary, then that winner is paired with the party’s gubernatorial nominee on the November ballot, according to PBS Wisconsin. That setup gives voters, not would-be governors, the power to pick the running mate and makes down-ballot organizing and primary turnout unusually important. Campaigns for lieutenant governor often use the primary as a proving ground to sharpen their message and build a future statewide bench.
Who Is On The Ballot
The Wisconsin Elections Commission’s certified candidate list shows two Republicans, Will Martin and David Varnam, and one Democrat, Sarah Godlewski, qualified for the 2026 lieutenant governor ballot, according to the Wisconsin Elections Commission. That slate will be locked in on the official ballot after the state’s certification process later this summer. With only a two-person GOP primary, the August contest should quickly clarify the Republican ticket heading into November.
The Republican Fight So Far
Will Martin’s campaign has been leaning hard on the Republican Party of Wisconsin endorsement he picked up in mid-May, a boost his team says will help with delegates and conservative donors, according to a party release published by Urban Milwaukee. Endorsements can matter in the inside-baseball world of party organizing, although primary voters do not always follow convention cues. Tom Tiffany’s jump into the governor’s race has raised the stakes on the GOP side, since whoever wins the August 11 lieutenant governor primary will join Tiffany on the Republican ticket in November, as reported by Wisconsin Public Radio.
A Short History Of Mixed Tickets
Wisconsin’s separate-primary system has produced both political launchpads and some slightly awkward pairings. In 2010, Rebecca Kleefisch emerged from a crowded Republican lieutenant governor primary and quickly moved into statewide prominence, a result chronicled by OnMilwaukee. On the Democratic side, Mandela Barnes won the 2018 lieutenant governor primary handily and joined Tony Evers on the ticket, helping fuel a surprise statewide victory that November, according to historical election records. In 2022, state Sen. Roger Roth secured the Republican nomination for lieutenant governor and became part of that year’s GOP ticket, a result noted in public election summaries.
Why Milwaukee Voters Should Care
The lieutenant governor may not run the daily show at the Capitol, but the office sits first in the line of succession, a constitutional role laid out in state reference volumes and the Wisconsin Blue Book. That means the job is more than ceremonial. It matters in moments of crisis or if a governor leaves office midterm, and it gives the officeholder a statewide platform for future campaigns. For Milwaukee and the surrounding region, frequent lieutenant governor stops at neighborhood events often double as early organizing, volunteer recruitment, and turnout work, the unglamorous mechanics that decide tight statewide races.
What Happens Next
With the August 11 primary drawing near and the November 3 general election already marked on every campaign calendar, the next checkpoints are the pre-primary mail blitzes and the early fundraising reports that follow certification. The official candidate roster from the Wisconsin Elections Commission will remain the final word on who appears on the ballot. Watch which lieutenant governor contender quietly builds a real statewide field operation and the donor support to sustain it, since that organizational edge often decides low-turnout primaries. Whoever emerges from the Republican primary becomes Tiffany’s running mate in November, while Godlewski’s unopposed run has already settled the Democratic side of the lieutenant governor ticket.
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