Milwaukee City Hall is crashing a quiet but powerful statewide contest, as Alder JoCasta Zamarripa jumps into a crowded race for Wisconsin secretary of state that suddenly looks a lot more interesting than its sleepy reputation suggests.
With the August 11 primary looming, six candidates are competing to replace Sarah Godlewski as Wisconsin secretary of state and set up a November fight over a surprisingly consequential statewide post. Milwaukee alder JoCasta Zamarripa is the lone Democratic entrant, the Wisconsin Green Party has Pete Karas on the ballot, and four Republicans are battling for the GOP nomination. While the office no longer runs elections, the winner will chair the Board of Commissioners of Public Lands and influence public records and school trust dollars that affect districts across Wisconsin.
Who’s on the ballot
According to the Wisconsin Elections Commission, the June candidate list shows Jay Schroeder, Brayden Myer, Nate Pollnow and Cindy Werner on the Republican ballot and JoCasta Zamarripa (Democrat) and Pete Karas (Green) listed for the fall. The commission’s printed roster notes Sarah Godlewski filed a notification of noncandidacy, leaving the seat open for a new officeholder in 2026. The August 11 primary will determine which Republican advances to the Nov. 3 general election.
What the office actually does
The secretary of state still serves as the state’s recordkeeper and chairs the Board of Commissioners of Public Lands, a three-member board that manages school trust lands and the Common School Fund used to support public education. The Board of Commissioners of Public Lands says it oversees tens of thousands of acres of trust lands and the loans and distributions that flow into libraries and K-12 budgets. Election administration, however, was moved out of the secretary’s portfolio in a 2015 overhaul that replaced the old Government Accountability Board with the Wisconsin Elections Commission, changing who controls day-to-day election rules and oversight; legal summaries and law-bar reporting outline that shift.
Where candidates land
WUWM’s candidate primer and questionnaire responses show clear differences in tone and priorities among the contenders. JoCasta Zamarripa frames her campaign around affordable child care, housing relief and fully funding public schools, and she has attracted endorsements from national and local Democrats. Per her campaign site, Zamarripa also prioritizes protecting the public lands trust that funds school libraries.
At the other end of the spectrum, several Republican hopefuls argue the office should be expanded. WUWM’s reporting and candidate statements show proposals that range from restoring election authority to the secretary to sweeping changes in voting procedures, turning what is typically a low-profile office into a platform for big structural fights.
What the Republican field is selling
On the GOP side, Brayden Myer’s website says he wants to restore duties to the office and transfer oversight of elections back to an elected secretary while pressing for greater transparency at the Board of Commissioners of Public Lands. Nate Pollnow’s campaign emphasizes open records and a public, searchable registry of rules, pardons and enacted laws as a transparency agenda. Jay Schroeder’s campaign frames the office as a vehicle for election integrity and for shifting authority from the appointed commission to an elected official; each Republican candidate is pitching a different blend of oversight and reform on their campaign pages.
Legal questions around petition signatures
Republican Cindy Werner cleared the commission’s ballot review but has faced scrutiny over nomination-paper circulators. Reporting by The Badger Project found a circulator who was on community supervision gathered hundreds of Werner’s signatures, an issue that could have trimmed the campaign’s verified total. The Wisconsin Elections Commission’s June ballot list shows Werner certified for the primary even after a challenge and review of submitted papers.
With ballots finalized and early voting already beginning in some counties, the August 11 primary will set the general-election matchup and focus attention on how, if at all, state lawmakers might respond to proposals to regain election authority for an elected secretary. Voters trying to sort through the unusually crowded field can consult local voter guides, including WUWM’s Voter Guide, for candidate questionnaires and polling-place information ahead of the primary.
