2025 Wisconsin Superintendent of Public Instruction election
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 | |||||||||||||
April 1, 2025
| |||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
Underly: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% Kinser: 50–60% 60–70% | |||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
| Elections in Wisconsin |
|---|
 |
The 2025 Wisconsin Superintendent of Public Instruction election was a state-wide election held on April 1, 2025, to elect the Superintendent of Public Instruction of Wisconsin for a four-year term. The incumbent superintendent, Jill Underly, was elected to her second four-year term, defeating education consultant Brittany Kinser.[1]
Although the election is technically nonpartisan, Underly received support from the Democratic Party of Wisconsin and Kinser received support from the Republican Party of Wisconsin. Underly won the election with roughly 53% of the vote. Turnout was unusually high for a spring election in Wisconsin, driven by the 2025 Wisconsin Supreme Court election on the same ballot.
Underly and Kinser advanced to the general election as the top two vote-getters in the February 18, 2025, nonpartisan primary. Sauk County superintendent Jeff Wright was eliminated in the primary.
Candidates
While Wisconsin Superintendent of Public Instruction elections are officially nonpartisan, media outlets had identified Jill Underly and Jeff Wright as Democratic-aligned candidates, and the Democratic Party of Wisconsin endorsed Underly.[2] Brittany Kinser's campaign was supported by the Republican Party of Wisconsin, though she described herself as both a moderate and a Blue Dog Democrat.[3][4]
Advanced
- Brittany Kinser, education consultant[5]
- Jill Underly, incumbent superintendent (2021–present)[6]
Eliminated in primary
.jpg)
- Jeff Wright, Sauk Prairie School District superintendent and former Democratic candidate for State Assembly in 2016 and 2018[7]
Endorsements
- Organizations
- Combined Federal Campaign Action Fund[8]
- U.S. representatives
- Gwen Moore, WI-04 (2005–present)[9]
- State legislators
- LaTonya Johnson, state senator from the 6th district (2017–present)[10]
- Kelda Roys, state senator from the 26th district (2021–present)[11]
- Jeff Smith, state senator from the 31st district (2019–present)[12]
- Political parties
- Labor unions
- State legislators
- Dale Schultz, former state senator for the 17th district (1991–2015)[14]
- Labor unions
- Underly—30–40%
- Underly—40–50%
- Underly—50–60%
- Kinser—30–40%
- Kinser—40–50%
- Kinser—50–60%
- Wright—30–40%
- Wright—40–50%
- Wright—50–60%
Results
| Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jill Underly (incumbent) | 177,626 | 37.90% | |
| Brittany Kinser | 161,636 | 34.49% | |
| Jeff Wright | 128,292 | 27.38% | |
| Write-in | 1,055 | 0.23% | |
| Total votes | 468,609 | 100.0% | |
General election
Post-primary endorsements
- State officials
- Tommy Thompson, former Governor of Wisconsin (1987–2001) and former United States Secretary of Health and Human Services (2001–2005)[18]
- Local officials
- Dave Cieslewicz, former mayor of Madison (2003–2011)[19]
- Individuals
- Kaleem Caire, CEO of One City Schools[20]
- Howard Fuller, civil rights activist and former Superintendent of Milwaukee Public Schools (1991-1995)[21]
- Organizations
- Newspapers
- Labor unions
- Newspapers and other media
Polling
| Pollster | Date(s) administered |
Sample size[a] |
Margin of error |
Jill Underly |
Brittany Kinser |
Undecided |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RMG Research (R)[28][A] | February 25–28, 2025 | 800 (RV) | ± 3.5% | 20% | 22% | 58% |
Results
| Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jill Underly (incumbent) | 1,148,427 | 52.71% | |
| Brittany Kinser | 1,022,489 | 46.93% | |
| Adrianne Melby (write-in) | 348 | 0.02% | |
| Write-in | 7,305 | 0.34% | |
| Total votes | 2,178,569 | 100.00% | |
By congressional district
Underly won four of eight congressional districts, including two that were represented by Republicans.[30][better source needed]
| District | Underly | Kinser | Representative |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 50% | 49% | Bryan Steil |
| 2nd | 74% | 26% | Mark Pocan |
| 3rd | 53% | 47% | Derrick Van Orden |
| 4th | 71% | 28% | Gwen Moore |
| 5th | 40% | 59% | Scott L. Fitzgerald |
| 6th | 45% | 55% | Glenn Grothman |
| 7th | 43% | 56% | Tom Tiffany |
| 8th | 47% | 53% | Tony Wied |
