WASHINGTON (AP) — Democratic Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers showed strength over Republican challenger Tim Michels in even the conservative Milwaukee suburbs.

That’s what led The Associated Press to be able to call the governor’s race for Evers early Wednesday. Evers also racked up big turnout in Dane County, a Democratic stronghold that includes Madison.

Evers ousted GOP Gov. Scott Walker by fewer than 30,000 votes in 2018, setting up a hotly contested race for this year’s reelection campaign.

The stakes couldn’t have been higher this year in swing-state Wisconsin, one of the nation’s few remaining presidential battlegrounds.

As the winner of the 2022 gubernatorial matchup, Evers will be in office for the 2024 election, with the power to certify the results of that race — or reshape the state’s election machinery ahead of it.