MADISON, Wis. — Wisconsin’s Democratic-backed incumbent state schools leader will face a Republican-supported challenger after both advanced in Tuesday’s three-person primary.
The winner in the April 1 general election will guide education policy in the battleground state during President Donald Trump’s second term.
Jill Underly, currently serving her first term as state superintendent, and Brittany Kinser, a school choice advocate, both advanced in Tuesday’s primary. Jeff Wright, a rural school superintendent, was eliminated.
Underly was first elected to head the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI) in 2021 with the support of Democrats and teachers unions. She has tried to position herself as the champion for public schools.
She said her win shows that voters “love their public schools.”
“They are also committed to making sure their public schools stay viable and every kid has these opportunities to be successful,” Underly said.
She acknowledged in a statement after her win that there's more work to be done.
Underly was endorsed by the Wisconsin Democratic Party, which also has given her campaign $106,000 this month, and a host of Democratic officeholders.
But the Wisconsin Education Association Council, the statewide teachers union, did not endorse a candidate in the primary. The political action committee for the union had recommended Wright be endorsed.
Wright, a two-time Democratic candidate for state Assembly, tried to cut into Underly’s base of support. He won the endorsements of the Association of Wisconsin School Administrators and the Middleton-Cross Plains teachers union.
Kinser, an education consultant and advocate for the state's school choice program, which allows parents to send their kids to charter schools or use public money to send them to private schools. She is backed by Republicans, including the state party, which has given her campaign $200,000 so far.
After the win, she acknowledged that Wright and her agree on important issues, like restoring high standards for measuring student success. She said she would welcome his supporters and all Wisconsinites, "regardless of their political beliefs."
“I am inspired and humbled by the level of support my campaign has received in just a few short months," Kinser said following her win on Tuesday, adding that she plans to create a "clean slate" and "a fresh start" to DPI if elected come April.
Wisconsin is the only state where voters elect the top education official but there is no state board of education. That gives the person who runs the Department of Public Instruction broad authority to oversee education policy, which includes dispersing money to schools and managing teacher licensing.
Whoever wins will have to manage Wisconsin’s relationship with the Trump administration as it seeks to eliminate the federal Department of Education, which supports roughly 14% of public school budgets nationwide with an annual budget of $79 billion.
Correction: In a previous version of this story, the AP incorrectly stated that Brittany Kinser is an advocate for private schools. The story has been updated to reflect her support for the state's school choice program. (Feb. 19, 2025)
