Joel Brennan announced Thursday he will run for Wisconsin governor.
He joins a crowded field for the Democratic primary, with Mandela Barnes throwing his hat into the ring just over a week ago.
Brennan once served as Gov. Tony Evers’ top cabinet official in 2018 and is currently the president of the Greater Milwaukee Committee, a group of 200 business and community leaders who work to improve Milwaukee by growing fiscal strength and promoting education, public safety and infrastructure.
He said his experience as the secretary of the state Department of Administration and his work with businesses and nonprofits in southeast Wisconsin sets him up as a strong contender.
Brennan said he would push back against President Donald Trump’s “chaos and incompetence,” as well as conservative policies if elected and focus on cost-of-living issues across Wisconsin.
“Costs, like everything else, are out of control,” Brennan said in his announcement video.
Democrats in the race for governor include former Lt. Gov. Barnes; Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez; state Sen. Kelda Roys, D-Madison, state Rep. Francesca Hong, D-Madison; former state Rep. Brett Hulsey, also of Madison; former Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. secretary and CEO Missy Hughes; Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley and Carthage College student Zachary Roper.
Republicans in the race include U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, R-Minocqua, Washington County Executive Josh Schoemann and Andrew Manske, a Franklin medical service technician.
