By the numbers: Wisconsin's race for governor

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By the numbers: Wisconsin's race for governor

2025-07-17 03:51 Last Updated At：04:01

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The latest fundraising numbers and campaign spending in Wisconsin's closely watched race for governor shed some light on how the contest is shaping up more than a year before voters will start casting ballots.

Democratic Gov. Tony Evers has yet to say whether he will seek a third term in 2026. Two Republicans have already launched campaigns and one of them started running ads this week. Many others are waiting in the wings.

Here’s a look at some of the numbers related to where the race stood as of Wednesday:

This is the amount Evers raised over the first six months of the year, based on a campaign finance report filed Tuesday. Four years ago, when he was midway through his first term, Evers had raised $5 million over the same period before launching his bid for reelection. The lower amount this year will fuel speculation that Evers might not run again. But Evers also had nearly three-times as many individual donors the past six months compared with the last six months of 2024. And if he decides to run, the Democratic Party could transfer him unlimited amounts of money.

This is how much cash on hand Evers had at the beginning of July. That compares with $7 million he had at this point in 2021, another sign of concern for those who want Evers to run again. But it's also more than any of the early announced Republican candidates.

If Evers runs again, he would be looking to make history as the first Democrat elected to a third four-year term as Wisconsin governor. Republican Tommy Thompson, who was elected governor four times, is the only person to have won more than two four-year terms. The last one to seek a third term, Republican Scott Walker, lost in 2018 to Evers.

This is how many Republican candidates have entered the race thus far. Washington County Executive Josh Schoemann was the first to get in, back in May. He's been busy traveling the state, meeting with Republicans and trying to get his name out. Milwaukee-area businessman Bill Berrien, who got in last week, is looking to make a bigger splash, running ads starting this week targeting conservative voters as he tries to pitch himself as the candidate most aligned with President Donald Trump.

That's how much Berrien's campaign says he's spending on radio, cable TV and online advertising starting this week. No other candidate has started spending on ads this far ahead of the election. The primary is 13 months away in August 2026.

That's how much Schoemann reported raising in two months since he launched his campaign in May. He had about $338,000 cash on hand as of July 1. Berrien launched his campaign after the most recent fundraising period closed. But a super PAC he created before he launched his bid raised nearly $1.2 million. That money can be spent to help his campaign.

Nearly all of that, $1 million, came from a pair of $500,000 donations from Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss.

The Winklevoss twice founded the Gemini cryptocurrency exchange and are most famous to the general public for suing Mark Zuckerberg over the creation of Facebook. They generally back Republicans, and gave both to Trump's campaign and to Elon Musk's political group.

That's how many Republicans and Democrats are considering running.

Evers would almost certainly be uncontested should he seek a third term. Several influential Democrats, including U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan and state party chair Devin Remiker, have said in recent days they hope he runs. Evers said he expects to announce his decision later this month.

Potential Republican candidates include Madison businessman and two-time losing U.S. Senate candidate Eric Hovde, U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany and state Senate President Mary Felzkowski.

Democratic potentials include Attorney General Josh Kaul, Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez, Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson, Secretary of State Sarah Godlewski and state Sen. Kelda Roys, of Madison.

Gunmen kill 9 people at Sydney's Bondi Beach with 1 shooter dead and another arrested

SYDNEY (AP) — Two gunmen shot dead nine people on Sunday at Sydney’s Bondi Beach, police said. One gunman was fatally shot by police and the second arrested.

The suspect was in critical condition, authorities said. A massive emergency response was underway, with injured people loaded into ambulances.

Eleven people were confirmed wounded, according to a statement by police in New South Wales state, where Sydney is located. Two of those hurt were police officers.

Australian authorities haven't confirmed what the target of the mass shooting was. Hundreds had gathered for an event at Bondi Beach called Chanukah by the Sea, which was celebrating the start of the Hanukkah Jewish festival.

Dramatic footage apparently filmed by a member of the public and broadcast on Australian television channels showed someone appearing to tackle and disarm one of the gunmen, before pointing the man’s weapon at him.

Lachlan Moran, 32, from Melbourne, was waiting for his family nearby when he heard shots, he told The Associated Press. He dropped the beer he was carrying for his brother and ran.

“You heard a few pops, and I freaked out and ran away. ... I started sprinting. I just had that intuition. I sprinted as quickly as I could," Moran said. He said he heard shooting off and on for about five minutes.

“Everyone just dropped all their possessions and everything and were running and people were crying and it was just horrible," Moran said.

Police said their operation was “ongoing" and that a “number of suspicious items located in the vicinity” were being examined by specialist officers. Emergency services were called to Campbell Parade about 6.45 p.m. responding to reports of shots being fired.

Local news outlets spoke to distressed and bloody bystanders who witnessed the horror. New South Wales Premier Chris Minns described the reports and images coming from the scene as “deeply distressing."

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said in a statement that his thoughts were with all those affected.

“The scenes in Bondi are shocking and distressing,” he said. “Police and emergency responders are on the ground working to save lives.”

Mass shooting deaths in Australia are extremely rare. A 1996 massacre in the Tasmanian town of Port Arthur, where a lone gunman killed 35 people, prompted the government to drastically tighten gun laws and made it much more difficult for Australians to acquire firearms.

Significant mass shootings this century included two murder-suicides with death tolls of five people in 2014, and seven in 2018, in which gunmen killed their own families and themselves.

In 2022, two police officers were shot and killed by Christian extremists at a rural property in Queensland state. The three shooters in that incident, conspiracy theorists who hated the police, were also shot and killed by officers after a six-hour siege in the region of Wieambilla, along with one of their neighbors.

McGuirk reported from Melbourne, Australia, and Graham-McLay from Wellington, New Zealand.