Gov. Tony Evers Announces Bid For Second Term

MADISON, WI — Wisconsin governor Tony Evers announced he will run for a second term in 2022.

Evers decided to run again because he has unfinished business and needs to remain able to stop Republicans through veto powers, he told The Associated Press on Friday.

"We have lots of work to do that the people of Wisconsin expect us to work on," Evers told the AP. Medicaid expansion, expanding education funding and creating an independent redistricting process are some issues Evers plans to tackle, he told the AP.

Mask mandates, increasing vaccine availability and acquiring federal coronavirus relief funds were measures that helped Wisconsinites during the pandemic, Evers told TMJ4. But Republican counterparts criticize Evers' ability to get kids back in school sooner and not getting benefits to the unemployed quickly enough last year.

"Evers has nothing to campaign on except a record of incompetence, absent leadership and four years of zero accomplishment," Anna Kelly, spokesperson for the Wisconsin Republican Party, told the AP.

Two possible Republican candidates to challenge Evers next year have been named by TMJ4: former Lieutenant Governor Rebecca Kleefisch and former Senate candidate Kevin Nicholson.

Kleefisch told Patch she would make her intentions on 2022 "very clear soon."

Read the full AP story here. TMJ4 recorded an interview with Evers on Saturday, which can be viewed here.