Sec. of State Sarah Godlewski becomes the first to launch Wisconsin lieutenant governor campaign

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Secretary of State Sarah Godlewski with her 5-year-old son in her arms officially launched her bid for lieutenant governor on Wednesday. (Photo by Baylor Spears/Wisconsin Examiner)

Secretary of State Sarah Godlewski launched her bid for lieutenant governor on Wednesday — passing on running for governor and becoming the first to enter the field for the position.   

At the Madison Labor Temple, Godlewski was joined by her 5-year-old son, Hartley, who from the podium shyly told people to vote for his mom, and her parents, who she said gave her advice that has led to her decision to run. 

“When you see something wrong, you’ve got to stand up and you’ve got to do something is what has guided me my entire life,” Godlewski said. “Whether it is my career where I started in national security to working in local government to supporting small businesses to eventually running the constitutional amendment to save our state treasurer’s office and now serving statewide, to me, this has always come down to one thing, which is how I can make the biggest difference in Wisconsin.”

Godlewski has served in her current office since March 2023. She was appointed by Gov. Tony Evers to fill a vacancy left when former-Secretary of State Doug La Follette, who had served in the position since 1983, abruptly stepped down less than three months into his term. The position in Wisconsin has been diminished over the years, in part because Republican lawmakers took away its responsibilities and in part because the office lacked resources, though Godlewski has worked to modernize its operations.

Godlewski previously served as state Treasurer from 2019 to 2022, running for the office just a couple of months after leading a successful campaign to urge voters to reject a Republican ballot measure that would have eliminated the position from the state constitution. 

When she won the election for Treasurer in 2018, she flipped nine counties in Wisconsin that voted for Trump in 2016 — something that she noted Wednesday in making the case for her candidacy. She didn’t run for reelection in 2022 because she ran in the Democratic primary for the U.S. Senate that year, withdrawing before the August primary election. 

If elected, the lieutenant governor’s office would be her third statewide position in Wisconsin. Godlewski said her sisters jokingly asked whether she was going for a record when she told them about her campaign. 

“All kidding aside, I’m not running for this office because I need another title,” Godlewski said. “I’m running for this office because I want to be a part of the team that’s not only going to win but is actually going to deliver for the state of Wisconsin.”

Former Democratic Lt. Gov. Barbara Lawton, the first female to hold the office in Wisconsin, and several Democratic state legislators were also at the announcement. Godlewski said she has endorsements from Lawton and 27 of state lawmakers — about 54% of the Democrats in the state Legislature. 

 Former Democratic Lt. Gov. Barbara Lawton, the first female to hold the office in Wisconsin, and several Democratic state legislators, including state Rep. Jodi Emerson (D-Eau Claire), at the podium, were also at Sec. of State Sarah Godlewski’s announcement. (Photo by Baylor Spears/Wisconsin Examiner)
Former Democratic Lt. Gov. Barbara Lawton, the first female to hold the office in Wisconsin, and several Democratic state legislators, including state Rep. Jodi Emerson (D-Eau Claire), at the podium, were also at Sec. of State Sarah Godlewski’s announcement. (Photo by Baylor Spears/Wisconsin Examiner)

Rep. Jodi Emerson (D-Eau Claire) called Godlewski “Eau Claire’s favorite daughter,” saying she “knows how to build coalitions and bring people together across communities and even across partisan divides.” 

“When she sees a problem, she rolls up her sleeves and she digs in and she talks to people who need to get it fixed, from saving the treasurer’s office to revitalizing the treasurer’s office and the Secretary Secretary of State’s office to managing a $1.4 billion dollar trust fund to invest in our communities,” Emerson said — a reference to the Board of Commissioners of Public Lands, which Godlewski has served on both as state treasurer and secretary of state

Godlewski has said she has heard from people across the state who are struggling financially to afford their homes, health care and other expenses. 

“They’re fed up that workers who are critical to our community, like EMT workers and nurses and teachers, can’t even afford a home in the communities that they serve, while they’re watching these billionaires get tax write-offs for their second and third vacation home,” Godlewski said. “They’re fed up that corporations are cashing in on some of the largest tax breaks in our history, and families are getting the scraps.”  

She said she wants to help find solutions for those issues, but can’t work on them as secretary of state. 

Godlewski criticized Republicans and said Wisconsinites deserve better leadership. 

“In Madison this year alone, we’ve seen how Republicans have had an opportunity to expand Medicaid to 90,000 more Wisconsinites. They said no. Republicans had an opportunity to expand postpartum care for new moms. They said no. The Republicans had an opportunity to invest in our kids’ future by supporting and funding public schools. They said, no. But when it comes to giving tax write-offs for corporations and perks to the well-connected, they said yes, yes, yes,” Godlewski said. “This isn’t leadership. It’s betrayal.”

Godlewski told reporters that she decided to run for the number two position over running for governor because she thinks it will be the right fit for her. 

“We’ve got some major challenges we’ve got to solve in Wisconsin, whether it’s affordable health care to families being priced out of their communities, and I want to be a part of the team that’s going to help solve these problems for Wisconsin,” Godlewski said.

In Wisconsin, voters cast votes separately for governor and lieutenant governor during the partisan primary. After the primary, the winners run on the same ticket in November and voters choose them as a pair. 

Wisconsin’s partisan primary is about a year away and the Democratic field for governor is still taking shape. Godlewski didn’t make any endorsements in the race Tuesday.  

“We have a really impressive bench in the Democratic party, and so I look forward to seeing who’s going to get in” and to working with whoever is the nominee, Godlewski said. 

Gov. Tony Evers’ decision not to seek a third term has made the race for governor the first open one in Wisconsin in 16 years and is leading to some other open seats as well, including lieutenant governor and now secretary of state. With Evers not on the ballot, the Wisconsin governor’s race has been rated a toss-up by Sabato’s Crystal Ball

Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez jumped into the race for governor less than 24 hours after Evers announced his retirement. Other Democrats considering a run for governor include Attorney General Josh Kaul, Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, state Sen. Kelda Roys (D-Madison) and state Rep. Francesca Hong (D-Madison).

Washington County Executive Josh Schoemann and Whitefish Bay manufacturer Bill Berrien are the two announced Republican candidates so far. U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany is also considering a run for the office. 

Godlewski told reporters Democrats need to listen to people if they’re going to win statewide in 2026.

“We’re seeing how folks don’t trust politicians, and it’s because they feel like they’re not hearing us. They’re watching a system that’s working for corporations and not for them, and so, how do we build trust? We’ve got to travel the state, meet them where they are, listen and that’s how we rebuild it,” Godlewski said. 

She added she recently met a mom in Kenosha, who “literally has two jobs just to support her family” and met another family in the northern parts of the state who “are still drinking bottled water because they have PFAS that are coming out of their faucet.” 

“These are real big issues, and that’s what I look forward to talking about — things that are keeping Wisconsinites up at night — and actually doing something about it,” Godlewski said.  

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