An empty high school classroom. (Dan Forer | Getty Images)
Democratic incumbent State Superintendent Jill Underly and Republican-backed education consultant Brittany Kinser will advance to the April 1 primary in the race for state superintendent.
With more than 95% of precincts reporting at midnight, Underly won 38% of the vote and Kinser won 34.5% of the vote. Sauk Prairie Schools Superintendent Jeff Wright came in third with 27.5% of the vote, eliminating him from the primary.
Wright thanked his supporters in a statement, saying he was proud of the campaign that he ran.
“I got into this race because I believe that Wisconsin should always be at the forefront of innovation and excellence in public education,” Wright said. “Our districts deserve better from the Department of Public Instruction because Wisconsin’s kids and communities deserve the absolute best from our schools.”
The state superintendent is responsible for overseeing Wisconsin’s 421 public school districts and leads the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI) — an agency whose responsibilities include administering state and federal funds, licensing teachers, developing educational curriculum and state assessments and advocating for public education.
The position is nonpartisan, but the Democratic and Republican parties have both waded into the race providing support, including financial backing to their preferred candidates.
Underly is running for her second term in office, saying that she wants to continue to advocate for the state’s public schools and most recently proposed that the state provide an additional $4 billion in funding for school. She has the backing of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin and the American Federation of Teachers-Wisconsin, the state’s second-largest teachers union.
In a fundraising appeal after the ballots were counted, Underly touted her support of bipartisan literacy legislation, new math and science standards and expanded career and technical education. “Today, our graduation rate is the highest in state history and our schools are ranked 6th in the nation by U.S. News and World Report — up from 14th in 2020,” she said.
Democratic Party of Wisconsin Chair Ben Wikler said in a statement that the party is ready to “wage a strong door-to-door campaign” to help reelect her to a second term. He said Underly’s record “stands in stark contrast to lobbyist Brittany Kinser, who has never even held a teaching license in Wisconsin.”
According to the most recent campaign finance filings, the Wisconsin GOP has contributed $200,000 to Kinser’s campaign. She has also received contributions from Elizabeth and Richard Uihlein, the billionaire owners of the Uline shipping supply company, and Beloit billionaire Diane Hendricks. Her campaign is being managed by Republican former state Rep. Amy Loudenbeck.
“Kinser’s campaign is funded by Republican megadonors and stage-managed by a former Republican legislator because they love that Kinser has promised to drain funds from our public schools and give them to private for-profit schools. Kinser even advocated to remove teacher licensing requirements,” Wikler said. “Our kids don’t need a right-wing puppet to lead our schools.”
Kinser has dubbed herself the only “pro-school choice” candidate in the race and has said she would support increased funding to the state’s school voucher programs. Kinser has said that she wants to improve reading and math education in schools. While supporting increases in special education and rural transportation funding, Kinser has said more transparency and accountability is needed when it comes to funding rather than large increases.
Kinser previously served as principal and executive director of Rocketship schools in Milwaukee and worked for the City Forward Collective, a Milwaukee-based advocacy group that lobbies for school choice.
Kinser said in a statement Tuesday evening that she was “inspired and humbled” by the support for her campaign, and she plan to travel the state in the lead up to the general election and “share my plan to bring a clean slate, a fresh start, and a fundamentally new approach to DPI.”
Wright’s campaign was recommended for the position by the political action committee of the Wisconsin Education Association Council (WEAC), the state’s largest teachers union. While he never received the union’s full endorsement, the primary created a split among public education advocates. Neither Wright nor Underly acknowledged each other’s campaigns in their respective statements.
Kinser, meanwhile, sought to call Wright supporters into her campaign.
“Jeff Wright ran a strong race and we agree on several important issues like restoring the high standards Jill Underly lowered for our children. I am committed to restoring those standards and ensuring every child has the opportunity to go to college, get a meaningful job, or master a trade,” Kinser said. “I welcome Jeff, his supporters, and all Wisconsinites — regardless of their political beliefs — who agree that our kids deserve so much better to join our campaign.”
Wisconsin GOP Chair Brian Schimming called Kinser the “common-sense” candidate in a statement and said Tuesday’s results were a “stand against the far-left policies of Jill Underly. They are fed up with liberal ideas being prioritized over their children.”
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