2010 Wisconsin gubernatorial election

The 2010 Wisconsin gubernatorial election took place on November 2, 2010, to elect the governor and lieutenant governor of Wisconsin. The primary elections on September 14 determined which candidates advanced to the general election.

Incumbent Democratic governor Jim Doyle did not seek re-election in 2010, making for the first open gubernatorial election in Wisconsin since 1982. Republican nominee Scott Walker, the Milwaukee County Executive, defeated Democratic nominee Tom Barrett, the mayor of Milwaukee. As of 2022, this was the last gubernatorial election in which a Republican gubernatorial candidate carried La Crosse and Columbia counties, and the last in which a Democratic candidate carried Trempealeau County.

Declared

 * Tom Barrett, Mayor of Milwaukee and former U.S. Representative and candidate in 2002
 * Tim John

Failed to qualify

 * Jared Gary Christiansen
 * Dominic Reinwand

Declared

 * G. Spencer Coggs, state senator from Milwaukee and former state representative for 20 years.
 * Tom Nelson, Democratic Majority Leader in the Wisconsin State Assembly, member since 2005 representing Outagamie County.
 * Henry Sanders
 * James L. Schneider

Declared

 * Mark Neumann, former U.S. Representative and nominee for the U.S. Senate in 1998
 * Scott Paterick
 * Scott Walker, Milwaukee County Executive and candidate in 2006

Failed to qualify

 * William "Bill" Ingram, truck driver and write-in candidate for President of the United States in 2008
 * John Schless

Declared

 * Brett Davis, state representative from Oregon, Wisconsin.
 * Rebecca Kleefisch, former WISN-TV morning anchor and frequent on-air contributor to Charlie Sykes' radio show on WTMJ (AM).
 * Robert Gerald Lorge
 * Dave Ross, Mayor of Superior, Wisconsin
 * Nick Voegeli

Declared

 * James Dean Langer (Independent)
 * James James (Common Sense)

Failed to qualify

 * Michael J. Blinkwitz
 * Terry Virgil

Candidates
Seven candidates appeared on the primary election ballot: two Democrats, three Republicans and two other candidates. After Walker and Barrett won their respective primaries, they faced each other and independent candidates using the "Independent" and "Common Sense" labels in the November general election.

Results by county

 * 

Counties that flipped Democratic to Republican

 * Barron (largest city: Rice Lake)
 * Burnett (largest village: Grantsburg)
 * Clark (largest city: Neillsville)
 * Iron (largest city: Hurley)
 * Jefferson (largest city: Watertown)
 * Marathon (largest city: Wausau)
 * Monroe (largest city: Sparta)
 * Oneida (largest city: Rhinelander)
 * Outagamie (largest city: Appleton)
 * Rusk (largest city: Ladysmith)
 * Washburn (largest city: Spooner)
 * Buffalo (largest city: Mondovi)
 * Columbia (largest city: Portage)
 * Door (largest city: Sturgeon Bay)
 * Dunn (largest city: Menomonie)
 * Forest (largest city: Crandon)
 * Grant (largest city: Platteville)
 * Jackson (largest city: Black River Falls)
 * Kenosha (largest city: Kenosha)
 * Lafayette (largest city: Darlington)
 * Lincoln (largest city: Merrill)
 * Pepin (largest city: Durand)
 * Price (largest city: Park Falls)
 * Richland (largest city: Richland Center)
 * Sawyer (largest city: Hayward)
 * Winnebago (largest city: Oshkosh)
 * Adams (largest city: Adams)
 * Polk (Largest city: Amery)
 * St. Croix (Largest city: Hudson)
 * Sauk (largest city: Baraboo)
 * La Crosse (largest city: La Crosse)
 * Vernon (largest city: Viroqua)