Is Governor Evers Too Old to Run Again?

Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers delivers his State of the State address on Jan. 22, 2025, at the State Capitol in Madison, Wis. He is set to propose an overhaul of Wisconsin’s corrections system. (Joe Timmerman / Wisconsin Watch)

On Wednesday, my colleague Bruce Murphy wrote a story speculating that, despite his advanced age, Governor Tony Evers might run for a third term.

Voter bait: the budget features a $2 billion middle-class tax cut, which should appeal to, and will apply to, a wide swath of the electorate.

Murphy writes:

Evers will turn 75 in 2026 and many assumed he would retire after two terms. But this budget tells me he has as much energy as ever, perhaps more. … If he does decide to run for reelection — and most Democratic insiders hope he does — he has created the perfect reelection document. And the more of it that Republican legislators reject, the more of a case Evers can make that he needs to return to office to champion these proposals that most voters support.

Became Governor at 81. Re-elected Twice. Meet Walter Goodland

Murphy’s story led me to recollect the curious case of Republican Walter Samuel Goodland [1862-1947], who took office as Wisconsin’s 31st Governor at the age of 81 on January 4th, 1943. By comparison, Evers was only 67, 14 years younger, when he assumed office as the 46th Governor in 2019, after serving a decade as the Superintendent of Public Instruction

Goodland took a more conventional path to the job, when he took office as the state’s 29th Lieutenant Governor on January 2nd, 1939 at a sprightly 77 years of age. (At the time, the Governor and Lieutenant Governor ran on separate tickets, with terms of two years.)

For the first two terms, Goodland served under Julius Heil, fourteen years his junior. But in the November 1942 election, Heil was handily defeated by the Progressive candidate, Orland “Spike” Loomis, then 48. Goodland, running on his own ticket, was reelected as Lieutenant Governor.

Governor-Elect Loomis turned 49 later that month, but died on December 7th, 1942, before taking office, leading to a succession question. Heil, who lost by 100,000 votes, contended he should continue serving as governor, on account of his replacement being dead. The Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled otherwise, reckoning that Goodland’s standing position as Lieutenant Governor entitled him to the office. On January 4th, 1943, Walter Goodland was sworn in as Acting Governor, a title he was to hold (along with that of Lieutenant Governor) for his first two-year term.

In 1944. Goodland won re-election with 53% of the vote, besting Daniel W. Hoan (1881-1961) who was attempting a comeback after his 1940 defeat as Milwaukee mayor. Goodland thus gained the full rank and dignity of Governor. In 1946 Goodland again faced Hoan, defeating him with 60% of the vote. Alas, the victory was short lived for the nation’s oldest governor.

A Brief Third Term for a “Tough Old Codger”

With Oscar Rennebohm [1889-1968] as his lieutenant, Goodland took his third oath of office on January 4th, 1947. But Goodland died at 84 on March 12, 1947.  Wisconsin for the second time in a row had an Acting Governor.

In an article entitled “Tough Old Codger,” the March 24th, 1947 issue of Time Magazine eulogized the “big, rumpled man in the governor’s chair, puffing his pipe, nibbling cheese, his voice rumbling, his massive head wagging like an amiable St. Bernard’s”:

At the time of his death, he was the oldest state governor in the nation’s history. … Last week as he sat on his bed, winding his big, old-fashioned watch, death came, suddenly and swiftly, for Walter Goodland.

Rennebohm finished the remainder of Goodland’s term serving as Acting Governor before winning a full term as Governor, a position he held until January, 1951, when his term ended. He did not seek re-election and was succeeded by Walter J. Kohler, Jr.

Six Current Governors Older than Evers

It appears that Tony Evers stacks up rather well in the category of Gubernatorial Gerontology. He is 73, and was 67 when he took office in 2019. Six of the nation’s current governors are now older than he and were older when first inaugurated.

• Kay Ivey of Alabama, is 80. She was 72 when she took office in 2017.
• Mike DeWine of Ohio is 78. He was 72 when he took office in 2019
• Henry McMaster of South Carolina is 77. He was 69 when he took office in 2017
• Janet Mills of Maine is 77. She was 71 when she took office in 2019
• Laura Kelly of Kansas is 75. She was 68 when she took office in 2019
• Dan McKee of Rhode Island is 73. He was 69 when he took office in 2021