Joel Brennan Launches Campaign for Governor

Joel Brennan. Photo courtesy of Brennan’s campaign.

Joel Brennan is in.

Brennan formally launched his widely expected campaign for governor Thursday morning, adding another name to a crowded Democratic primary field.

“You probably don’t know much about me,” said the candidate near the opening of his two-minute campaign video.

Brennan, 55, spends the first half of the video talking about his childhood and family, including his two kids and wife, before shifting to talk about his most important political experience, serving as secretary of the Department of Administration during Tony Evers‘ first term.

“After Scott Walker and his right-wing legislature had spent eight years gutting state work, we got to work putting the state on a firmer financial footing,” said Brennan before pivoting to talk about the president.

“Thanks to Donald Trump’s chaos and incompetence, the numbers just aren’t adding up for Wisconsin families. Costs, like everything, are out of control, and coming from a family who had to make every dollar count, I know what that feels like,” said Brennan. “I’ll be a governor who will stand up to Trump’s dysfunction and be laser focused on improving the lives of people across our state. With fair maps and a Democratic governor, we can stay true to our values and deliver real and lasting change.”

Brennan is leaving his current job as head of the Greater Milwaukee Committee (GMC), which he’s held since late 2021, to run.

Prior to becoming the top cabinet official in 2019, Brennan served as CEO of Discovery World and leading the Redevelopment Authority of the City of Milwaukee.

Brennan joins a crowded field.

Already running are two other former top Evers officials, former Lieutenant Governor Mandela Barnes and former Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation CEO Missy Hughes. Also in the race are Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez, Representative Francesca Hong, former Rep. Brett Hulsey and Sen. Kelda Roys.

An October Marquette University Law School poll, before Barnes or Brennan entered the race, revealed that approximately 80% of Democrats hadn’t decided who they would vote for.

A partisan primary will be held on Aug. 11, 2026.

Brennan enters the race with at least one important familial connection. His brother-in-law is Exact Sciences CEO Kevin Conroy. Abbott recently announced it would acquire Exact Sciences for $23 billion. Conroy has previously donated to Democratic campaigns and was publicly mentioned as a Democratic candidate the last two times the seat was open.

The GMC announced Thursday morning that Brennan is on leave. Board member Cristy Garcia-Thomas, a longtime executive with Aurora Health Care, is serving as the interim CEO. A spokesperson for the GMC confirmed that there is a possibility Brennan could return to the organization.

A False Claim About the Glory Days

Brennan, who still plays basketball regularly, leans into his high school playing days for Marquette University High School.

He jokes that he and Nick Van Exel, a Kenosha native, once combined to score 49 points in a game, but Brennan scored only eight. It’s a line that might have resonated in the 1990s, when “Nick the Quick” was a starting point guard in the NBA, or in the early 2000s, when Jay-Z was dropping Van Exel’s name in rap lyrics, but how many of the voters he’s courting know who Van Exel is?

The math also doesn’t add up.

A Jan. 13, 1988 Milwaukee Journal box score and article says that the two combined to score 46 points. Brennan scored six, Van Exel scored 40 as Kenosha St. Joseph topped Marquette 83 to 78 in overtime.

The campaign did not respond to Urban Milwaukee’s request for more information on Brennan’s history.

Political History

A longtime friend of Tom Barrett‘s, Brennan was involved in multiple Barrett campaigns, including serving as campaign manager for Barrett’s 2002 gubernatorial bid.

Brennan lost an open race for a state Senate seat in 2003. Jeff Plale narrowly defeated him in the Democratic primary.

He and his wife Audra, the head of philanthropy for Northwestern Mutual, are longtime Brewers Hill residents.