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Brett Hulsey

Democratic Party

Candidate, Governor of Wisconsin

Prior offices:

Wisconsin State Assembly District 78

Years in office: 2011 - 2015

Elections and appointments

Next election

August 11, 2026

Education

Bachelor's

Middlebury College, 1982

Graduate

University of Oklahoma, 1988

Contact

Campaign website

Personal Facebook

Personal X

Personal Instagram

Personal YouTube

Personal LinkedIn

Personal TikTok

Brett Hulsey (Democratic Party) is running for election forGovernor of Wisconsin. He declared candidacy for the Democratic primary scheduled onAugust 11, 2026.^[source]

Hulsey was a member of theWisconsin State Assembly, representingDistrict 78. He assumed office in 2011. He left office in 2015.

Biography

Hulsey obtained a B.A. from Middlebury College and an M.S. in Natural Science from the University of Oklahoma.

Hulsey had been a Dane County Board Supervisor from 1998 up until his election. Hulsey is the founder and president of Better Environmental Solutions, a small business that consults about renewable energy.^[1]

Committee assignments

2013-2014

At the beginning of the 2013 legislative session, Hulsey served on the following committees:

2011-2012

During the 2011-2012 legislative session, Hulsey served on these committees:

Elections

2026

See also: Wisconsin gubernatorial and lieutenant gubernatorial election, 2026

General election

The primary will occur on August 11, 2026. The general election will occur on November 3, 2026. General election candidates will be added here following the primary.

General election for Governor of Wisconsin

Oliver Carranza (Independent),Crystal Harper (Independent),David King (Independent), andMike Kohn (Independent) are running in the general election for Governor of Wisconsin on November 3, 2026.

		Candidate
	Submit photo	Oliver Carranza (Independent)
	Submit photo	Crystal Harper (Independent)
		David King (Independent)
	Submit photo	Mike Kohn (Independent)

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Democratic primary

Democratic primary for Governor of Wisconsin

The following candidates are running in the Democratic primary for Governor of Wisconsin on August 11, 2026.

		Candidate
		Mandela Barnes
	Submit photo	Joel Brennan
		David Crowley
		Francesca Hong
		Missy Hughes
		Brett Hulsey
		Sara Rodriguez
	Submit photo	Zachary Roper
		Kelda Roys

---

	There are noincumbents in this race.
= candidate completed theBallotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you,complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data?Contact our sales team.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Ryan Strnad (D)

Republican primary

Republican primary for Governor of Wisconsin

Andrew Manske (R) andTom Tiffany (R) are running in the Republican primary for Governor of Wisconsin on August 11, 2026.

		Candidate
		Andrew Manske
		Tom Tiffany

---

	There are noincumbents in this race.
= candidate completed theBallotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you,complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data?Contact our sales team.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Bill Berrien (R)
• Josh Schoemann (R)

Endorsements

2014

See also:Wisconsin Gubernatorial election, 2014

Hulsey was running forelection to the office ofGovernor of Wisconsin. Hulsey did not win theDemocratic nomination in the primary on August 12, but filed as an independent write-in candidate for governor on October 23.^[2]

Results

General election

Governor and Lieutenant Governor of Wisconsin, 2014
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Scott Walker/Rebecca KleefischIncumbent	52.3%	1,259,706
	Democrat	Mary Burke/John Lehman	46.6%	1,122,913
	Libertarian	Robert Burke/Joseph Brost	0.8%	18,720
	Independent	Dennis Fehr	0.3%	7,530
	Nonpartisan	Scattering	0.1%	1,248
	Nonpartisan	Write-in votes	0%	200
Total Votes				2,410,317
Election results viaWisconsin Government Accountability Board

Primary election

Wisconsin Gubernatorial Democratic Primary, 2014
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Mary Burke	83.4%	259,926
Brett Hulsey	16.6%	51,830
Total Votes		311,756
Election results viaWisconsin Government Accountability Board.

2012

See also:Wisconsin State Assembly elections, 2012

Hulsey won re-election in the2012 election forWisconsin State AssemblyDistrict 78. Hulsey defeatedChristopher Fisher in theDemocratic primary on August 14 and defeatedJonathan Dedering (G) in the general election on November 6, 2012.^[3][4]

Wisconsin State Assembly, District 78, General Election, 2012

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Brett HulseyIncumbent	75.4%	22,853
	Green	Jonathan Dedering	24.2%	7,323
	-	Scattering	0.4%	118
Total Votes				30,294

Wisconsin State Assembly, District 78 Democratic Primary, 2012

Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Brett HulseyIncumbent	91.3%	5,215
Christopher Fisher	8.7%	497
Total Votes		5,712

2010

See also:Wisconsin State Assembly elections, 2010

Hulsey defeated RepublicanDavid Redick, Green PartyBen Manski, andIndependentDavid Olson in the November 2 general election. Hulsey defeated Democrats Dianne Hesselbein, John Imes, Fred Wade and Douglas Zwank in the primary election.^[5]

Wisconsin State Assembly, District 77 General Election (2010)
Candidates		Votes
Brett Hulsey (D)		12,142
Ben Manski (G)		7,762
David Redick (R)		4,670
David Olson (I)		373

Wisconsin State Assembly, District 77 Democratic primary (2010)
Candidates		Votes	Percent
Bret Hulsey (D)		2,904	44.17%
Dianne H. Hesselbein (D)		1,992	30.3%
Fred Wade (D)		1,125	17.11%
John Imes (D)		347	5.28%
Douglas C. Zwank (D)		205	3.12%

Campaign themes

2026

Ballotpedia survey responses

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You can ask Brett Hulsey to fill out this survey by using the button below or emailing bretthulsey1@gmail.com.

2010

Hulsey's website highlighted the following campaign themes:"Progress for a better Wisconsin."

• Education
• Conservation - Supports a ban on unnecessary commercial diesel idling.
• Energy - Supports clean jobs, clean energy and clean air.
• Health care - For a healthier Wisconsin.
• Human rights - Supports a woman's right to choose.
• Human services - Believes in protecting vulnerable citizens, and champions seniors.
• Labor - Believes he understands labor issues.

Campaign finance summary

Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf.Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at theFEC website. Clickhere for more on federal campaign finance law andhere for more on state campaign finance law.

Personal

Note: Pleasecontact us if the personal information below requires an update.
Hulsey is married and has two children.

Scorecards

See also:State legislative scorecards andState legislative scorecards in Wisconsin

Ascorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.

Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.

Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states. To contribute to the list of Wisconsin scorecards, email suggestions toeditor@ballotpedia.org.

2014

In 2014, theWisconsin State Legislature was in session from January 14 through June 4.

• Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce: 2013-2014 voting record

Legislators are scored on whether they voted for or against MMAC's position.

• National Federation of Independent Business in Wisconsin: 2013-2014 legislative voting record

Legislators are scored on their votes on small business issues.

• Wisconsin AFL-CIO -Senate &Assembly: 2013-2014 voting record

Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to labor policy.

• Wisconsin League of Conservation Voters: 2013-2014 scorecard

Legislators are scored on their stances on conservation issues.

• Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce: 2013-2014 voting record

Legislators are scored on their votes on legislation WMC deemed as "most important issues for the business community."

• Wisconsin Professional Police Association: 2013-2014 report card

Legislators are scored on their votes by the Wisconsin Professional Police Association on legislation related to Wisconsin's law enforcement community.

• Wisconsin Sierra Club: 2013-2014 scorecard

Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to environmental issues.

2013

2012

See also

2026 Elections

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Newsletters

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External links

Footnotes

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