6 Key 2018 Midterm Governor Races to Watch

By Samuel Smith, Deputy Managing Editor
Wednesday, October 24, 2018

1. Wisconsin

Republican presidential candidate and Governor of Wisconsin Scott Walker speaks at the Iowa State Fair in Des Moines, Iowa. August 17, 2015. | REUTERS / Joshua Lott

One race labeled as a toss-up by both RCP and FiveThirtyEight is that of Wisconsin Republican Gov. Scott Walker verses Democrat challenger Tony Evers, who is Wisconsin's superintendent of public instruction.

Walker, a former presidential candidate and Milwaukee county executive, has been elected to two four-year terms twice and survived a recall in 2012. He is looking to win his third term in the swing state.

But according to a RCP's average of various polls, Walker trails Evers by 3.6 percentage points, 44.7 to 48.3 percent.

Walker's re-election campaign has suffered some blows as four former high-ranking officials within his administration have come out and opposed his re-election campaign, with the fourth coming out last week.

As for Evers, he has faced criticism over claims that multiple paragraphs he used in a state education department budget request were plagiarized from a conservative education think tank.