Underly beats Kinser in state instruction superintendent race

Wisconsin Superintendent of Public Instruction Jill Underly won her reelection bid Tuesday, April 1, beating her Republican-backed challenger Brittany Kinser by more than 100,000 votes.

With more than 95% of votes counted as of April 2, Underly had won about 53% of the vote, with Kinser at about 47%.

“Tonight we celebrate a victory not just for our campaign but for every educator, family and most importantly, kids across our great state,” Underly said, speaking to supporters on election night. “I’m just deeply honored and humbled by the trust that you’ve placed in me to continue serving as your state superintendent of public instruction. This victory belongs to all of us who believe in the power of public education. It’s a testament to our shared commitment to ensuring that every child in Wisconsin has access to a high-quality education regardless of their zip code. And together we champion the belief that public dollars should fund public schools, and tonight that belief has been reaffirmed.”

Underly, who was endorsed by the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, has served as state superintendent since 2021.

While officially nonpartisan, the 2025 race was a key partisan focal point and the most expensive superintendent election in Wisconsin history, reaching a record $4.5 billion in campaign spending by late March.

One major issue in the race was student achievement standards in reading and math that Underly changed during her term.

Republicans claimed she had lowered standards, though Underly characterized her actions as an ordinary update.

“Every few years we do change standards. We take out some outdated ones and we add new ones — and that was not unusual,” Underly told PBS Wisconsin in March. “I think the point that became contentious was that we had changed the grading scale because the scoring scale previously was aligned to a different test.”

Republicans in the Wisconsin State Legislature passed a bill to return the state to its old academic standards earlier in March, but Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers vetoed it.

Underly has been outspoken against the Trump administration’s agenda on education. 

“This isn’t a game for our kids and their families,” Underly said in a statement last month, responding to a letter issued by Secretary of Education Linda McMahon that referred to planned changes to the federal department as its “final mission.” “Funding, programming and guidance from the federal government supports all Wisconsin students. This collective focus ensures the high-quality education of all learners.”

The Trump administration has moved quickly to make cuts at the Department of Education in the little more than two months since the start of Trump’s second term, initiating a reduction in force on March 11, something it says will result in more than 2,000 layoffs, or about 50% of its workers.

And while the president can’t legally eliminate the Department of Education without an act of Congress, he signed an executive order March 20 directing the secretary of education to begin the process of winding down the department.

The elimination of the department would dissolve protections against discrimination that it enforces through its Office for Civil Rights, as well as end a major source of funding for schools nationwide, according to experts. State and local governments largely fund K-12 education, but the federal agency allocates billions of dollars as well, including the $18.6 billion in grants to disadvantaged schools and the $14.1 million in grants for special education contained in the final budget of former President Joe Biden.

“With the Trump administration hellbent on dismantling the U.S. Department of Education, our role in defending and advocating for public schools becomes even more critical,” Underly said Tuesday night. “We must stand united to protect the funding and resources that our schools and kids so desperately rely on to succeed.”

Kinser conceded the race Tuesday night in a short speech to her own supporters.

“I just want to say that I’m so proud of the campaign that I ran in the last 106 days,” she said. “We wanted so much better for our kids. It didn’t turn out the way that we wanted it to, but I’m just so grateful for all of you here.”