• The DPI race featured incumbent Jill Underly and GOP-backed education consultant Brittany Kinser.
• The controversial overhaul of state testing benchmarks featured prominently in the race.
• The position is technically nonpartisan, though both sides received big boosts from the state’s political parties

State Superintendent Jill Underly won a second term in Tuesday’s election, defeating Republican Party-backed education consultant Brittany Kinser.

With 71% of the vote in, Decision Desk HQ projects Underly, a Democrat, received 53% of the votes to Kinser’s 47%. Her win extends a longstanding pattern of union-backed DPI candidates declaring victory.

The state superintendent plays a critical role in advocating for K-12 education statewide as the head of the Department of Public Instruction. The position takes on even more importance during President Donald Trump’s second term as he seeks to dismantle the federal education department and send power back to the states, a point Underly underscored throughout her campaign.

The level of spending was unprecedented for a Wisconsin superintendent race, totaling at least $5.4 million. That eclipses the $3 million record spent in the 2021 race, according to WisPolitics.

The four-year superintendent position is technically nonpartisan, though both sides received big boosts from the state’s political parties because they can funnel unlimited amounts of money to campaigns.

Underly, who has worked in public schools her entire career, was first elected in 2021. In this race, she raised at least $1.3 million and benefited from at least $1.7 million in outside spending supporting her or attacking Kinser. She cast herself as an experienced candidate who would defend public schools amid Trump’s cuts.

Kinser called herself a moderate and was backed largely by conservatives. Her career began as a Chicago Public Schools special education teacher, then moved into charter school administrative work. She also led City Forward Collective, a Milwaukee nonprofit organization that advocates for charter and voucher schools.

More: Everything you need to know about the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction superintendent race

Among Underly’s vulnerabilities in the race was her controversial overhaul of the state’s proficiency benchmarks for standardized tests. Kinser and Republicans argued the changes “lowered standards” because the new scores students need to be considered proficient are lower than under the previous system.

Democratic Gov. Tony Evers even criticized Underly over the changes, though he recently vetoed a bill approved by the GOP-controlled Legislature to restore testing to the previous system because he wanted the DPI to remain an independent agency.

Underly said the changes came at the request of Wisconsin teachers and more accurately reflect student achievement. Her campaign questioned moving back to the previous system, which aligned with a national test, because the Trump administration has canceled one of those national exams and put the testing director on leave.

Underly was also called out for skipping at least four debate opportunities, which she blamed on her busy schedule. Kinser went so far as rearranging her schedule to participate in the only candidate forum Underly agreed to during the race.

School choice was another fault line between the candidates. Underly said she would ultimately like to see Wisconsin’s 35-year school choice program eliminated because vouchers reduce funding available for public schools. Kinser supports school choice, but repeatedly refused to say whether she supported supported a universal voucher program.

Underly attacked Kinser over lacking a Wisconsin teacher’s license, though it’s not a requirement to serve as superintendent. Kinser had an administrator’s license when she led a Milwaukee charter school but it expired last summer when she worked as a consultant. Kinser renewed it recently, according to DPI records.

The superintendent earns a $146,183 salary this year.

(This story will be updated.)

Kelly Meyerhofer covers higher education in Wisconsin. Contact her at [email protected] or 414-223-5168. Follow her on X (Twitter) at @KellyMeyerhofer.