Missy Hughes suspended her campaign for Wisconsin governor Monday and endorsed Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez in the August Democratic primary.
Hughes, the former Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. CEO, called Rodriguez “the best candidate we can put forward to win in November, and to build an enduring coalition to address our state’s most pressing challenges.”
In her announcement, Hughes complimented all of the Democrats in the race for governor. “Each of the candidates seeks to serve the state, and the nobility of that willingness is without comparison,” she said. But she called Rodriguez, one of three Democrats who have pulled ahead in recent weeks, the “best positioned” of the field.
Hughes said her choice was based on her assessment of Rodriguez’s experience along with what she said was a shared belief in the need for a Democratic candidate who can appeal to a large cross section of voters.
“Sara and I share the same hopes and dreams for Wisconsin,” Hughes said. “And we both understand that keeping a Democrat in the Governor’s office in November will only happen if we build a broad coalition of voters. Democrats cannot do it alone, nor should we try to.”
Rodriguez, she said, “is the best candidate we can put forward to win in November, and to build an enduring coalition to address our state’s most pressing challenges.”
Hughes entered the Democratic primary contest about two months after Gov. Tony Evers announced he would not seek a third term.
She had hoped to gain an edge in a field of seven top-tier Democratic hopefuls in the governor’s race through her experience both in government and in the private sector, but not as a previously elected politician. She campaigned on the idea of building Wisconsin’s economy in order to strengthen the state’s support of public education and other state services.
In her six years as WEDC CEO and secretary, Hughes helped reshape the agency to emphasize small business and community economic development along with its mission of supporting larger companies relocating to or expanding in Wisconsin.
She was the face of Wisconsin’s economic response to the COVID-19 pandemic and led the state’s renegotiation of tax incentives that under former Gov. Scott Walker had been promised to Foxconn for a factory that never fulfilled its promise to build high-tech flatscreens in Racine County.
Prior to the WEDC, Hughes served as general counsel at Organic Valley, a national cooperative owned by organic dairy farmers.
