Did more Democrats run for Wisconsin governor in 2018 than in 2026? 11%

By Hope Karnopp9% Milwaukee Journal Sentinel11%

7/16/2026, 10:00:00 AM

BS Summary: This article contains 16 faulty reasoning types, including Ambiguity (Equivocation), Negativity Bias, and Confirmation Bias, with Appeal to Authority as the most egregious example at 19.8% saturation with 51 hits. Analysis detected 390 faulty-reasoning hits from 258 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 28% and a BS Rank of 11% (14,942 of 16,737 articles). This article is better (less manipulative) than 89.30% of the article peer group.

If the 2026 Democratic primary for Wisconsin governor seems large, 2018 certainly had it beat. 
That year, 10 names were on the Democratic primary ballot, plus an 11th write-in candidate, according to results of the 2018 partisan primary kept by the Wisconsin Elections Commission. 
Two Republican candidates and two additional write-ins appeared on the 2018 GOP primary ballot. 
The Aug. 11, 2026, primary ballot includes seven Democrats and two Republicans. 
In both years, a few candidates dropped out of the race, but their names remained on the ballot due to approval deadlines . 
As of July 14, that includes Democrats Missy Highes and David Crowley . 
So, only five of the Democrats on the Aug. 11 ballot are still campaigning. 
In 2018, two higher-profile candidates had also dropped out by late June: Andy Gronik and Dana Wachs, though both appeared on the ballot. 
This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one . 
Wisconsin Elections Commission: 2018 Fall Partisan Primary Results: Ward by Ward  Governor 
MyVote Wisconsin: What’s On My Ballot 
Wisconsin Elections Commission: Commission Meeting June 9, 2026  Ballot Access 
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Democrat Missy Hughes drops out of Wisconsin governor race 
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee County Exec David Crowley withdraws from governor's race 
Did more Democrats run for Wisconsin governor in 2018 than in 2026? 
is a post from Wisconsin Watch , a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. 
Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism. 
Confirmation Bias
11.2%
Anchoring Bias
0%
Availability Heuristic
0%
Representativeness Heuristic
0%
Hindsight Bias
8.9%
Overconfidence Bias
0%
Framing Effect
5.8%
Loss Aversion
3.5%
Status Quo Bias
8.9%
Sunk Cost Effect
0%
Optimism Bias
0%
Pessimism Bias
0%
Negativity Bias
15.1%
Self-Serving Bias
4.7%
Fundamental Attribution Error
0%
Actor-Observer Bias
0%
In-Group Bias
0%
Out-Group Homogeneity Bias
0%
Halo Effect
6.2%
Horn Effect
0%
Dunning-Kruger Effect
0%
Recency Bias
5%
Primacy Effect
0%
Blind-Spot Bias
0%
Ad Hominem
0%
Straw Man
0%
Appeal to Authority
19.8%
False Dilemma
0%
Slippery Slope
0%
Circular Reasoning
0%
Hasty Generalization
0%
Red Herring
0%
Bandwagon
0%
Appeal to Emotion
5.8%
Begging the Question
0%
Post Hoc (False Cause)
0%
Tu Quoque
0%
Burden of Proof
0%
Appeal to Nature
0%
Composition/Division
0%
Anecdotal
0%
No True Scotsman
0%
Ambiguity (Equivocation)
19.4%
Gambler’s Fallacy
0%
Middle Ground
0%
Personal Incredulity
0%
Special Pleading
0%
Genetic Fallacy
0%
Unattributed Quote
11.2%
Quote-first Misdirection
0%
Biased Writer Voice
11.2%
Indoctrination
6.2%
Politically Left Leaning Bias
0%
Politically Right Leaning Bias
0%
Attempt to Sell a Product or Service
8.1%

258 words analyzed.

Analysis

Hover over highlighted words in the article to view the associated bias or fallacy analysis.