Tim Michels has conceded the race for Wisconsin governor, giving incumbent Tony Evers a win and a second term in office.
Evers won 51 percent to Michels' 48 percent, but 93 percent of precincts are in, according to preliminary voting data.
WATCH: Tim Michels concedes in the race for Wisconsin governor
Polling including from Marquette University's Law School poll put the race at a statistical tie in the weeks before the election. Wisconsin is one of a handful of battleground states Dems and the GOP have been itching to win big in, not just for statewide races but also for control of the U.S. House and Senate.
WATCH: Gov. Tony Evers delivers his victory speech, "Holy mackerel folks! How about that?"
Evers' campaign in part sought to turn the midterm election into a referendum on abortion, as the Associated Press previously reported, while Michels' campaign honed in on public safety and crime issues.
IMPORTANT ELECTION LINKS:
Tony Evers was elected Governor of Wisconsin in 2018 after beating then-incumbent Gov. Scott Walker. Before serving as governor, Evers worked as the state's superintendent of public schools, whose job it was to lead the state's public school districts. Evers was elected to that non-partisan seat in 2009, 2013 and 2017. Before working as superintendent, Evers worked as the deputy state superintendent as well as a teacher and school principal. Evers was born and raised in Plymouth, Wisconsin. He went on to work in education in Tomah, Oakfield, Verona and Oshkosh. Evers threw himself into his first election in 1993, when he was defeated by then-state superintendent John Benson.
Tim Michels meanwhile is the co-owner with his brothers of the Michels Corporation, the Brownsville, Wisconsin-headquartered construction and energy company. Michels was born in Lomira, Wisconsin. He went on to serve in the U.S. Army for 12 years before joining the family business at Michels Corp. Michels threw himself into the Republican primary race for Wisconsin governor in 2022, winning with 47 percent of the vote. This isn't his first election, though. In 2004, Michels lost to then-incumbent U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold by 10 percentage points.