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But within two weeks of the election, Evers – an unpretentious Democrat, governor candidate in Wisconsin – is about to do something that has long eluded professional Democrats: defeating Republican Governor Scott Walker.
According to an average of polls, Evers wins out ahead of Walker in the final weeks of the campaign, which has led Republican agents in the state and Washington to think that 2018 is the best chance for a Democrat to eliminate someone whom he had wanted to expel for years.
"I'm the underdog," Walker told CNN.
Why is this the case? This is a more complicated question, since even the most ardent Democrats in the city's most liberal enclaves consider Evers, the superintendent of schools in Wisconsin, as an unenthusiastic candidate. Democratic voters have described it as "adequate", "not very exciting" and someone who lacks "a lot of charisma", but then claimed that they were "guaranteed" to vote for him because of their deep dislike of the governor.
Walker certainly faces a series of unique headwinds. His almost universal recognition in Wisconsin has created a state full of hardened partisans and detractors, with only a few people in the middle indecisive about him personally. He is also asking voters to support him for the fourth time in eight years, which even Walkers' closest advisers admit is difficult. And he's running for a third term in a year in which Republicans are facing a negative reaction created by President Donald Trump's presidency.
"People like it or hate it," said a senior Republican official. "So, it's the best chance the Democrats have to beat him."
Overall, the environment opened in Evers a real opening to becoming the next Wisconsin governor, a palpable feeling among state democrats.
But in a mid-term election where Democrats saw previously unknown candidates propel themselves into national conversation on the back of exciting personalities – notably Texas Senate candidate, Beto O. Rourke, the candidate for the post of Florida governor Andrew Gillum and Georgian governor candidate Stacey Abrams – Evers and his Vice President Mandela Barnes seem to succeed despite the modest nature of the educators.
"It's adequate," said Caroline Schmitt, a 40-year-old dermatologist from Madison. "It's not very exciting – it's a traditional democrat and it fits the model of people who have been elected to the position of president for 200 years."
Katie Kaliszewski, a 32-year-old Madison cultural resource specialist, echoed this sentiment.
"I'm really excited to vote for him, but I do not think he's a very exciting candidate," she said. "I really hate, really Scott Walker."
The Capitol Times, a Madison-based newspaper, captured this success by describing the governor's race as two competing vanilla ice cream cones.
"Bland on fand," read the title.
Health care and education
Walker knows he's facing a tough battle this year.
Standing in a campaign office in the suburbs of Milwaukee – sporting a Milwaukee brewers hat, a custom jersey (Walker # 45 because he's the 45th Governor of the State), fluffy jeans and boots with laces – the twice-elected governor urged voters not to take anything for granted. In a deep, humble subtlety, Walker said his biggest concern was not that voters were tired of seeing his name on the ballot – called Walker's fatigue – but that they simply assume that # 39, he is doomed to victory.
But Walker has also begun to mention Tommy Thompson, the last Republican to win more than three Wisconsin mandates, more than anyone else, a subtle recognition that his constant presence is a problem he is trying to solve.
"People here have heard me say that we could not take this for granted – my main concern is not fatigue, but complacency," Walker said.
His argument is as follows: when he took office, the state was overtaxed and underperforming. Although he took office and promptly angered the Democrats, who tried unsuccessfully to recall him in 2012, he lightened the state's tax burden and ensured that he there are jobs for those who want it. This success, Walker argues, leads politically less committed people to believe that he can lose and, as a result, stay at home.
It's not so simple for Walker, though.
In addition, surveys have shown that the economy is not the most important issue of elections. This designation is in the areas of education or health, two areas in which Walker is on the defensive.
Walker is in the same complicated situation as Republicans in the country. The governor carried the anti-Obamacare sentiment to victory in 2010, but the law against which he bent and his state is trying to overthrow is working against him.
Evers the attack on the fact that repealing Obamacare would mean overturning rules that impose coverage on people with pre-existing conditions. Walker responded by cutting glossy ads about his promise to always fix the problem, calling him "personal" for him.
"I will always cover the pre-existing conditions in this state," he said during the election campaign.
But when asked why he was not withdrawing from the trial, he turned around.
"No, because Obamacare is awful," Walker said. "We can protect pre-existing conditions in this state without protecting Obamacare."
Walker tried to counter the story by promising to fund schools at the same level as Evers, but even the governor's supporters believe he's losing on the subject.
"If you are an education voter who has only one problem," said Patrick Evans, Green Bay mayoral candidate and supporter of Walker, "you're probably going to reach you." in Evers ".
All about Walker
Democrats are proud of the Evers campaign. They believe that he has led a solid race, focused on key issues and engaged voters who ran in the 2016 election.
But even the most senior Democratic representatives working on the race admit that it's less of a concern.
"The race is more about Walker than anything else," said one of these agents.
Evers disagrees with this sentiment and, in an interview with CNN, asserted that his interest in education and health care was what was pushing his candidacy forward. Evers said the widespread discontent that helped Trump win Wisconsin in 2016 also helped him.
"This dissatisfaction is the same as we see with people around Scott Walker who do not invest in education, do not care about our natural resources," he said. "I offer them a positive vision of the future", in the manner of a "fully funded education system".
But the Democrat is well aware of the feeling that Walker is unbeatable, which was developed after the Democrats failed to recall it in 2012.
When a reporter asked him that Walker would not lose a race for decades, Evers quickly stepped in.
"He lost the race to the presidency, so I think he's lost relatively recently," he said with an ironic smile. "He failed miserably on the stage."
Evers bet is that by focusing on education, he can recreate this result and oust Walker. Among the Liberals, it seems to work. Democrats after Democrats, they voted against Walker because of Act 10 or the state schools of Wisconsin.
And John Kuse and Jenny Kuse, who returned to Wisconsin to raise their daughter because of schools many years ago, said that they supported Evers because of his position in education.
"I think Scott Walker really did a lot of damage to our state during our tenure," said Jenny Kuse, his daughter standing nearby.
John accepted and congratulated Evers for his educational platform. But when asked about his thoughts on Evers, the candidate animates him less.
"Not a lot of charisma there," said John.
This feeling became a joke in the Evers campaign, even the candidate sat down to read "Mean Tweets" about this call.
"Damn, it was very fun," he says.
Barnes, the young African-American comrade of Evers, is in the joke and often tells the public that his average age is 48.5 years old. But when one insisted on the feeling that Evers was not an enthusiastic democrat, Barnes undoubtedly offered the most effective defense of his candidate for vice-presidency.
"The people of Wisconsin simply want a governor to stand up for their interests," he said. "I think that's what really matters.You do not have to burn the room with a fiery speech to be a good governor."
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