Ahead of Election Day, we highlighted several races that could shape the future of public pensions. While results are still coming in, the 2026 Midterm elections have already proven to be successful for public pension advocates.
Here are some of the key wins:
- Alaska: Pension champion Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins leads the ranked-choice gubernatorial race with 49% of the vote. The bipartisan union-backed coalition also leads in its effort to expand its majority.
- Michigan: AFL-CIO-backed Jocelyn Benson won the governor’s race, and Democrats secured both legislative chambers, restoring a Democratic trifecta. The results give labor allies an opening to advance pension legislation for corrections officers and other public safety workers.
- Iowa: Rob Sand won the governor’s race, giving public workers an IPERS defender in the governor’s office. Sand opposed the proposal floated by Gov. Kim Reynolds’ DOGE task force in 2025 to shift future employees into a 401(k)-style defined contribution plan.
- Kansas: AFL-CIO-endorsed Cindy Holscher has declared victory, but the race remains uncalled. Holscher defeated a staunch opponent of DB pensions.
- Ohio: Amy Acton’s victory over Vivek Ramaswamy helped secure Ohio’s public pensions. Nearly every affiliate in the Ohio Public Pension Coalition backed Acton. Ramaswamy aimed to invest public pensions in crypto. As is usually the case when a billionaire loses, this is a big win for Ohio public pensions.
- Wisconsin: David Crowley’s victory and Democratic majorities in both chambers create a path to repeal Scott Walker’s Act 10, restore public employees’ collective bargaining rights and dues collection, improve the bargaining position for compensation and healthcare, and bolster their capital organizing strength on pension issues.
- Louisiana: Voters rejected Amendment 5, keeping the requirement that one-time state pension funding pay down the oldest pension debt first.
- Wyoming: Voters defeated Proposition 1 after the Vote No on Prop 1 Coalition organized to protect local services. Opposition included the Wyoming Education Association, the Wyoming Hospitals Association, Republican Gov. Mark Gordon and Democratic former Gov. Dave Freudenthal. The measure would have exempted half of a primary residence’s assessed value from property taxes; opponents warned it would drain funding from counties, schools and special districts.
- Other governors’ races: Katie Hobbs won Arizona, Xavier Becerra won California, and Mike Mazzei won Oklahoma.