Crowley, who won election this month, has less than two months to assemble a transition team and prepare a first budget. The Republican-led Joint Finance Committee is scheduled to meet Tuesday to approve state funds for his transition budget, as required by statute. In 2018, the committee approved nearly $95,000 for then-Gov.-elect Tony Evers' transition. As of Friday, Crowley had not announced transition team members or key administration roles, and his campaign did not respond to questions about when those decisions would be shared. He has said he wants his team and Cabinet to represent "the entire state of Wisconsin," adding, "I'm not looking to just bring Milwaukee and Madison to Madison."

Democratic legislative caucuses met Tuesday to choose their leaders. Senate Minority Leader Dianne Hesselbein and Assembly Minority Leader Greta Neubauer both retained their top positions and will become majority leaders. Neubauer will be the first new Assembly speaker in more than a decade and the first woman in state history to hold the role. Retiring Republican Speaker Robin Vos, who took the job in 2013, became the state's longest-serving speaker.

"The coming months will be exciting and challenging. The responsibility of governing is great," Hesselbein wrote ahead of the vote. "Wisconsin families are counting on us and we must now deliver." Neubauer told Assembly Democrats: "We need to pass a visionary policy agenda that will lower costs, support our public schools, protect our rights and freedoms, help working families, ensure safe and welcoming communities, hold big corporations accountable, fight back against federal overreach, ensure a clean environment for future generations, and much more. People must see and feel the results of our work. We must set Wisconsin on a new path."

Senate Republicans elected Sen. Julian Bradley of New Berlin as minority leader last week. Bradley, the first Black lawmaker to serve as a caucus leader, succeeds Sen. Devin LeMahieu of Oostburg, who did not seek reelection. "[Nov. 3's] results changed the math in the Senate, but they didn't change what we believe or who we work for," Bradley said in a statement, adding that Senate Republicans will focus on "protecting taxpayers and expanding opportunity for every Wisconsinite." Assembly Republicans are also scheduled to meet this week, and Rep. Tyler August of Walworth, the current majority leader, plans to run for minority leader, according to WisPolitics.com.

Outgoing Gov. Evers, who signed his last bills and vetoes earlier this year, still faces decisions on pardons and commutations. The deadline for pardon applications during his final months was Oct. 5. Evers has issued a record 2,443 pardons as of late October, according to his office. The Commutation Advisory Board is scheduled to meet Nov. 20; it held its first hearing in August. In a July letter to a victim of a commutation applicant, the board wrote that decisions would typically be made "two to three months after a hearing." Evers reinstated the commutations process via executive orders earlier this year. The last governor to issue a commutation was former Republican Gov. Tommy Thompson.

A special election is scheduled Dec. 15 in Waukesha County to choose the next county executive, a post left vacant by the death of Paul Farrow, who was first elected in 2015 and previously chaired the Republican Party of Wisconsin. State Rep. Adam Neylon of Pewaukee and Sen. Chris Kapenga of Delafield are the only candidates. Both were reelected to their legislative districts last week and have spent more than a decade in the Legislature. If either wins, state law requires resignation from the current office within 60 days of certification, and the governor may call a special election for the legislative seat.

Crowley, Attorney General Josh Kaul, Secretary of State-elect JoCasta Zamarripa and Treasurer-elect Yee Leng Xiong will take their oaths on Jan. 4, 2027, the same day the new legislative session begins and lawmakers in both chambers are sworn in, formally launching Democratic control of the Legislature. Crowley must present his first biennial budget to the Legislature by the last Tuesday in January of odd-numbered years, though he can request an extension. He has said his key priorities will be lowering costs, including health care and child care. After the budget is presented, the Joint Committee on Finance, led by Democrats next year, will hold public hearings to determine legislative priorities. State agencies have already submitted their budget requests to the Department of Administration.

Another statewide election looms in April for an open 10-year Wisconsin Supreme Court seat after conservative Justice Annette Ziegler announced she will not seek a third term. Clark County Circuit Court Judge Lyndsey Brunette and Milwaukee-area Court of Appeals Judge Pedro Colón have announced plans to run. Brunette previously served as the Democratic Clark County district attorney, and Colón spent a decade as a Democratic lawmaker in the Assembly. It remains to be seen whether conservatives will field a candidate after losing five of six contests since Ziegler ran unopposed in 2017. Liberals hold a 5-2 majority on the current court.