Some years unfold quietly. Others make their case early and never let go. In 2025, Wisconsin produced people, institutions, and civic moments that mattered beyond their zip codes. These ten winners shaped the year through leadership, persistence, or cultural weight.
Sean Duffy
Sean Duffy returned to national prominence in 2025 in a way few Wisconsin politicians ever have. Serving as United States Secretary of Transportation while also taking on responsibilities as acting administrator of NASA, Duffy became one of the most influential Wisconsin voices in Washington. His rise reflected a Midwestern governing style that values execution over performance and competence over spectacle.
Susan Crawford
Susan Crawford’s victory in the Wisconsin Supreme Court election reshaped the most powerful institution in state government. The race drew national money, national attention, and national consequences. Once again, Wisconsin proved it is where legal theory takes a back seat to raw political reality and where court decisions reverberate far beyond state borders. Honorable mention: The Democratic Party of Wisconsin, which continues to out fundraise, out organize and out motivate its rival Wisconsin GOP.
Janesville
The opening of the Woodman’s Sports and Convention Center marked one of the most consequential civic investments in Janesville in decades. Designed to attract youth sports tournaments, conventions, and regional events, the facility was built to generate hotel stays, restaurant traffic, and repeat visitors. with the help of state and federal funds, Janesville civic leaders chose to invest rather than retreat.
George Webb Restaurants
When the Milwaukee Brewers ripped off a long winning streak in 2025, George Webb’s once again honored one of Wisconsin’s most beloved traditions by giving away free burgers. What started decades ago as a playful promotion has become a civic ritual. It is part superstition, part celebration, and entirely Wisconsin. In a serious year, a lighthearted promise kept still mattered. Honorable mention: the aforementioned Brewers, who had their best season in franchise history in 2025.
Jay Weber
Jay Weber retired in 2025 as one of the most dominant figures in Wisconsin radio history. For decades, he did not merely compete for listeners. He consistently led the ratings in southeastern Wisconsin and shaped the tone of conservative talk radio through preparation, discipline, and audience trust. His departure marked the end of an era. The original conservative radio talkers of Wisconsin have all left the medium, although Weber and some others, like his colleague Mark Belling, continue to share their talents on podcasts and other venues.
Becoming Beloit
Beloit’s turnaround in 2025 was not rhetorical. It was visible. New housing, employer recruitment, downtown activity, and infrastructure alignment moved forward together. The Becoming Beloit television show helped promote the city and was part of the region’s measurable progress.
Data Center Proponents
In 2025, Wisconsin’s data center advocates made a serious push to position the state for the next phase of the digital economy. Utilities, labor groups, local officials, and economic developers argued that Wisconsin’s reliable power grid, water access, available land, and climate make it a natural home for hyperscale infrastructure. Their efforts succeeded in communities all across the state, despite growing concerns over the centers’ impact on Wisconsin utility rates and worries over the loss of productive farmland, intense light pollution and other environmental impacts.
Wisconsin State Fair
The Wisconsin State Fair only failed to draw more than one million visitors during its 2025 run because of severe flooding and high temperatures that cancelled the grand finale. They will rebound. The attendance figure represents vendor revenue, tourism dollars, and one of the last truly shared civic experiences in the state. Beyond food and concerts, the fair is a perpetual win because it remains social glue at a time when common ground is increasingly rare.The success isn’t a given. It’s the result of hard work and visionary leadership.
Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty and Institute for Reforming Government
WILL and IRG spent the year forcing clarity where government often prefers ambiguity. Through litigation, policy analysis, and public records work, both organizations influenced debates over race based programs, administrative authority, and transparency. Agreement was not universal, but impact continues to be unmistakable.
Kevin Conroy
Kevin Conroy closed out 2025 at the center of one of the largest business stories in Wisconsin history. The announced acquisition of Exact Sciences by Abbott valued the Madison based diagnostics company at roughly twenty one billion dollars. Under Conroy’s leadership, Exact Sciences grew from a local biotech gamble into a global cancer screening leader while keeping jobs, talent, and capital rooted in Wisconsin. Oh, and the year netted Conroy one heck of a hard-earned windfall.
