MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Sheila Briggs, an assistant Wisconsin school superintendent who served under Tony Evers in the state education department before he was elected governor in 2018, announced Tuesday that she is running for the state’s top education job next year.

Briggs becomes the second candidate to announce they are running for state superintendent of public instruction with the April 2021 election nearly 11 months away. Jill Underly, superintendent for the rural Pecatonica Area School District and a former assistant director at the state Department of Public Instruction, announced her candidacy earlier this month.

Both Briggs and Underly worked together at the education department and have donated to Evers, a Democrat. Evers held the job for nine years before using it as a launching pad to run for his successful run for governor in 2018.

The state superintendent seat is open for the first time since 2009 after state Superintendent Carolyn Stanford Taylor, who succeeded Evers in 2019, announced in January she won’t run for a full four-year term. The position of state superintendent, overseeing the Department of Public Instruction, has broad powers overseeing the state’s public school system.

Both Briggs and Underly are running as advocates for public education. A conservative-backed candidate has yet to emerge.

State superintendent races are officially nonpartisan but typically pit Democratic-backed supporters of public schools against candidates with more conservative support who are often advocates for taxpayer-funded vouchers and other choice programs.

Briggs said in an interview Tuesday with The Associated Press that future funding for the statewide voucher program will have to be evaluated.