James Edward Doyle Jr. (born November 23, 1945) is an American attorney and politician who served as the 44th governor of Wisconsin from 2003 to 2011. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 41st attorney general of Wisconsin from 1991 to 2003.

Doyle was born in Washington, D.C., and grew up in Madison, Wisconsin. After graduating from the University of Wisconsin–Madison and Harvard Law School, he worked as a district attorney and in private practice. He narrowly defeated incumbent Republican governor Scott McCallum in the 2002 Wisconsin gubernatorial election and was re-elected by a wider margin in 2006, defeating congressman Mark Green.

Jim Doyle was born on November 23, 1945, in Washington, D.C., the son of Ruth Bachhuber Doyle and James Edward Doyle, who were influential leaders of the post-1946 Democratic Party of Wisconsin. His father ran unsuccessfully for governor in 1954 and was appointed as a federal judge in 1965, while his mother was the first woman from Dane County, Wisconsin, to be elected to the Wisconsin State Assembly in 1948. His maternal grandfather, Frank E. Bachhuber, represented Marathon County in the Assembly in the 1930s; his great-grandfather and great-great-grandfather, Andrew Bachhuber and Max Bachhuber, represented Dodge County in the Assembly in the 19th century.

Doyle graduated from Madison West High School in 1963 and attended Stanford University for three years, then returned to Madison to finish his senior year at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. After graduating from college and inspired by John F. Kennedy's call to public service, Doyle worked as a teacher with his wife, Jessica Doyle in Tunisia as part of the Peace Corps from 1967 to 1969. In 1972, Doyle earned his Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School. He then moved to the Navajo Indian Reservation in Chinle, Arizona, where he worked as an attorney in a federal legal services office.

In 1975, Doyle returned to Madison and served three terms as Dane County district attorney from 1977 to 1982. After leaving that office, he spent eight years in private practice. Doyle was elected attorney general of Wisconsin in 1990 and reelected in 1994 and 1998. Between 1997 and 1998, he served as the president of the National Association of Attorneys General. During his twelve years as attorney general, Doyle was considered tough on crime, but not unsympathetic to its causes. He also gained recognition as a result of several successful lawsuits against tobacco companies in the state.

Doyle ran against Republican Scott McCallum, the former lieutenant governor who had assumed the office of governor in 2001 after Tommy Thompson left to become Secretary of Health and Human Services in the George W. Bush administration. On election day, Doyle defeated McCallum by over four percent of the vote, becoming the first Democratic governor in the state since Anthony Earl was defeated in 1986. Libertarian nominee Ed Thompson (brother of Tommy) publicly critical of the negative campaigning of both major party candidates and garnered 10% of the vote.

Doyle defeated Republican Congressman Mark Green in 2006. Doyle topped Green 53% to 45% in a year in which no incumbent Democratic governor, senator, or congressman lost their reelection bid. During the campaign, Doyle was dogged by charges that Georgia Thompson, a state employee, had steered a travel agency contract to a firm whose principals had donated $20,000 to his campaign. Thompson was convicted in federal court in late 2006, which was reversed by the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals in 2007.

Doyle was sworn in on January 6, 2003, at the Wisconsin State Capitol in Madison. Upon taking office, Wisconsin faced a $3.2 billion deficit. The state ended the year 2003 with a deficit of $2.15 billion. Proposals for new programs were constrained by continued budget-cutting and his decision to honor a campaign pledge to not raise taxes. Facing political pressure, he signed a property tax freeze that has resulted in an anticipated decrease in average statewide property taxes in 2003. Doyle's stated priorities were investing in public schools, including the University of Wisconsin System; lowering property taxes; regional economic development; transportation reform; and funding of stem cell research.