David Crowley has won the Democratic primary for governor of Wisconsin, narrowly defeating state Rep. Francesca Hong and halting a run of victories by progressive insurgents in Democratic contests nationwide.
The Associated Press projected Crowley, the Milwaukee County executive, as the winner with 39.8% of the vote to Hong’s 39.4%, a margin of just over 3,000 votes. The race came down to the wire, with the two candidates running close to each other as each batch of results arrived.
The result was a surprise. Polls had shown Hong, a democratic socialist and state assemblywoman from Madison, as the clear frontrunner entering election day in a crowded Democratic field. Kelda Roys, a state senator, and Joel Brennan, who previously led the Wisconsin department of administration, rounded out the Democratic field.
Crowley had briefly suspended his foundering campaign last month, facing low poll ratings and scarce campaign funds. A previous top contender, Sara Rodriguez, left the race after campaign finance irregularities, and Mandela Barnes, the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate in 2022, dropped out on 31 July. Crowley then re-entered the race with the backing of outgoing Democratic Gov. Tony Evers, who did not seek re-election, in an effort to turn back Hong’s momentum. Crowley raised almost three times as much money after relaunching as he had in the entire year prior.
Hong conceded the race. AP News reported that her campaign manager said Hong was “proud of the race we ran.” Hong, a chef and former restaurant owner from Madison, had run on a platform that included childcare for all, free school meals, and a one-year moratorium on the construction of new datacenters, which differentiated her from her Democratic colleagues in the governor’s race. She had previously vowed to use her grassroots network built during the primary to aid whoever won.
A setback for the left
Hong’s defeat brings to an end a series of wins for left-wing candidates in Democratic primaries. Some of those successful candidates had been endorsed by or affiliated with the Democratic Socialists of America, gaining traction with voters not just by running against Republican policies but by challenging the Democratic status quo in Washington. They have also found traction by demanding the U.S. end or curtail funding to Israel, due to its ongoing military operation in Gaza.
Last week, Abdul El-Sayed won the Democratic primary for Michigan’s U.S. Senate seat, beating Rep. Haley Stevens. In June, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani endorsed progressive Democrats in U.S. House races who won their primaries. There was good news elsewhere for the left. In neighboring Minnesota, Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan secured the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate, defeating her more centrist opponent, Rep. Angie Craig. Prominent left-wing politicians Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who both often endorse insurgent candidates such as Hong, notably stayed out of this race.
Scrutiny and electability
Crowley’s supporters presented him as a more electable alternative to Hong, whose past statements about defunding police, abolishing prisons, and canceling Thanksgiving drew scrutiny. Some of those remarks she later walked back. Crowley is 40. He would be the state’s first Black governor if he wins in the fall. He told voters that national Republican-aligned groups spent millions propping up Hong, ostensibly in an effort to select an opponent they saw as beatable.
He chafed at being called an establishment alternative to a progressive upstart. A native of inner-city Milwaukee, he grew up experiencing eviction and drug addiction in his family. He rose through political positions, working on Democratic U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold’s 2010 reelection campaign, joining the state Assembly, and in 2020 becoming the youngest and first Black Milwaukee county executive. Crowley previously told the Guardian: “We knew that the stakes were too high for me to sit on the sideline, and that we need the best candidate, not just with executive leadership, but somebody who has a proven track record of getting things done.”
Crowley posted on X to say it was time to “get to work.” He reiterated that his missions were “making life more affordable, strengthening our schools, creating good-paying jobs, and making sure opportunity reaches every corner of our state.”
The November governor’s race will be contested by Crowley and U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, who easily won the Republican primary. Tiffany, endorsed by Trump, is one of Congress’s most conservative members by voting record and voted against certifying the 2020 election results. He has highlighted affordability issues, running on a platform that includes lowering taxes, supporting farmers, and improving healthcare. Republicans see the fall election as a chance to flip the governor’s mansion their way.
Wisconsin is a close state for most statewide elections, and its voters are known to swing in either direction. Democrats in Wisconsin are angling for a governing trifecta, trying to win back control of both chambers of the state legislature and keep the governor’s office. Elsewhere in the state, voters in the western part of Wisconsin chose Rebecca Cooke, a blue dog Democrat, to face Republican Derrick Van Orden in the third congressional district.