Crowley edges Hong in tight Wisconsin Democratic primary

Wisconsin Democrats chose a moderate with county executive experience over a progressive challenger in a primary decided by roughly 3,000 votes, leaving the party’s strategy for holding a battleground governorship in November unresolved. Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley defeated state Rep. Francesca Hong 39.8 percent to 39.4 percent after a chaotic contest in which multiple candidates entered and exited and polls consistently overstated Hong’s support. The outcome keeps alive Democratic hopes of retaining the office vacated by retiring Gov. Tony Evers while testing whether voters in a state decided by narrow margins will back a candidate whose record includes past statements on policing and holidays that Republicans have already flagged for attack. Crowley, 40, re-entered the race in July after suspending his campaign and received Evers’s endorsement once Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez and former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes withdrew. He emphasized his administrative record and argued that only a candidate with broad appeal could defeat Rep. Tom Tiffany, the unopposed Republican nominee backed by President Donald Trump who voted against certifying the 2020 election results. Hong, 37, a former chef and the first Asian American member of the Wisconsin Legislature, ran on a platform that included raising the minimum wage to $20 an hour indexed to inflation, guaranteed paid leave, universal childcare, free school meals, and a one-year moratorium on new AI data centers. She drew endorsements from Reps. Ilhan Omar and Ro Khanna but not from Sen. Bernie Sanders or Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Hong faced renewed scrutiny over years-old social media posts advocating defunding the police and calling to “cancel Thanksgiving” to protest colonialism; she later said she no longer supports cutting police budgets and described the Thanksgiving post as a joke, adding that the holiday is now her favorite. Pro-GOP super PACs spent millions to elevate her profile in the Democratic primary on the calculation that she would be the weaker general-election candidate. Crowley, who grew up experiencing eviction and family addiction on Milwaukee’s North Side, would become the state’s first Black governor if elected. Tiffany, a House Freedom Caucus member, will face the Democratic nominee in a contest both parties view as competitive.