David Crowley won Wisconsin’s Democratic primary for governor earlier today with 39.8% of the vote, defeating Francesca Hong’s 39.4% in a razor-thin margin that defied months of polling showing Hong as the clear frontrunner in the wisconsin election results. The Milwaukee County Executive secured victory by roughly 3,000 votes in an outcome that none of the statewide polls had predicted, marking a stunning comeback for a candidate who had dropped out of the race just five weeks earlier.
Hong, a state representative and democratic socialist from Madison, had led in every survey heading into Tuesday’s primary. A July 2026 poll showed her commanding a 44% lead with a 29-point advantage over her nearest rival, and even Crowley’s own campaign polling had Hong ahead by double digits. Her loss removes the possibility of a recount because Crowley’s margin exceeded 0.25 percentage points, though it remained narrow enough to have triggered a recount had Hong paid for it.
Crowley’s path to victory hinged on his decision to re-enter the race on July 17, just one day after Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez withdrew amid a campaign finance scandal. Crowley had initially dropped out on July 8, citing polls showing he could not win, but he reversed course after receiving calls from supporters and securing Gov. Tony Evers’ endorsement. The governor, who holds a job approval rating above 50%, campaigned extensively with Crowley in the final week, arguing that the moderate candidate offered the best chance to defeat Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany in November’s general election.
Crowley, 40, has served as Milwaukee County Executive since 2020, when he became the youngest person and the first Black leader elected to that role. He emphasized his executive experience running Wisconsin’s largest county government, contrasting his record of passing legislation with Hong’s tenure as a state representative. Secretary of State Sarah Godlewski will be his running mate for the general election.
A Setback for Progressive Momentum in Battleground States
Hong’s defeat represents a significant loss for the democratic socialist movement, which had celebrated recent victories in New York, Colorado, and Michigan. Her narrow loss in Wisconsin, a battleground state that will be crucial to Democrats’ hopes of retaining the governor’s office and flipping the legislature, signals that progressive candidates may face steeper challenges in purple states than in deep blue urban areas.
The 37-year-old former line cook and single mother had energized the party’s liberal wing with calls for free childcare and healthcare and a moratorium on artificial intelligence data center construction. However, she faced sustained scrutiny over past social media posts in which she called to abolish the police and criticized holidays like Thanksgiving and Valentine’s Day as celebrations of colonialism and capitalism. Though she later characterized these as jokes, the posts drew criticism from Democratic leaders and became central to arguments that she could not defeat Tiffany in a general election.
National progressive leaders, including Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, notably sat out the Wisconsin race and did not endorse Hong, in contrast to their involvement in other recent progressive campaigns. Hong conceded the race early Wednesday after 98% of ballots were counted, telling supporters that the work they had done would be “remembered forever” and pledging that the movement would “keep fighting.” Her campaign manager Becky Cooper said the team had “campaigned clean” and made “meaningful change for the progressive movement.”
Crowley will face Tiffany, a congressman from conservative northern Wisconsin who is endorsed by President Donald Trump, in the November general election. Crowley’s challenge will be to consolidate Democratic support after a bruising primary and reach the independent, moderate voters who often decide elections in Wisconsin. In the latest Marquette University Law School poll, two-thirds of Democratic primary voters said they did not know enough about Crowley to form an opinion of him.
Both candidates pledged in the final days of the primary to unite Democrats against what Crowley called “a MAGA extremist occupying the governor’s office.” The primary race itself was marked by chaos: former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes dropped out less than two weeks before the election amid questions about inappropriate behavior, and reporting of Milwaukee’s absentee ballots was delayed into early Wednesday morning due to a data upload error.
Sources
- Milwaukee Journal Sentinel — reported Crowley’s comeback victory, his re-entry into the race with Evers’ endorsement, and Hong’s loss despite leading in all polls
- PBS Wisconsin / Associated Press — confirmed Crowley’s 39.8% to Hong’s 39.4% victory, the narrow margin, and the race as a test of progressive politics in battleground states
- The Guardian — reported the vote totals and the 3,000-vote margin of victory
- NPR — covered Hong as a democratic socialist whose campaign challenged the party establishment and the race as a setback for the progressive movement
- New York Times — reported Hong’s lead in opinion polls and Crowley’s upset victory
- 19th News — noted Hong would have been Wisconsin’s first female and first Asian American governor
