Establishment-backed Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley upset pollsters in Wisconsin’s Democrat gubernatorial primary on Tuesday, narrowly defeating socialist Francesca Hong to win the Democrat nomination.
Crowley prevailed by less than a percentage point over Hong with almost all votes counted across the Badger state.
He most notably left the chaotic race on July 8 before re-emerging nine days later after sitting Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez left the race due to a financial scandal. Crowley ran with the endorsement of outgoing Gov. Tony Evers and subsequently forced Mandela Barnes from the race.
Barnes had received scrutiny over his treatment of women, news outlets reported.
That left Crowley as the Wisconsin Democrat establishment’s remaining choice to stop Hong as her wildly anti-American views captured headlines.
Crowley’s only professional experience has been in politics, working as field staff for former Sen. Russ Feingold and eventually working in the Wisconsin legislature.
He ran unsuccessfully for a Milwaukee city government position in early 2016 before running unopposed for an open State Assembly seat. He served two terms before announcing a run for County Executive, which he won in early 2020.
His record as county executive shows he is another tax-and-spend liberal who is now looking to lead the state.
In 2023, Crowley worked with Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson to raise taxes on county residents. Currently, Milwaukee residents face a combined sales tax of 7.9 percent, the highest in the state.
Milwaukee County faced a $47 million deficit in their 2026 budget under Crowley’s watch due to overspending. To plug the hole, Crowley instituted the largest property tax increase on residents in two decades and raided $9.8 million from reserve accounts.
On the campaign trail, Crowley worked hard to emphasize that he and Hong shared the same views in order to make his candidacy palatable to the progressive base of Wisconsin Democrats.
“To be honest with you, there’s not a lot of policies we really differ,” he said at the event. “I think one of the problems I used to have in all these forums is that we’re saying the exact same thing in different ways… the question isn’t related to policy. The question should be who can get it done.”
This was in response to Hong’s stated goals of eliminating funding for law enforcement and the state’s school choice program.
An official biography on the Milwaukee County government also shows he is a member of the ACLU and Milwaukee NAACP.
Crowley will face Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany on the November ballot.
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