Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley defeated democratic socialist Francesca Hong in Wisconsin's Democratic gubernatorial primary, ending a turbulent race that exposed the party's deepening divide over how far left is too far left.
Hong, a 37-year-old state legislator and card-carrying member of the Democratic Socialists of America, called Crowley early Wednesday to concede after trailing by more than 3,200 votes out of more than 787,000 ballots cast, a margin of just 0.41 percentage points. Under Wisconsin law, Hong could have requested a recount since she trailed by less than one percentage point, but she would have had to foot the bill herself because her deficit exceeded 0.25 points. She chose not to.
The result marks a sharp reversal from pre-election polling, which showed Hong ahead by double digits in the final stretch before primary day. Instead, the 40-year-old Crowley, a late entry backed by the state's Democratic establishment, pulled off an upset that now sends him into a November general election against GOP Rep. Tom Tiffany. If Crowley wins, he would become Wisconsin's first Black governor.
Crowley's path to the primary win was anything but straightforward. He initially dropped out of the race and endorsed Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez. But Rodriguez's campaign collapsed after a finance scandal revealed her operation had hundreds of thousands of dollars less than expected, Breitbart reported. Former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, who had also entered the race, then quit as well.
With the field clearing and Hong emerging as the front-runner, Crowley jumped back in, explicitly to block her. He positioned himself in the moderate lane and picked up a critical endorsement from outgoing Gov. Tony Evers, who declared he was "all in" for Crowley.
The day before the primary, Crowley framed the stakes bluntly: "Our ultimate goal is to make sure we don't have a MAGA extremist occupying the governor's office." On Monday, he went further, telling reporters that Hong's ideology was the problem.
"She is a self-proclaimed socialist. There are a lot of people worried about not just this party, but this country moving in that direction."
That line landed harder because it came from a fellow Democrat, not a Republican. Crowley was saying out loud what much of his party's establishment had been signaling for weeks: Hong was an electoral liability.
Hong's vulnerabilities were not hypothetical. In October 2021, she posted on what was then Twitter: "Police exist to uphold white supremacy. Defund then abolish. Reform can't be an option." The year before that, she wrote in a now-deleted tweet: "Cancel Thanksgiving. Should have done this in 1621."
Both statements drew fire from critics in Republican and Democratic circles alike. Hong tried to distance herself from the remarks during the campaign. She told CBS News ahead of the primary, "I've cooked many great Thanksgiving dinners, and I'm not going to cancel Thanksgiving." The walk-back did not erase the record.
The broader Democratic Party has been wrestling with exactly this problem. Sen. John Fetterman has warned publicly that "extreme views" are overtaking the party as socialist candidates rack up primary wins across the country.
Even David Axelrod, the former Barack Obama adviser, weighed in last week. He posted on X that Hong was "a font of zany liberal, faculty lounge exotica." Hong fired back:
"This tweet is a perfect example of why the consultant class keeps losing elections. They're totally clueless, and they're h***bent on keeping working-class people out of politics. I've spent more time in kitchens than faculty lounges."
Hong leaned into her working-class biography, former dishwasher, line cook, and chef who dropped out of the University of Wisconsin. She campaigned on hiking taxes on the rich. But the "defund and abolish" posts, the Thanksgiving tweet, and her DSA membership gave opponents a clear target. And voters, in the end, sided with Crowley.
Perhaps the most telling signal came from Evers himself. In an interview with Politico on Friday, the outgoing governor would not commit to supporting Hong if she won the primary. "I want to have a chance to take a breath, and once that's in a position, we'll see," he said. Then he added: "But I anticipate that David will win."
That kind of hedging from a sitting Democratic governor, about the prospect of his own party's nominee, spoke volumes about how Hong was viewed by the establishment. When Crowley did win, Evers posted on X early Wednesday with no hesitation.
"I am so proud of David, he's the future of our Party, and I can't wait for him to be our next governor. For now, we polka. Tomorrow, we're back at work to win."
He closed with a message aimed at the general election: "Tom Tiffany, we'll see you in November."
Hillary Clinton herself has conceded that the "communist" and "socialist" labels Republicans apply to Democratic candidates will land with voters, and warned her party isn't ready for it. Wisconsin's primary result suggests she had a point.
For all the energy on the progressive left, Hong did not attract the high-profile national endorsements that might have pushed her over the top. Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez both kept their distance from her campaign, even after campaigning hard for far-left Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed ahead of his primary win in Michigan the previous week.
That gap is worth noting. The progressive movement's most prominent figures were willing to invest in Michigan but not in Wisconsin, a possible sign that even they recognized Hong's liabilities in a general election battleground state.
Ocasio-Cortez has separately tried to distance herself from her own "defund the police" record, joking that the early progressive era got out of control. Hong never managed that same pivot. Her 2021 tweet calling police enforcers of "white supremacy" remained a fixed point in the race.
Hong addressed supporters Tuesday night in Madison. "We have built something that will change politics forever," she said. Her campaign manager, Becky Cooper, added: "Our team campaigned clean, our souls are intact and we really made meaningful change for the progressive movement."
Crowley's campaign manager, Garren Randolph, issued a statement thanking Hong, Kelda Roys, Joel Brennan, and every other primary candidate "who shared their vision for Wisconsin." He said Crowley was "focused on bringing people together, earning the support of Democrats, Republicans, Independents, and anyone who believes Wisconsin is at its best when we work together and deliver results."
The unity language is standard post-primary fare. Whether the progressive wing actually falls in line behind Crowley, or whether the DSA's growing footprint in Democratic primaries continues to pull the party leftward, is a question November will answer.
Wisconsin was not the only state holding primaries. In South Carolina, Sen. Darline Graham Nordone and Rep. Ralph Norman advanced to a special Aug. 25 runoff for the Republican Senate nomination following the death of Sen. Lindsey Graham. In Minnesota, Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar and Republican state House Speaker Lisa DeMuth won their respective gubernatorial primaries, meaning Minnesota will elect its first female governor in November. Progressive Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan defeated moderate Rep. Angie Craig to win the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate there, and will face Republican Michele Tafoya, the former Emmy-winning NFL sideline reporter.
In Connecticut, Rep. John Larson, 78 years old and first elected to the House in 1998, lost his primary to former Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin, age 46. Another long-tenured Democrat pushed aside.
Wisconsin Democrats chose the candidate they thought could win in November over the one who told them what they wanted to hear. Whether that instinct holds, or whether the socialist wing keeps gaining ground one primary at a time, will say more about the party's direction than any single race.
