Wisconsin Democrats choose David Crowley over Francesca Hong’s progressive vision

Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, a center-left Democrat who primarily ran on economic issues, squeaked out a narrow win Tuesday in a highly competitive primary for governor of Wisconsin, Decision Desk HQ projects. He won in an upset victory over democratic socialist state Rep. Francesca Hong, who would have been the state’s first woman and first Asian-American governor. 

Crowley, who had previously dropped out of the race and reentered it a little over three weeks ago with the backing of outgoing Gov. Tony Evers, pulled off a razor-thin come-from-behind victory over Hong. He will face Republican nominee Rep. Tom Tiffany in November.

If elected in November, Crowley would be Wisconsin’s first Black governor. He ran on many of the same issues as Hong — affordability, healthcare and childcare — but from a somewhat more moderate and business-friendly standpoint, emphasizing his personal story of experiencing homelessness as a child to becoming a state lawmaker and then leading Wisconsin’s most populous county.

“This race is more than just politics. It’s about making sure that we can all have a seat at the table,” Crowley told the crowd at a candidate meet-and-greet at the Wausau Hmong Festival on August 1. “I was told that when you don’t have a seat at the table, you’re on the menu, and so many of our communities have been on the menu for so long that it’s time for us to step up.”

Crowley’s win marks a dramatic conclusion to a tumultuous and chaotic primary race. After Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez dropped out, Evers, who had previously been neutral in the race, recruited Crowley to get back in the field in a last-ditch effort to thwart Hong’s momentum. 

Evers and Crowley argued Hong’s past history of tweets endorsing political positions like defunding the police and abolishing prisons — stances she’s since disavowed — made her vulnerable in a general election against Tiffany in a closely divided state known for its razor-thin election margins: President Donald Trump won Wisconsin by under 1 percentage point in 2024.  

Hong, addressing supporters late Tuesday night, did not concede the race but delivered a message of unity.  

“The fight continues no matter what,” she said, while behind in the count but before any outlets projected a Crowley win. “Because no matter who wins this primary, we are going to continue to fight for each other. We are going to collectively reject despair. And we are going to unite.” 

Artificial intelligence and data centers were a major issue in the race: Hong ran on a moratorium on new construction of data centers, which has become a political lightning rod fueling progressive candidates’ wins in races across the country, including last week’s primaries in Michigan. 

Crowley opposed a statewide moratorium, arguing the issue should be left up to towns and localities.

Access to abortion has also been a top election issue in Wisconsin since the U.S. Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade in 2022, which sent the issue of abortion back to the states. 

Abortion was inaccessible in Wisconsin for a period of time immediately after the decision due to an 1849 law that remained on the books, a factor that contributed to liberal candidates flipping control of Wisconsin’s Supreme Court. Last year, the court ruled that the law did not ban abortion, leaving a 20-week limit passed by the legislature in place. 

Hong has attacked Tiffany for co-sponsoring a bill in Congress that would ban most abortions after six weeks in 2023; upon announcing his gubernatorial campaign last year, he said he supported Wisconsin’s current abortion laws.