{"id":10007,"date":"2026-07-18T23:23:34","date_gmt":"2026-07-18T18:23:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=10007"},"modified":"2026-07-18T23:23:34","modified_gmt":"2026-07-18T18:23:34","slug":"david-crowley-reenters-battleground-wisconsins-democratic-governor-primary-with-gov-evers-backing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=10007","title":{"rendered":"David Crowley reenters battleground Wisconsin\u2019s Democratic governor primary with Gov. Evers\u2019 backing"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div data-testid=\"prism-article-body\">\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao MvWXB TjIXL aGjvy ebVHC \">Two weeks after shuttering his bid for Wisconsin governor, <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/wisconsin-governor-crowley-evers-milwaukee-8710d7eb3ba1a50a004eaa935939333e\">David Crowley<\/a> reentered the state&#8217;s Democratic primary on Saturday, with the Milwaukee County executive boasting a last-minute backing from outgoing Gov. <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/wisconsin-gov-tony-evers-reelection-78b32ffc51dff53512fd7499f21e9878\">Tony Evers<\/a> in a seeming move to best position the party for success in November.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \"><a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/wisconsin-gov-tony-evers-reelection-78b32ffc51dff53512fd7499f21e9878\">Evers<\/a> had initially declined to endorse in the race, but threw his weight behind Crowley and resuscitated his bid to lead the swing state known for razor-thin election margins, where appealing to moderate and independent voters is crucial. It was the latest turn in a chaotic Democratic primary that has jeopardized the party&#8217;s chances this fall and comes after Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez said she was abandoning her campaign for the state\u2019s top office after a campaign finance scandal, <\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Democrats are looking to November to <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/wisconsin-trump-democrats-governor-trifecta-10f6a76db6c388da46926c251e1da442\">secure full control of Wisconsin state government<\/a> for the first time since 2010, and hope it will send a signal about where the country\u2019s politics are headed by shaping a key political battleground that helps decide presidential campaigns. <\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">In an event in Milwaukee Saturday relaunching his campaign, Crowley referenced the stakes, saying that \u201cwinning this election will require building the broadest possible coalition,\u201d and touting his ability to forge relationships across partisan divides. And Evers&#8217; endorsement, he went on, \u201creflects his confidence that I have the experience\u201d to lead and to win.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Evers was on a trade visit to Africa and not in attendance at Crowley\u2019s Saturday event but acknowledged in a social media post that he was now \u201call in\u201d for Crowley, touting his executive leadership on issues including job creation and balancing budgets.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">\u201cHe\u2019s not just a candidate who can win in November, but he\u2019s the kind of person who cares about doing the job right,\u201d Evers wrote.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Crowley, 40, <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/wisconsin-governor-democratic-primary-rodriguez-money-problems-14a2cfc7fbae392a1016b94cb1c6d6fc\">is reemerging<\/a> into a competitive primary for Wisconsin\u2019s open governor\u2019s race that was turned on its head Friday with the departure of Rodriguez, who earlier in the week fired her campaign manager after discovering her campaign had <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/wisconsin-governor-rodriguez-e944dfdf6bd4a63b3e126926dcfd86d6\">hundreds of thousands of dollars less<\/a> on hand than expected.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Now, as they approach Wisconsin\u2019s primary election on Aug. 11, Democrats are hoping to hold onto the governor\u2019s office as they also eye flipping majority control of the state Legislature, which Republicans have held since 2011. <\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">The primary also comes following Democratic socialists&#8217; earlier victories in the liberal strongholds of <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/nyc-house-congress-primary-election-2dfee173b65643be516574440f8c5d90\">New York City<\/a>, <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/democratic-socialist-mayors-lewis-george-mamdani-5c32504d1506a392b6eb1a64460f7966\">Washington, D.C.<\/a>, and <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/colorado-democratic-socialist-primary-degette-governor-8a77cdb9943f99b70c74fbf811f1bbe3\">Denver<\/a>. Francesca Hong, a single mother who has worked as a dishwasher and line cook, is trying to <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/wisconsin-governor-francesca-hong-trump-b9fdd10aa19ff8fffe37beb402b95c7f\">do the same<\/a> with her campaign for Wisconsin governor, with her candidacy <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/wisconsin-governor-hong-socialist-democrats-barnes-3387bbcf863f2e9c9781477c3e7a4d46\">turning the Democratic contest<\/a> into a test of just how far left voters are willing to go in the November midterms.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Crowley, who would be the state\u2019s first Black governor if elected, had shuttered his own bid two weeks ago to back Rodriguez. Now, he\u2019s returning to a contest against Hong, former Lt. Gov. <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/wisconsin-governor-democrat-mandela-barnes-b52af7f188fcaf0afbab4918fa55972e\">Mandela Barnes<\/a>, state Sen. Kelda Roys and Joel Brennan, a former top aide to Evers.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Democrats have been struggling to overcome disarray in other messy primaries across this year\u2019s midterm calendar. In California, the race to replace outgoing Gov. Gavin Newsom devolved into <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/california-governor-candidates-election-7a5ee493ef386593c7e8aef88838aa89\">a chaotic free-for-all<\/a>, with dozens of names on the ballot, and one of the leading contenders, Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell, abruptly quit both his campaign and Congress following sexual assault allegations. Democrat <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/california-governor-becerra-race-campaign-393a6526b42c1be9ef523b7edae6d452\">Xavier Becerra<\/a> and Republican <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/california-governor-hilton-republican-becerra-8bfb56b7938205687de5248a380c9ace\">Steve Hilton<\/a> ultimately advanced from a \u201c <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/3a8c873f653b43f5982cbe891c86aed2\">jungle primary<\/a>.\u201d <\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">In the first iteration of his campaign, Crowley leaned into his background, highlighting how his family was once homeless in Milwaukee but he rose to become a community organizer and was elected to the state Assembly in 2016 at age 30. He served until the middle of 2020, when he was elected as executive of Milwaukee County, the state\u2019s largest county. He was the first Black person to hold that job and also the youngest at age 33.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">The winner of the Democratic primary will advance to the general election against Republican Rep. Tom Tiffany, who faces only token primary opposition.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Tiffany\u2019s campaign didn\u2019t immediately return a message seeking comment on Crowley\u2019s reemergence. In an email statement, the Republican Governors Association said that \u201cwatching Wisconsin Democrats is like watching a clown car crash into a parked semitruck.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">___<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC eTIW sUzSN \">Associated Press reporter Scott Bauer in Madison, Wisconsin contributed to this report.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Two weeks after shuttering his bid for Wisconsin governor, David Crowley reentered the state&#8217;s Democratic primary on Saturday, with the Milwaukee County executive boasting a last-minute backing from outgoing Gov. Tony Evers in a seeming move to best position the party for success in November. Evers had initially declined to endorse in the race, but&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10008,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/i.abcnewsfe.com\/a\/d1e9f8ce-2704-47b9-8ea8-b4e5a9341d0a\/wirestory_a4ccb9e143e886e337d1f3b457b18207_16x9.jpg?w=1600","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10007","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-political-news"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10007","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10007"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10007\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/10008"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10007"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10007"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10007"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}