{"id":41061,"date":"2026-08-12T15:21:34","date_gmt":"2026-08-12T10:21:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=41061"},"modified":"2026-08-12T15:21:34","modified_gmt":"2026-08-12T10:21:34","slug":"moderate-crowley-narrowly-beats-democratic-socialist-hong-in-wisconsin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=41061","title":{"rendered":"Moderate Crowley narrowly beats democratic socialist Hong in Wisconsin"},"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<br \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/images.axios.com\/q-aipb6BvoDE2mvGCCO13N0e0i8=\/0x302:4000x2552\/1366x768\/2026\/08\/12\/1786526024188.jpeg\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley narrowly defeated state Rep. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/2023\/08\/17\/expanding-equitable-access-to-health-care-madison\" target=\"_blank\">Francesca Hong<\/a>, a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/2026\/06\/17\/democratic-sewer-socialism-modern-reboot\" target=\"_blank\">democratic socialist<\/a>, in Tuesday&#8217;s Wisconsin Democratic primary for governor, the Associated Press reports.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Why it matters:<\/strong> Hong&#8217;s loss blunts progressives&#8217; recent momentum and hands moderate Democrats a chance to prove their electability in a crucial battleground state in November<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Crowley will vie to become Wisconsin&#8217;s first Black governor.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr>\n<p><strong>Driving the news: <\/strong>Crowley managed to edge out Hong by about 3,000 votes Tuesday, with 98% of the <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/projects\/elections-2026\/wisconsin-primary-results-governor\/#Dem\" target=\"_blank\">votes counted<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Zoom out: <\/strong>The chaotic primary left moderate Democrats fractured, as some pursued other offices and others ended their campaigns over fundraising problems, lack of support or personal scandals. <\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Hong <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/b9fdd10aa19ff8fffe37beb402b95c7f\" target=\"_blank\">made<\/a> her working-class background central to her pitch to voters: A single mom and longtime service worker, she <a href=\"https:\/\/civicmedia.us\/news\/2026\/05\/21\/from-wildcard-to-contender-the-rise-of-francesca-hong\" target=\"_blank\">dropped out<\/a> of college to cook full-time, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/newshour\/politics\/democratic-socialist-francesca-hong-tests-how-far-left-voters-will-go-in-battleground-wisconsin\" target=\"_blank\">rising<\/a> from dishwasher to executive chef before co-owning a restaurant that closed in 2024 after years of financial strain that began during the pandemic. <\/li>\n<li>She faced scrutiny over past positions and social media posts she later <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/08\/10\/us\/francesca-hong-positions-wisconsin-governor.html\" target=\"_blank\">walked back<\/a>, including calls to defund the police and criticism of Thanksgiving as a racist holiday.<\/li>\n<li>Crowley similarly leaned on his <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/newshour\/politics\/david-crowley-reenters-battleground-wisconsins-democratic-governor-primary-with-gov-evers-backing\" target=\"_blank\">own hardscrabble Milwaukee story<\/a>: His family was once homeless, and he rose from community organizer to state lawmaker and eventually county executive. <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>The intrigue: <\/strong>Hong fell short without the traditional heavyweight endorsements from the left&#8217;s biggest stars.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Sen. Bernie Sanders and New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez <a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/2026\/08\/09\/democrats-populists-michigan-wisconsin-2028-test\" target=\"_blank\">declined to endorse<\/a> Hong, focusing instead on congressional races.<\/li>\n<li>Her opponent, Crowley, was backed by the state&#8217;s top Democrat, Gov. Tony Evers, who said he offered Democrats their best chance to win.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Zoom out:<\/strong> Republicans were eager to run against Hong in November. Democrats said the Republican Governors Association&#8217;s millions in ads <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wpr.org\/news\/gop-ads-attack-hong-liberal\" target=\"_blank\">served to boost<\/a> Hong.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The bet didn&#8217;t produce Republicans&#8217; preferred matchup. <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>What we&#8217;re watching: <\/strong>Crowley will face <a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/politics-policy\/donald-trump\" target=\"_blank\">Trump<\/a>-endorsed Rep. Tom Tiffany in November, the Republican nominee.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Tiffany voted against certifying former President Biden&#8217;s 2020 wins in Arizona and Pennsylvania, backed a lawsuit seeking to prevent Wisconsin and other states from casting their Electoral College votes and has continued to question Biden&#8217;s victory.<\/li>\n<li>Wisconsin&#8217;s governor plays a role in certifying presidential and U.S. Senate election result, raising fears about how Tiffany could use the office if another close election is contested.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Go deeper:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/2026\/08\/09\/democrats-populists-michigan-wisconsin-2028-test\" target=\"_blank\">Bernie&#8217;s revolution gets a test run for 2028 in Michigan and Wisconsin<\/a><\/p>\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>Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley narrowly defeated state Rep. Francesca Hong, a democratic socialist, in Tuesday&#8217;s Wisconsin Democratic primary for governor, the Associated Press reports. Why it matters: Hong&#8217;s loss blunts progressives&#8217; recent momentum and hands moderate Democrats a chance to prove their electability in a crucial battleground state in November Crowley will vie to&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":41062,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/images.axios.com\/q-aipb6BvoDE2mvGCCO13N0e0i8=\/0x302:4000x2552\/1366x768\/2026\/08\/12\/1786526024188.jpeg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-41061","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\/41061","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=41061"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41061\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/41062"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=41061"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=41061"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=41061"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}