{"id":41181,"date":"2026-08-12T16:32:43","date_gmt":"2026-08-12T11:32:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=41181"},"modified":"2026-08-12T16:32:43","modified_gmt":"2026-08-12T11:32:43","slug":"wisconsin-primary-election-results-david-crowley-beats-francesca-hong-in-democratic-governor-race","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=41181","title":{"rendered":"Wisconsin primary election results: David Crowley beats Francesca Hong in Democratic governor race."},"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 id=\"zephr-anchor\">\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _10sa9omi itxwjq1 itxwjq0 pn04iq1\">It turns out there is a limit to how far left Democrats are willing to go with a crucial swing state on the line.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _10sa9omi itxwjq1 itxwjq0 pn04iq1\">Francesca Hong ran up against that wall on Tuesday, falling short in her race against Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination in Wisconsin.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _10sa9omi itxwjq1 itxwjq0 pn04iq1\">He\u2019ll go up against Congressman Tom Tiffany, a Republican <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/newshour\/politics\/trump-endorses-republican-rep-tom-tiffany-in-wisconsins-open-race-for-governor\">backed by President Donald Trump<\/a> and closely associated with his MAGA movement, setting up a major contrast in a state where elections are often decided by paper-thin margins.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _10sa9omi itxwjq1 itxwjq0 pn04iq1\">Had Hong won, she would have had a chance to become <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vox.com\/politics\/495808\/francesca-hong-socialist-platform-policies-wisconsin\">the first democratic socialist governor<\/a> in any state in US history. And Hong was the story of the election for most of the last month: She led recent polls by a double-digit margin, and Crowley\u2019s campaign was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vox.com\/politics\/496353\/wisconsin-governor-chaos-hong-crowley-rodriguez-barnes\">considered a last-second rescue mission <\/a>by party leaders \u2014 he had previously dropped out of the race, and only rejoined it last month with Governor Tony Evers\u2019 encouragement after other candidates faltered.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _10sa9omi itxwjq1 itxwjq0 pn04iq1\">Despite his earlier stumbles, however, Crowley managed to consolidate Democratic support amid widespread concerns about Hong\u2019s viability in a general election.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _10sa9omi itxwjq1 itxwjq0 pn04iq1\">Hong\u2019s rise and fall showcased multiple trends in the party \u2014 the growing appeal of progressive populism, the struggles of center-left party leaders to contain it, and an ongoing debate about electability that ultimately proved too much for her to overcome.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p><h2 class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup\">The issue that helped propel Hong\u2019s campaign<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _10sa9omi itxwjq1 itxwjq0 pn04iq1\">Hong, 37, is a chef by trade and first ran for state assembly in 2020 while <a href=\"https:\/\/captimes.com\/news\/local\/govt-and-politics\/into-the-fire-chef-restaurant-owner-activist-francesca-hong-brings-a-service-mindset-to-the\/article_20f7b7f4-f276-59b7-bd15-8e7658b06e35.html\">struggling to keep her ramen restaurant afloat<\/a> during the pandemic. She tapped into the same well of progressive activism that\u2019s powered other insurgent campaigns this year, positioning herself as a candidate who would aim higher in office than her opponents.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _10sa9omi itxwjq1 itxwjq0 pn04iq1\">\u201cIncrementalism is irresponsible,\u201d she <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vox.com\/politics\/495808\/francesca-hong-socialist-platform-policies-wisconsin\">told Vox\u2019s Andrew Prokop last month<\/a>. \u201cPushing for the middle or the moderate has not yielded us the wins that we need.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _10sa9omi itxwjq1 itxwjq0 pn04iq1\">But state political experts credited one issue in particular for helping her stand out the most: Data centers.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _10sa9omi itxwjq1 itxwjq0 pn04iq1\">Hong was an early and vocal opponent just as public opposition was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vox.com\/future-perfect\/490350\/data-center-moratoria-ai-backlash\">beginning to surge<\/a>. Running on a pledge to <a href=\"https:\/\/francescahong.com\/policy\/control-alt-delete\/\">\u201cControl-Alt-Delete\u201d<\/a> the AI buildout, she pledged to cut off tax incentives and implement a moratorium on new projects.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p><h2 class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup\">The rest of the field imploded<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _10sa9omi itxwjq1 itxwjq0 pn04iq1\">Though Hong\u2019s populist-left politics dominated the headlines, the story of her rise was also about a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vox.com\/politics\/496353\/wisconsin-governor-chaos-hong-crowley-rodriguez-barnes\">cascading series of failures<\/a> among the rest of the Democratic field.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _10sa9omi itxwjq1 itxwjq0 pn04iq1\">Just as Democratic leaders hoped to consolidate behind a more conventional candidate to head off Hong, things started going off the rails in the final weeks of the contest, leaving them little time to course-correct.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _10sa9omi itxwjq1 itxwjq0 pn04iq1\">In July, Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez dropped out of the race just as her campaign was gaining some traction, citing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/2026\/07\/17\/wisconsin-governor-race-sara-rodriguez-drops-out-01002957\">campaign finance irregularities<\/a> that made it impossible to continue.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _10sa9omi itxwjq1 itxwjq0 pn04iq1\">That left former Lt. Gov Mandela Barnes, who lost a close Senate race in 2022, as Hong\u2019s only significant rival. But Governor Evers, concerned about Barnes\u2019 viability, encouraged Crowley to <em>re-enter<\/em> the race after he had already dropped out, and then endorsed his revived campaign.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _10sa9omi itxwjq1 itxwjq0 pn04iq1\">Barnes and Crowley split the vote in polls while Hong surged \u2014 but then Barnes <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/2026\/07\/30\/mandela-barnes-wisconsin-governor-democrat-race-01017783\">dropped out<\/a> just as the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel revealed it was investigating allegations of sexual misconduct.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _10sa9omi itxwjq1 itxwjq0 pn04iq1\">Republicans, meanwhile, were happy to take advantage of the mess to try to build momentum for Hong, who they saw as a weaker opponent. A group associated with the Republican Governors Association spent over $3 million on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Yu2gGSXJpSo\">\u201cattack\u201d ads <\/a>to help elevate her profile with Democratic primary voters.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _10sa9omi itxwjq1 itxwjq0 pn04iq1\">With just weeks to rally support, Crowley looked to assemble a coalition of moderates along with Black voters, a demographic that left-wing candidates have often struggled to win over in primaries.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _10sa9omi itxwjq1 itxwjq0 pn04iq1\">\u201cWhen people try to call me the establishment, I look at that as a slur, particularly as an African American candidate,\u201d Crowley <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/newshour\/politics\/after-michigan-democrats-next-battleground-over-the-partys-future-shifts-to-wisconsin\">said<\/a> ahead of election day. \u201cI have never run for office to protect the establishment. I\u2019ve always been here to protect people.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p><h2 class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup\">Hong\u2019s campaign split the left<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _10sa9omi itxwjq1 itxwjq0 pn04iq1\">Even as Hong rocketed to frontrunner status, cracks began to show. Unlike Michigan\u2019s Abdul El-Sayed, whose campaign became a massive rallying point for progressive leaders around the country, the lesser-known Hong was greeted with somewhat less enthusiasm on the left.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _10sa9omi itxwjq1 itxwjq0 pn04iq1\">Most notably, Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT), a frequent booster of left-wing insurgent campaigns, <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/jonfavs\/status\/2085143804798218544?s=46\">did not endorse her<\/a>, saying he was not focused on the race.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _10sa9omi itxwjq1 itxwjq0 pn04iq1\">Some of that may have had to do with electability concerns, a sensitive issue for Sanders-led movement as it looks to prove it can <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vox.com\/politics\/498002\/abdul-el-sayed-wins-michigan-bernie-sanders\">win in swing states<\/a> this cycle, something that has eluded them since 2016.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _10sa9omi itxwjq1 itxwjq0 pn04iq1\">As Hong rose in the polls, she gave a series of interviews to national media outlets where she faced questions about old rhetoric, like a call to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/conormurray\/2026\/08\/04\/wisconsin-gov-candidate-hong-faces-backlash-over-cancel-thanksgiving-comment-even-from-democrats\/\">\u201ccancel Thanksgiving,\u201d<\/a> and some past controversial positions, like abolishing prisons and defunding the police. While she eventually made clear she would not pursue either idea in office, her sometimes disjointed answers <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vox.com\/politics\/498368\/francesca-hong-cancel-thanksgiving-abolish-police-prisons\">worried allies on the left<\/a>, who publicly urged her to refocus her campaign on more friendly topics.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _10sa9omi itxwjq1 itxwjq0 pn04iq1\">The divide over Hong ended up <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vox.com\/america-actually\/498647\/why-progressives-are-backing-off-woke-1\">sparking a broader national discussion<\/a> among progressives about how \u2014 and whether \u2014 to move past the more strident language and policies around social justice issues that hit their peak during the pandemic.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _10sa9omi itxwjq1 itxwjq0 pn04iq1\">\u201cI have a local city councilman who has this saying,\u201d Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez (D-NY) said on ABC News on Sunday. \u201cWoke 1 was crazy.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"duet--article--article-body-component\">\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _10sa9omi itxwjq1 itxwjq0 pn04iq1\">The debate clearly resonated with voters in Wisconsin, who were looking to their nominee to be a bulwark against a Republican nominee who had sided with Trump\u2019s efforts to overturn the 2020 election. Democrats have proven willing to break with tradition and embrace new arguments about what makes a candidate electable in 2026, but Hong wasn\u2019t able to convince them she was worth the bet.<\/p>\n<\/div>\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>It turns out there is a limit to how far left Democrats are willing to go with a crucial swing state on the line. Francesca Hong ran up against that wall on Tuesday, falling short in her race against Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination in Wisconsin. He\u2019ll go up against&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":41182,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/platform.vox.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/08\/gettyimages-2290032409.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C10.737112014807%2C100%2C78.525775970386&w=1200","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-41181","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\/41181","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=41181"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41181\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/41182"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=41181"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=41181"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=41181"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}