{"id":41250,"date":"2026-08-12T17:16:38","date_gmt":"2026-08-12T12:16:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=41250"},"modified":"2026-08-12T17:16:38","modified_gmt":"2026-08-12T12:16:38","slug":"socialist-fever-breaks-takeaways-from-crowleys-win","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=41250","title":{"rendered":"Socialist fever breaks: Takeaways from Crowley&#039;s win"},"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\/Zt6WjthxEy87IAqRYHwkPJgHUsM=\/0x133:4000x2383\/1366x768\/2026\/08\/12\/1786534195458.jpeg\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Milwaukee County Executive <a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/2026\/08\/09\/democrats-populists-michigan-wisconsin-2028-test\" target=\"_blank\">David Crowley<\/a> narrowly defeated<strong> <\/strong>socialist <a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/2026\/08\/09\/democrats-populists-michigan-wisconsin-2028-test\" target=\"_blank\">Francesca Hong<\/a> by about 3,000 votes, dealing a blow to the progressive left&#8217;s momentum Tuesday in Wisconsin&#8217;s Democratic primary for governor, after his own polling indicated he was behind by nearly 20 points.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Why it matters: <\/strong>Crowley&#8217;s win could breathe new life into a center-left that had been losing primary after primary in recent months, from last week&#8217;s<a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/2026\/08\/05\/michigan-senate-abdul-el-sayed-democrats\" target=\"_blank\"> Senate contest<\/a> in Michigan to<a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/local\/philadelphia\/2026\/05\/20\/pennsylvania-primary-election-results-chris-rabb-district-3\" target=\"_blank\"> House<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/2026\/08\/05\/michigan-7th-district-will-lawrence-maasdam-brink\" target=\"_blank\"> races<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/2026\/06\/09\/democrats-house-primary-california-villegas-bains\" target=\"_blank\"> across<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/local\/denver\/2026\/07\/01\/colorado-primary-results-melat-kiros-beats-diana-degette\" target=\"_blank\"> the<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/local\/detroit\/2026\/08\/05\/donavan-mckinney-defeats-shri-thanedar-in-michigans-13th-district-democratic-primary\" target=\"_blank\"> country<\/a>.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p><strong>Yes, but: <\/strong>The day wasn&#8217;t a total loss for progressives.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>In the day&#8217;s other big ideological showdown between Democrats, Minnesota Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, a progressive, defeated moderate Rep. Angie Craig in Minnesota&#8217;s Senate primary by 20 points.<\/li>\n<li>Flanagan will face GOP nominee Michele Tafoya, a former NFL TV reporter, in November.<\/li>\n<li>Democrats also nominated progressive Matt Little to replace Craig in Congress.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Results from other closely watched races Tuesday:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>In South Carolina, Trump-endorsed Sen. Darline Graham, who replaced her brother Lindsey Graham after his death last month, advanced to an Aug. 25 GOP runoff against Rep. Ralph Norman for a full six-year term.<\/li>\n<li>Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar easily won the Democratic primary for governor and will face state House Speaker Lisa Demuth, who defeated Trump-endorsed Mike Lindell for the GOP nomination.<\/li>\n<li>Rep. John Larson (D-Conn.), 78, a 14-term incumbent, lost to former Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin, 47, who called for generational change. Larson is the <a href=\"https:\/\/link.axios.com\/click\/47000463.114347\/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuYXhpb3MuY29tLzIwMjYvMDgvMDUvaG91c2UtZGVtb2NyYXRzLXByaW1hcnktc2hyaS10aGFuZWRhci0yMDI2P3V0bV9zb3VyY2U9bmV3c2xldHRlciZ1dG1fbWVkaXVtPWVtYWlsJnV0bV9jYW1wYWlnbj1uZXdzbGV0dGVyX2F4aW9zc25lYWtwZWVrJnN0cmVhbT10b3A\/63d417065462737d110e2dfdB45c89149\" target=\"_blank\">seventh House Democrat<\/a> and 10th House member ousted in a primary this year.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Zoom in: <\/strong>Wisconsin Democrats now have to unite after the party establishment&#8217;s successful last-minute scramble to stop Francesca Hong, a socialist who captured the support of many young people and activists.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers endorsed Crowley as a panic broke out among many in the party that Hong could doom their chances in the fall.<\/li>\n<li>Some Democratic voters Axios talked to were ticked off at the move. &#8220;I mean, is he trying to sabotage us?&#8221; former state party official Marga Krumins said of Evers&#8217; <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/AnthonyAdragna\/status\/2084623182795776190\" target=\"_blank\">warning<\/a> that Hong likely couldn&#8217;t defeat Tiffany. <\/li>\n<li>Crowley explicitly campaigned on the idea that Hong was a liability in the general election, telling Axios, &#8220;People don&#8217;t like socialists&#8221; and &#8220;socialists didn&#8217;t poll very good.&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>Hong&#8217;s past social media posts, including calls to &#8220;cancel Thanksgiving&#8221; and defund the police, dominated her campaign&#8217;s final week.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>More takeaways from Wisconsin:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><strong>Wisconsin&#8217;s November election will be historic. <\/strong>The GOP&#8217;s nominee,<strong> <\/strong>Rep. Tom Tiffany, would be the first person who <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/interactive\/2021\/01\/07\/us\/elections\/electoral-college-biden-objectors.html\" target=\"_blank\">voted to overturn<\/a> the 2020 presidential results to become governor of a top swing state if he won. And Crowley would be the first Black governor in Wisconsin history.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Tiffany is trying to soften his rough edges,<a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/TomTiffanyWI\/status\/2044063746671218984\" target=\"_blank\"> branding himself<\/a> as a &#8220;girl dad&#8221; who grew up &#8220;milking cows on a Wisconsin dairy farm.&#8221; <\/strong>He&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/TomTiffanyWI\/status\/2086986579713630253\" target=\"_blank\">campaigning<\/a> with former Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin. But now that Crowley has won, Republicans have an opponent they appear to have feared: A GOP group <a href=\"https:\/\/www.jsonline.com\/story\/news\/politics\/elections\/2026\/07\/15\/republican-group-plans-ad-blitz-highlighting-hong-dems-smell-a-rat\/90936274007\/?gnt-cfr=1&amp;gca-cat=p&amp;gca-uir=true&amp;gca-epti=z11xx51p118950l004150c118950e1166xxv11xx51d--40--b--40--&amp;gca-ft=188&amp;gca-ds=sophi\" target=\"_blank\">spent millions on ads<\/a> propping up Hong, suggesting they viewed her as the weaker candidate.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Tiffany could help unite Democrats.<\/strong> The way some progressive Democrats see it, they might have wanted Hong, but they can&#8217;t risk Tiffany being governor in the 2028 presidential race given his efforts to overturn the 2020 election and his false claims there had been &#8220;hundreds of thousands of illegal votes&#8221; in Wisconsin.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Hong fell short as her controversial posts surfaced and progressive leaders gave her the cold shoulder. <\/strong>Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez declined to endorse her. And as we followed her on the campaign trail, voters clearly had electability on their minds: She was asked at stop after stop about her former comments and how she would defeat Tiffany in the fall.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\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 socialist Francesca Hong by about 3,000 votes, dealing a blow to the progressive left&#8217;s momentum Tuesday in Wisconsin&#8217;s Democratic primary for governor, after his own polling indicated he was behind by nearly 20 points. Why it matters: Crowley&#8217;s win could breathe new life into a center-left that had&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":41251,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/images.axios.com\/Zt6WjthxEy87IAqRYHwkPJgHUsM=\/0x133:4000x2383\/1366x768\/2026\/08\/12\/1786534195458.jpeg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-41250","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\/41250","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=41250"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41250\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/41251"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=41250"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=41250"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=41250"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}