David Crowley’s pitch to voters in the waning weeks of the campaign was electability. Photograph: Kayla Wolf/APView image in fullscreenDavid Crowley’s pitch to voters in the waning weeks of the campaign was electability. Photograph: Kayla Wolf/APWisconsinDavid Crowley wins Democratic primary for Wisconsin’s governor in upset over progressive Francesca HongCrowley pulls off last-minute victory in tight race after polls had shown Hong as the clear Democratic frontrunnerRachel LeingangWed 12 Aug 2026 19.02 CESTFirst published on Wed 12 Aug 2026 10.32 CESTSharePrefer the Guardian on GoogleDavid Crowley, the Milwaukee county executive, won the Democratic primary for Wisconsin governor after beating the democratic socialist Francesca Hong in a tight contest.Crowley pulled off a last-minute victory in the critical swing state after re-entering the campaign and snagging an endorsement from Tony Evers, the outgoing governor.With most votes counted, Crowley had 39.8% of the vote, ahead of Hong’s 39.4%, according to the Associated Press: a lead of just more than 3,000 votes. The race came down to the wire, with Hong and Crowley running close to each other as each batch of results came in.Progressive Peggy Flanagan sweeps Minnesota Senate primary in race defined by anti-ICE angerRead morePolls had shown Hong as a clear frontrunner during the campaign, but with large chunks of voters still undecided and an ever-changing field of candidates, polling was difficult. Polls in Michigan had similarly shown the progressive candidate Abdul El-Sayed with a more sizable lead than he ended up with in his victory in the Democratic primary for US Senate.Hong, a chef and former restaurant owner from Madison, ran on a platform that included childcare for all, free school meals and a one-year moratorium on the construction of new datacenters, which differentiated her from her Democratic colleagues in the governor’s race.Crowley welcomed those who voted for Hong in Tuesday’s primary to join him in the lead-up to November’s general election. “I look forward to earning their support,” he told reporters.While the messy Democratic primary has been branded as a “battle between the left and the center”, Crowley argued this was an inaccurate characterization.“We may not agree on every policy,” he said. “We may not use the same labels, but we all want safe communities, strong schools, affordable healthcare, good-paying jobs, and a brighter future for all of our children.“Every one of us has something much bigger to unite around, and that is keeping Maga extremism from bringing the chaos we see in Washington into our neighborhoods right here in the state of Wisconsin,” said Crowley.Evers, a Democrat who has served as Wisconsin’s governor since 2019, did not seek re-election. He endorsed Crowley, who re-entered the race after leaving it earlier in the cycle.Evers hailed Crowley as “the future of our Party” in a social media post overnight. “For now, we polka,” he said. “Tomorrow, we’re back at work to win.”In a statement on Wednesday morning, Hong congratulated Crowley and said she would support him in the general election.“The last 11 months have been one of the greatest joys of my life. Traveling the state, meeting people in churches and dive bars and bike races and dance parties and in their homes, and hearing about what matters most to them informed every decision we made on the trail,” she said. “It will continue to inform the work we do – and ask our supporters to do – moving forward.“This campaign was not about getting one person into office. It is about a building movement for permanent affordability and a government that puts working people first. Our movement is strong and the work isn’t done. I am overwhelmingly proud of our team and the work they have done to achieve that goal.”Crowley’s pitch to voters in the waning weeks of the campaign was electability: he felt he was more poised to win against Tom Tiffany, a Republican congressman and ardent Trump supporter who ran unopposed in the Republican primary. Tiffany voted against certifying the results of the 2020 election, which Trump lost.Crowley previously told the Guardian: “We knew that the stakes were too high for me to sit on the sideline, and that we need the best candidate, not just with executive leadership, but somebody who has a proven track record of getting things done. And that’s what voters want. They want someone they can trust. And that’s why we got back into this race.”skip past newsletter promotionFree newsletter | Every daySign up to Headlines USGet the most important US headlines and highlights emailed direct to you every morningEnter your email Sign upafter newsletter promotionHong’s previous statements had dragged her down in recent days, including past support for defunding the police and a tweet calling to cancel Thanksgiving, which she had since retracted. She had previously vowed to use her grassroots network built during the primary to aid whoever won.Kelda Roys, a state senator, and Joel Brennan, who previously led the Wisconsin department of administration, rounded out the Democratic field.There were entries and exits from the chaotic race in recent weeks. A previous top contender, Sara Rodriguez, left the race after campaign finance irregularities, after which Crowley re-entered the race, with Evers’ backing. Mandela Barnes, the Democratic nominee for US Senate in 2022, dropped out on 31 July.The Wisconsin governor’s race became the latest test of the progressive wing of the party’s durability with Democratic voters in the midwest, after Abdul El-Sayed won the Democratic primary for US Senate in Michigan last week. Next door, Minnesota voters were also weighing a US Senate primary between a moderate and a progressive. Peggy Flanagan, Minnesota’s lieutenant governor, won the Democratic primary for Senate over Congresswoman Angie Craig. The midwest primaries came after a wave of wins of progressives and Democratic socialists in solidly bl
