Topline
Socialist state Rep. Francesca Hong was narrowly defeated in Tuesday’s Wisconsin gubernatorial primary by Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, the establishment candidate, in another swing state contest that divided Democrats amid a string of progressive victories that could shift the party’s identity.
Wisconsin Democratic gubernatorial candidate Francesca Hong speaks to supporters during an election-night party in Madison, Wisconsin.
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Key Facts
The tightly fought race was called by the Associated Press at 3:34 a.m. ET, with Crowley securing 39.8% of the vote with nearly all votes counted.
Hong received 39.4% and was only around 3,000 votes behind when the race was called.
Similar to the Michigan Democratic Primary last week, polls and betting appear to have underestimated the establishment candidate, as Hong was expected to win the race by a wide margin.
State Sen. Kelda Roys and former state official Joel Brennan finished with distant third- and fourth-place finishes, securing 7.5% and 4.7% of the vote, respectively.
Crowley, who has been endorsed by retiring Democratic Gov. Tony Evers, will face Republican nominee Rep. Tom Tiffany—who has been endorsed by President Donald Trump and won his primary comfortably with 95% of the vote.
News Peg
Tuesday’s election capped off a chaotic Democratic primary race in which Crowley briefly suspended his campaign, expressing doubts he could win. He later re-entered the race after the candidate he endorsed, Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez, dropped out, while former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes also ended his campaign in July. Hong was the latest controversial progressive candidate to divide Democrats—she was criticized recently for an unearthed and since-deleted social media call to “cancelThanksgiving” in 2020, comments she reversed, and some prominent progressives, including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., have withheld their endorsements of Hong.
tangent
Some Democrats expressed concerns that Hong could lose to Tiffany in the general election. Polling on a potential matchup is limited, but a State Navigate survey found her losing support to Tiffany among Democratic primary voters in November, while a Marquette Law School poll also found Barnes was the only primary candidate with an advantage over Tiffany.
key background
Progressives have beat establishment-backed candidates, including some incumbents, in several races this primary season. Michigan state Rep. Abdul El-Sayed beat Rep. Haley Stevens in the Michigan Democratic Senate primary, and democratic socialist state Rep. Donavan McKinney unseated Rep. Shri Thanedar, D-Mich., in last week’s primaries. In New York, several congressional candidates backed by socialist New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani ousted incumbents in June, including Brad Lander, who defeated two-term incumbent Rep. Dan Goldman, and Ávila Chevalier, who beat five-term incumbent Rep. Adriano Espaillat. In Colorado, socialist Melat Kiros defeated 15-term Democratic incumbent Rep. Diana DeGette in July.