Crowley Pushes Unity After Surprise Win Against Democratic Socialist Francesca Hong

Fresh off a narrow win in Wisconsin’s Democratic gubernatorial primary, Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley on Wednesday morning signaled Democrats are ready to move on from a bruising intraparty struggle that pitted moderates against the party’s left flank.

His comments are the first since his surprise win against democratic socialist Francesca Hong, who had been expected to prevail.

“Over the past few months, you've heard a lot of people try to define this election as a battle between the left and the center,” he said at a morning event. “Between progressives and the establishment. Between insiders and outsiders. That narrative misses the entire point of what we’re doing. Because when I traveled across Wisconsin, I didn't meet people who introduced themselves that way.”

Crowley and other Democrats will attend a unity brunch in the Madison area on Wednesday before a rally later in the evening in Milwaukee with Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), who didn’t endorse in the primary. Hong and state Sen. Kelda Roys — the progressive who cut into Hong’s margins — will also attend Democrats’ brunch in Middleton, according to three people granted anonymity to discuss planning.

The establishment-backed Crowley will take on Republican Rep. Tom Tiffany in the general election. Crowley cast the four-term House lawmaker as an election denier, panning his vote in favor of the Big Beautiful Bill and support of the White House’s war in Iran.

“Every one of us has something much bigger to unite around,” he said. “And that is keeping MAGA extremism from bringing the chaos we see in Washington into our neighborhoods right here in the state of Wisconsin. From the very first day I announced this campaign, I said the real threat wasn’t any of my primary opponents. The real opponent has always been Tom Tiffany. That remains true today.”

Crowley’s victory marks a surprising political comeback. Plagued by low polling numbers and a fractured slate of moderate Democrats, Crowley suspended his campaign in early July. But he reentered the race less than a month ago, buoyed by an endorsement from Gov. Tony Evers. And though he lagged behind Hong in public polling, moderates coalesced behind the 40-year-old Milwaukee County executive in recent weeks, catapulting him to victory by mere thousands of votes.

Even some progressives were relieved by Hong’s loss. The democratic socialist irked many with derisive comments about the Thanksgiving holiday and defunding and abolishing the police. Big names on the left, from Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), withheld their endorsements.

Evers, asked in an interview with POLITICO last Friday why he wanted Crowley to get back into the race, replied: “Because he's the one that has the greatest experience of getting stuff done. It's as simple as that. The other candidates do not. …That's the way I've always operated, and I know that David will do the same.”

In the final days of the race, Evers never directly committed to endorsing or campaigning with Hong should she win. At one point, he suggested he would be “helpful” but maintained that Crowley would win.

Republicans, who expected to face Hong in the fall, are already seeking to divide Democrats.

Rep. Derrick Van Orden said in an interview overnight that the Democratic establishment “picked” Crowley and that's why he won.

In a statement Wednesday, Tiffany suggested there isn’t much that separates Crowley from Hong.

“I’ve said all along that there’s not a dime’s worth of difference between these Democrat candidates, and David Crowley proved my point when he admitted there aren’t many policy differences between him and a socialist,” he said.