In a Wisconsin primary for governor that was as wild as they come, it's only fitting that the person who won the Democratic nomination was considered a failed candidate just a month ago.

The post The ‘Crowley comeback’ defied the odds, and reset expectations appeared first on WPR.

In a year that has seen bruising primaries that split Democratic constituencies in Maine, Michigan and elsewhere, Wisconsin's Democrats made clear on the day after the primary was decided by a razor-thin margin that they don't intend to carry those divisions forward.

The post Wisconsin Democrats preach unity as Hong endorses Crowley appeared first on WPR.

In a show of unity following a divisive and chaotic primary, Democratic gubernatorial nominee David Crowley met for breakfast with the losing candidates in the primary along with lieutenant governor nominee Sarah Godlewski and top Wisconsin Democrats.

Democrats are competing to hold onto the governor’s office against Republicans U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany and David Varnam and hope to flip control of the state Senate and Assembly in November.

U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan, Democratic Party of Wisconsin Chair Devin Remiker, Joel Brennan, state Sen. Kelda Roys and state Rep. Francesca Hong gathered with the nominees at a cafe in Middleton. Crowley sat at the head of the table next to Godlewski and Senate Minority Leader Dianne Hesselbein (D-Middleton).

The elected officials and losing primary candidates departed the breakfast while Crowley and Godlewski addressed reporters. 

Crowley, who in July restarted his campaign 10 days after he dropped out, said Gov. Tony Evers, who endorsed him, was his campaign’s “secret weapon.”

“He has a lot of trust and he’s done a lot of work. He’s one of the very few governors that we know has continued to deliver year after year,” Crowley said, adding that Evers’ message and experience helped as well. “We’re not going to win this race focusing on ideology alone. It’s about focusing on Wisconsin values. We cannot allow Washington politics to creep up into our own backyard.”

Godlewski, who won the nomination in an uncontested primary and introduced Crowley, said national politics are a “clear distinction from that guy, Tom Tiffany, who is an election denier, career politician who only cares about the wealthy and corporations.”

“That’s not who Wisconsin is, and that’s not who we are going to elect this November,” Godlewski said

Hong did not speak to reporters, but released a statement congratulating Crowley around the time of the breakfast.

“This campaign was not about getting one person into office. It is about building a movement for permanent affordability and a government that puts working people first. Our movement is strong, and the work isn’t done,” Hong said. “I fully support [Crowley] and look forward to working with him to defeat Congressman Tiffany in November.” 

Crowley also criticized Tiffany and promised to ensure that northern communities, many of which are represented by Tiffany, are not forgotten.

“We’re going to make sure they’re a part of this process and we can lend their voices to the solutions. We know no one has been listening to them across this state,” Crowley said, adding that Tiffany has not been hearing the concerns of his constituents and is only loyal to President Donald Trump. 

Tom Tiffany in Deforest

Tiffany, who has Trump’s endorsement, met with supporters in the afternoon at a bar in Deforest alongside lieutenant governor nominee David Varnam and attorney general nominee Eric Toney.

“Well, it appears that Thanksgiving may be safe this year,” Tiffany said, referring to the late-in-the-race controversy over a post made by Hong about canceling the holiday. The joke got  laughs in the bar. 

Ahead of the election, Republicans spent millions on ads to help boost Hong’s campaign, hoping she would become the Democratic nominee. 

In his remarks Wednesday, Tiffany tried to tie Crowley to Hong.

“There is not a dime’s worth of difference between the candidates that ran for the Democrat,” he said. “David Crowley will do the same stuff that Francesca Hong would have. He just didn’t say it.”

Tiffany also criticized Crowley for his leadership of the state’s largest county, including a lapse in health insurance coverage for Milwaukee County employees and the projected future budget deficits that the county faces, despite  Crowley’s talking point that he has only signed balanced budgets as county executive. 

Tiffany was also asked whether Crowley’s nomination changes his approach to the race. 

“It’ll be the same stuff, the same socialism, whether it’s David Crowley or anyone else,” Tiffany said. “You know, he was in the race, then he was out of the race, and then he was asked to get back in the race. He didn’t know whether he wanted to be governor or not. I want to be the governor of the state of Wisconsin, and we’ve had a plan from the very beginning that we’ve been sharing.” 

The Republican ticket will include Jay Schroeder, who won the GOP primary for secretary of state. Schroeder wants to eliminate the Wisconsin Elections Commission and put it back under the control of the secretary of state. 

Tiffany did not disavow the idea of eliminating the Wisconsin Elections Commission, which was created under former Gov. Scott Walker. 

“We’ll assess that after I am elected,” he said. “It should be easy to vote but hard to cheat, right, and we’re counting on that happening here with this election here in November.” 

Republican Party of Wisconsin Chair Brian Schimming told reporters that it is a new race and that he wouldn’t put much stock in polling or primary results. 

“Democrats spent the last several months fighting with each other. It took them three candidates to finally get to one that they could push through the primary, and the fact is that the last four or five months has been all about stopping Francesca,” Schimming said. “So it’s a new race.” 

Schimming added that “a primary winner will get a bump, you know, so I’m not going to be surprised by anything I see in the polls in the next week or two.”

Data centers and young voters 

In the Democratic primary for governor, Hong built much of her campaign on motivating young voters and leveraging her stance on AI data centers. She supported a one-year moratorium. Both Crowley and Tiffany addressed how they would approach the issue Wednesday. 

Asked about winning over Hong voters, Crowley said young people should have a seat at the table. 

“They need to be a part of creating the strategy and making sure that you know they have opportunities as well,” Crowley said. “Young people don’t feel that they can look into their future right now. When the average home-buying age is 40 years old, when right now they’re looking at data centers and artificial intelligence taking the jobs in the future, and so we have to focus on making sure that we’re lifting up their voices and protecting what they believe needs to be protected.”

Tiffany said that his message to young voters is “we’re going to make life more affordable for you.” He said he would do that by cutting property taxes by eliminating Evers’ 400-year veto that gives school districts authority to bring in more revenue by raising taxes, and by cutting regulations on homebuilding to make it more affordable to build a home. 

“I understand the frustration. I mean, I have three daughters in their twenties, and it’s not easy to make ends meet at this point,” Tiffany said. 

Crowley, who has said he supports banning nondisclosure agreements for data center projects, did not offer his support for a moratorium on AI data centers when asked by a reporter.

“We have to focus on making sure that we have accountability with these data centers,” Crowley said. “They have to pay their own way, they need to pay for their own infrastructure and they need to bring their own new clean energy. I am committed to working with the state Legislature to make sure we have as many guardrails as possible.”

Tiffany said he would end subsidies for data centers that were signed into Wisconsin law under Evers, work to ensure that utility rates don’t go up and would ban nondisclosure agreements. 

“Well it sounds like David Crowley will give a blank check to data centers,” Tiffany said. “They do not need to be subsidized by us, the taxpayers, and we’re gonna make sure that people’s electricity rates do not go up. We’re going to make sure that we have full transparency.”

Redistricting that has made many Wisconsin Assembly and Senate districts more competitive, combined with an unusually large number of retirements at the end of the current legislative session, set the stage for what may be the largest number of primary contests in recent history for seats in the Legislature in both the Republican and Democratic parties.

In what might be the only genuine upset, Milwaukee state Rep. Sylvia Ortiz-Velez lost her seat in Tuesday’s Democratic primary race, the ultimate outcome of the conflict between the Assembly’s Democratic caucus and Ortiz-Velez.

Other internal primary challenges of incumbents in both the Democratic and Republican caucuses fell short.

Wisconsin Senate

SD 1: Republican state Sen. Andre Jacque is retiring from the district, which includes Door and Kewaunee counties. In the four-way Republican primary race to succeed Jacque, Nic Cravillion of New Franken won with 40% of the vote, outpacing the second-place finisher by 15 percentage points. Cravillion worked as the district director for Jacque for the last five years.

No Democrats are running for the seat in the red-leaning district. Mark Becker, a small business owner and former chair of the Brown County Republican Party who parted ways with the GOP after President Donald Trump’s election in 2016, will be on the November ballot as an independent.

SD 11: With Republican incumbent Sen. Steve Nass retiring at the end of this term from the district, which is centered on Walworth County and includes portions of adjacent counties, both Democrats and Republicans held primary elections to select candidates for the open seat.

Republican Ellen Schutt, a former state representative, won the GOP nomination with 44% of the vote against 36% for Sandy Wiedmeyer, Kenosha County Republican Party chair and a Moms for Liberty Activist, and just under 20% for Nick Polce, a U.S. Army veteran.

On the Democratic side, Adam Duda got 58% of the primary vote to defeat Steve Doelder with 41% and win his party’s nomination.

Duda and Schutt will compete in the November general election in the red-leaning district.

SD 17: Boosted by support from the State Senate Democratic Committee, state Rep. Jenna Jacobson won a three-way primary handily with 57% of the vote. Childcare advocate Corrine Hendrickson finished with almost 27% and small business owner Lisa White had 16%.

Jacobson will run against Republican Howard Marklein in November, whose nomination was uncontested. Marklein won reelection with 60% of the vote in 2022, but revised maps have made the district more competitive in partisan terms.

SD 23: Republican Sen. Romaine Quinn, who currently represents SD 25, is running for reelection to the Senate under new maps in the red-leaning SD 23, where the current incumbent, Republican Sen. Jesse James, is retiring at the end of this term. Quinn did not have a primary opponent Tuesday.

In the Democratic primary to challenge Quinn in November, Jeff Foster, a former social worker and dairy farmer, won with 68% of the vote, while Richard Pulcher received 32%.

SD 25: Located in far Northwest Wisconsin, the district includes Superior as well as Ashland, Bayfield, Burnett, Douglas, Iron, Polk, Sawyer and Washburn counties. The district was represented by former Senate Minority Leader Janet Bewley, a Democrat, from 2015 through 2022. Bewley decided to forgo reelection in 2022 after the maps were redrawn to the advantage of Republicans.

The district was further redrawn in the new maps adopted in 2024 by an order of the state Supreme Court. Republican Sen. Romaine Quinn currently represents the district, but the 2024 maps put his home in SD 23, and Quinn is running this year in that district instead, resulting in an open seat.

In the SD-25 Republican primary, Erik Severson, a physician and former Assembly member defeated former state Rep. Angie Sapik 54%-46% on Tuesday.

Severson will run in November against Democrat Charly Ray, who had no primary opposition.

On Wednesday, the State Senate Democratic Committee announced it was adding SD-25 to its list of Republican targets to flip in the November election. 

The committee also said it was adding SD-29 to the list — currently held by Republican incumbent Sen. Cory Tomczyk. Neither Tomczyk nor the Democratic challenger, retired Dr. Gillian Battino, had a primary opponent Tuesday.

Wisconsin Assembly

AD 8: Following allegations of a violent threat and conflict with the Legislature’s Democratic leadership, state Rep. Sylvia Ortiz-Velez, left the Democratic caucus last year, although she continued to generally vote with the Assembly Democrats on most bills. 

Back in her Milwaukee district, Ismael Luna mounted a primary challenge and got support from unions and the Assembly Democratic leaders. Luna, a women’s homeless shelter case manager and former intern for Sen. Tammy Baldwin, won early Tuesday night with 70% of the vote.

Luna will face Republican Angel Sanchez in the November election in the deep blue district.

AD 9: Milwaukee first-term state Rep. Priscilla Prado easily survived a primary challenge from Milwaukee School Board member Mimi Reza. Prado got 70% of the vote. She will face Republican Samuel Guerro in November.

AD 12: Milwaukee, first-term state Rep. Russell Goodwin overcame a primary challenge, getting 54% of the vote to Jordan Roman’s 46%. Roman, a community consultant, was endorsed by the LGBTQ+ advocacy group FAIR Wisconsin’s PAC after Goodwin broke with Assembly Democrats to vote for a bill barring transgender girls from sports teams matching their gender identity.

Goodwin will have no Republican opposition in the November election.

AD 13: Amy Zimmerman won with 51% Tuesday against David Sanchez, who garnered  just under 49% of the vote, in the Democratic primary election for the seat in the western part of Milwaukee County. The seat was vacated by Democratic state Rep. Robyn Vining, who is running for the state Senate. The AP called the race Wednesday afternoon at 1:25 p.m.

In November, Zimmerman will face Republican Mike Morgan, whose nomination was not contested.

AD 19: State Rep. Ryan Clancy got 54% of the vote in the Milwaukee County district, surviving a challenge by small business owner Bridget Maniaci, who finished with 45%. Clancy will face Republican Yasmine B. Outlaw in November.

AD 21: Daniel Bukiewicz, the mayor of Oak Creek and president of the Milwaukee Building & Construction Trades Council, won the Democratic primary easily with almost 57% of the vote to 43% for David Liners. The district, which represents Oak Creek and a portion of the city of Milwaukee around the Mitchell International Airport, could help determine control of the state Assembly.

The seat is open following the retirement of Rep. Jessie Rodriguez (R-Oak Creek), who was first elected to the Assembly in 2013.

In November, Bukiewicz will face Republican Dylan Pfaffenbach, who had no primary opposition.

AD 26: John Belanger, a former Sheboygan alderman, won the Republican primary with more than 63% of the vote, far ahead of James Brotz, with 23%, and Tyler Schneekloth, with almost 14%.

Belanger, who is running for the Assembly after having lost his reelection bid to the Sheboygan city council, will challenge first-term state Rep. Joe Sheehan, a Democrat, in November.

AD 33: In the Racine County district represented by Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, who is retiring this year, Steve Wicklund, an electrical contractor and Union Grove village president, won the Republican primary with 54%, defeating Walworth County Board Chair Rick Stacey, who received 45%.

Maria Bisabarros, the co-owner of a meat processing company, won the Democratic primary with just under 62% of the vote against retired teacher Rick Bailey, who received 38%.

Wicklund and Bisabarros will compete in November for the seat in the Republican-leaning district.

AD 37: Beaver Dam Republican State Rep. Mark Born, the Assembly co-chair of the powerful Joint Finance Committee, easily overcame a Republican primary challenge from Steve Rydzewski, who has been organizing against data center construction in Beaver Dam. Born won more than 65% of the primary vote to Rydzewski’s 34%.

Born will face LaToya Bates, co-chair of the Dodge County Democratic Party, in November, in a rematch of the 2024 race Born won with more than 68% of the vote.

AD 50: Bill Oemichen, president of the New Glarus school board, won a three-way primary with 50% of the votes, a lead of almost 20 points over his nearest rival. Josh Mittness received 30% of the vote and Bryna Caves just under 19%, in a race that the AP called late Wednesday morning.

Oemichen will face Republican Jon Aleckson, who was unopposed in the Republican primary, in the November election for the seat, which Democratic state Rep. Jenna Jacobson gave up to run for state Senate in the 17th SD.

AD 56: Hortonville coffee shop owner Grace Abitz won with just under 59% of the vote in the Democratic primary against Shawna Riley, a forklift operator, who finished with 41%.

Abitz will run in November against Anthony Phillips, a doctor and former state Senate candidate, for the seat being vacated with the retirement of Republican Rep. Dave Murphy.

AD 57: The impending retirement of Republican state Rep. Kevin Petersen created an open seat in this central Wisconsin district. Kevin Krentz, a local dairy farmer and former president of the Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation, won the Republican four-way primary with more than 55% of the vote.

Bill Lorge, a former Assembly member seeking to return to the Capitol, finished a distant third with just under 10%.

Krentz will run against Joey Marschall, a Waushara County Democrat who had no opposition to his nomination.

AD 58: The retirement of Republican state Rep. Rick Gundrum produced an open seat in this suburban and rural district north of Milwaukee.

Bernie Newman, a landscaper and president of Common Sense Citizens of Washington County, won nearly 60% of the Republican primary vote Tuesday, while Washington County Board supervisor Chris Bossert got 40%.

Newman will face Democrat Dennis Degenhardt of West Bend, a baseball historian and retired credit union executive, in November.

AD 61: The Greendale and Hales Corners district in Milwaukee County is represented by Republican Rep. Bob Donovan, who is running for a third term in November.

Ben Brist, an army veteran endorsed by the Wisconsin Education Association Council (WEAC), pulled ahead to win with 44% in a three-way Democratic primary against yoga instructor Lawanda Chambers, who got almost 38%, and pharmacist Brian Bock, who won 18%. The AP called the race for Brist at 1:33 a.m. Wednesday morning.

AD 74: Republican state Rep. Chanz Green, first elected in 2022, easily overcame a primary challenge, winning 63% to just under 37% for Scott Harbridge, a retired law enforcement officer. The election was a rematch between the two Republicans.

In November, Green will face Democrat Paul Johnson, also a retired law enforcement officer as well as a member of the Spooner Area School Board and the Washburn County Board.

AD 76: Dina Nina Martinez-Rutherford won a five-way Democratic primary with 29% of the vote, a 2-point margin over the second-place finisher, Juliana Bennet. AP called the race shortly after noon on Wednesday. The district has been represented since 2021 by Democratic state Rep. Francesca Hong, who decided to forgo reelection and run for governor.

If elected, Martinez-Rutherford would be the first openly transgender person to serve in the state Legislature. She won the endorsement of two Madison-area state lawmakers along with Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway and Madison Common Council President Sabrina Madison.

Martinez-Rutherford will run against Nina Chat in November, whose bid for the Republican candidate nomination was uncontested.

AD 92: Jeremiah Fredrickson, a former teacher and owner of a fish farm, won the Democratic primary against Mel Marin in the Northwest Wisconsin district represented by Republican state Rep. Clint Moses.

Fredrickson will go up against Moses in the November election.

Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley has won the Democratic primary for governor, a shocking outcome for a candidate who briefly suspended his floundering campaign roughly a month ago.

The post In shocking comeback, David Crowley wins Democratic primary for governor appeared first on WPR.

Tuesday's election saw primaries in seven out of eight Wisconsin congressional districts. Here are the results, along with who the winners will face in November.

The post Wisconsin congressional primaries set stage for November appeared first on WPR.

According to unofficial results, Cooke, a Democratic fundraising consultant and former small business owner, had 57 percent of the vote, while Eau Claire City Council President Emily Berge had 42.9 percent.

The post Cooke victory in 3rd Congressional District Democratic primary sets up rematch appeared first on WPR.

The Trump-endorsed son-in-law of U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy will be the Republican candidate in Wisconsin's 7th Congressional District.

The post Duffy son-in-law Michael Alfonso wins bruising GOP primary in 7th Congressional District appeared first on WPR.

Mitchell Berman will attempt to unseat Republican U.S. Rep. Bryan Steil in an effort to flip Wisconsin’s 1st Congressional District. 

The post Democrat Mitchell Berman will face GOP Rep. Bryan Steil in 1st Congressional District appeared first on WPR.

Candidates running for Wisconsin governor made their final pitches to voters Monday in the run-up to Wisconsin's primary election.

The post Candidates make closing pitches ahead of Wisconsin primary for governor appeared first on WPR.

Wisconsin’s August primary election takes place Tuesday, with voters across the state heading to the polls to choose their preferred candidate for dozens of races on the ballot in November’s midterm elections. 

Polls open Tuesday morning at 7 a.m. and close at 8 p.m. If there is a line at a polling place at 8 p.m., voters should remain in line because they’ll still be allowed to vote. Election officials said Monday that because primary elections typically have lower turnout than general elections, long lines aren’t expected. 

In 2018, the last time Democrats had an open primary for governor, primary turnout was 23% of eligible voters. That year’s general election saw 59.7% turnout. In 2022, when Republicans had an open primary for governor and there was a Democratic primary for U.S. Senate, primary turnout was 26.3% and the general election turnout was 57.2%. 

“For voters that are interested in voting tomorrow during the election in person at the polling place … it seems like [polls are busiest] earlier in the morning when the polls open, and then after work, you know once people are kind of headed home and in the evening hours, and so voters may want to consider times that are off some of those peak times,” Wisconsin Elections Commission Administrator Meagan Wolfe said at a Monday news conference. “But again, I really don’t expect that tomorrow will be outside of the norm …  it’s typically 22 to 25 percent, which is a much much smaller turnout than you’d see in a general election. And so we typically don’t see waits and things like that in a partisan primary.”

With the lower turnout in a primary election, the counting of votes is usually faster than in a higher turnout general election. But, Wolfe said, results can still take time to be determined and she urged patience while election officials work to count ballots. 

“Election officials will always prioritize accuracy over speed,” she said.

As voters have increasingly turned to absentee voting since 2020, hundreds of thousands of people have already cast their votes in the election. WEC data from Monday morning shows that 368,000 people have requested absentee ballots and 268,000 have been returned. 

There were about 27,000 more absentee ballots returned ahead of the 2022 primary. 

It is too late  to put absentee ballots in the mail. But voters who requested absentee ballots and have not returned them yet can bring them to their  polling place, their local municipal clerk’s office or, in communities that use them, to an absentee ballot drop box. 

In Wisconsin, voters don’t need to register as a member of a party to vote in that party’s primary election. But, each voter must choose which primary they’re voting in at the polls and can only choose one. 

“If a voter does choose to not follow the directions and vote in more than one party’s primary, then their votes would not be counted for those contests,” Wolfe said.

Eligible voters who are not registered to vote can register at the polls on Election Day. To register, voters need to provide their name and place of residence to the poll worker. A valid Wisconsin ID can be used if it shows a voter’s current address but voters can also use a property tax bill, lease document, utility bill, a college identification card or bank statement. 

What’s on the ballot

State and national attention is focused  on the Democratic primary for governor in which four candidates are vying to be the party’s nominee — former Department of Administration Secretary Joel Brennan, Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, state Rep. Francesca Hong (D-Madison) and state Sen. Kelda Roys (D-Madison). 

While those four are the candidates still actively running, the names of three Democrats who have dropped out of the race will also appear on the ballot: former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, former WEDC CEO Missy Hughes and Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez. 

“All of the candidates that filed their paperwork and were granted ballot access appear on the ballot,” Wolfe said. “Every single voter in Wisconsin, whether you voted right when absentee ballots went out in June or you’re voting at the polls on Election Day, will see the same ballot. And so, when a candidate chooses to drop out of a race, that actually has no impact on the official ballot, and any votes for that candidate would still be counted.” 

Further down the ballot, voters will decide the nominees in statewide races for lieutenant governor, state treasurer and secretary of state. All but one of Wisconsin’s eight congressional seats have contested primaries. There are also legislative races in every corner of the state and primaries for local partisan offices such as county sheriff.

Crowley and Evers in final sprint

Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley and Gov. Tony Evers met with volunteers at Crowley’s campaign headquarters in Madison on Monday to thank them for their support.

Crowley and Evers have been racing cross the state over the last week to try to boost Crowley’s profile and win enough support to overtake state Rep. Francesca Hong, who has been leading the field in recent polls. 

Evers told reporters that people are “jazzed as hell” for Crowley. He had stayed out of the primary until July when the campaign of Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez collapsed. Crowley, at the time had suspended his campaign, but he was encouraged by Evers and others to get back into the race with Evers’ endorsement. 

Asked if he regretted waiting to endorse, Evers said he might have done it slightly earlier.

“No. Well, I wish I — yes and no,” Evers said. “It came to a point, and that point was really important…. Maybe in the return, I might have done it a week or two earlier, but this is kind of fun.”

Evers has said in recent days that he doesn’t think Hong can defeat likely Republican nominee U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany. He told reporters Monday that he would campaign for Hong if she wins, saying the “alternative is not good.”

Crowley told reporters that he feels optimistic going into Tuesday. 

“This primary has been chaotic. It’s been messy, but so is our democracy, and at the end of the day, it’s about making sure that all of our voters across this state or wherever they are that they have great options,” Crowley said. “We’re going to continue to focus on the affordability crisis, making things more affordable for families across this state, but also that I’m the only one that’s going to be ready on day one. We have seen a lot of incredible momentum in the past few weeks.”

One of Crowley’s supporters is Lester Pines, a 76-year-old retired attorney who spent much of his career fighting for progressive causes including against former Gov. Scott Walker. Pines said he was “moderately optimistic” going into Tuesday. He and Kaleem Caire, the co-founder of One City Schools, hosted a meet-and-greet event for Crowley early in the campaign.

“I was very impressed with David’s story of his life and with the fact that he’s the Milwaukee county executive and understands what it takes to actually run a large unit of government, and he’s a great communicator,” Pines said, adding that his actions have been “consistent with the positions that I have had, and my friends have had for decades.” 

Pines said Crowley is the right person to go up against “Tom Trump Tiffany,” though he said that he’ll be 100% in for Hong if she becomes the nominee. 

“I’m more than willing to support her if she’s the nominee. The problem is that she has littered herself with a number of very negative things that are going to become what the campaign is about despite how hard she’s going to try to stick to the issues, and that is what worries me,” Pines said. 

Hong rallies canvassers

About two hours later, just a few miles further east in Madison, Hong greeted her supporters before they got started with a canvassing effort at her campaign office in the Willy Street neighborhood. Hong has been leading in polls since early in the primary, and her lead has grown significantly since March of this year.

Hong told her supporters that “now it’s time to level up.”

“It’s not just about winning tomorrow, but it’s about uniting our coalition. It’s about bringing in new builders. It’s about making sure everyone in Wisconsin sees themselves in our vision for a better Wisconsin for everyone,” Hong said. 

Many Democrats, including Evers, have expressed doubts about Hong’s ability to win the general election as a democratic socialist with a history of making controversial social media posts in a swing state that voted for President Donald Trump twice. 

“We’ve been winning in the polls. We’ve been winning over voters because we’re the campaign that actually listens to what they want and what they care about, and we’re going up against a Republican, who will never care about Wisconsinites, who will sell out our natural resources to the highest bidder. Tom Tiffany is an election denier and a traitor. He supports a national abortion ban. A vote for Tiffany is a vote for Trump, not for the people,” Hong told her supporters, adding that the campaign is about the people and “not just my opponents, not about the rhetoric and certainly not about the tweets.” 

Answering questions from reporters, Hong said she looks forward to building unity after the primary and that she is “very confident that we’ll be able to show folks that Democrats are coming together to make sure that Democrats win down and up the ballot this November.”

Throughout her campaign, Hong has held over 320 events and leveraged thousands of volunteers to build support. She said she knew she’d have to “out hustle” the other candidates as the “wildcard” in the race. 

Even the day before Election Day, a handful of new canvassers were given a quick training and instructed to keep things positive when talking about other Democratic candidates and speaking to voters who like Hong “but they’re worried about her electability.” 

One volunteer said they supported Hong because she doesn’t take corporate PAC money, adding, “there’s only one other candidate who does that and she has no motion,” a reference to state Sen. Kelda Roys. Another volunteer mentioned Hong’s position on AI data centers — she supports a one-year moratorium, while other candidates have said they want to impose new regulations. 

— Baylor Spears

Roys sees path forward down to the wire

State Sen. Kelda Roys campaigned through the weekend, with stops scheduled in De Pere and Green Bay on Friday, Ojibwa and Hudson on Saturday, Eau Claire and Mauston on Sunday and online events Sunday afternoon and evening.

On Monday she began her day at the Wisconsin State Fair, followed by a brew pub meet-and-greet in Wauwatosa, a town hall event in Whitewater and wrapping up with a rally at a Madison restaurant two blocks from the Capitol.

“There is such a hunger for change,” Roys told the group of about 90 who gathered under a tent in the back yard of Naples 15. “People are furious about what this Republican authoritarian regime is doing to our country, and they want a leader who is willing to stand up and fight for it. And people are ready to finally put the nail in the coffin of the Walker years.”

Surrounded by enthusiastic supporters, although polls have put her behind Hong and Crowley, Roys said she saw  signs that she takes as a message not to count her out.

“Even now this weekend, as I traveled around and I said, ‘Who’s undecided?’, a good chunk of people still raise their hands,” she said. “We know that when folks see all the candidates side by side, when they hear us, when they have the opportunity to actually clue in and pay attention, they do gravitate towards me and my progressive policies.”

She mentioned a poll after the one Democratic gubernatorial debate that showed her gaining support from swing voters.

“I am just overwhelmed by the outpouring of support that I have received all over the state, and I have to tell you, it has accelerated wildly in the last several weeks since the debate,” Roys said.

After her pep talk, which lasted a little more than 15 minutes, Roys spent another half-hour taking questions and comments from the crowd.

Bryna Caves, who is running in the Democratic primary for the 50th Assembly District that includes Green County, told Roys that she had originally supported Hong’s campaign.

But hearing Roys at a rally Caves held in February to launch her own campaign, “it was really obvious to me that Kelda had equally as progressive values as Fran but was wildly more qualified. She had way more experience. Her policies were much more thought out, and I just was much more in touch with her in person,” Caves said.“I flipped because it was obvious to me that she is — If we really want to achieve the goals that we want, like universal healthcare, childcare, if we want to make these things actually happen, the one that’s going to be able to get it done with no drama is Kelda.”

— Erik Gunn

Brennan looks forward to next phase

Joel Brennan met with a small group of supporters in a quiet and scenic Mequon neighborhood on Monday. Brennan aimed to canvas the area, filled with huge houses, scenic nature views, and quiet courts, and cul de sacs to gain support ahead of the Tuesday Democratic primary election. 

Pointing to his experience serving as Secretary of Administration under Gov. Tony Evers, as well as in the private sector and running the state’s largest science museum, Discovery World, Brennan told reporters that he’s a prime candidate. Brennan said that the more he talks to voters, the more he hears people express frustration “with the government doing nothing, and government standing in place when we have real problems to address around healthcare, around childcare, or education.” Brennan added, “I’m somebody who’s always been about getting things done.” 

Brennan said he’s looking forward to what comes after the election Tuesday. “The field will change, the conversation will change after tomorrow,” he said. Despite all the twists and turns during the primary race, Brennan said voters remain focused on how to improve their lives, and how candidates can help them achieve that. 

Looking back at whether he has any regrets in his campaign, Brennan said that the disappearance of local media in small towns was a challenge. “I’m the son of two journalists,” said Brennan, “the world has changed. But I think we’re worse off if we don’t get local eyes, and local coverage, and local conversation about what’s going on. If there was something that I wish I had more of in this campaign, it’s sitting across the table from a grizzled local media veteran talking about local issues, forcing me to know more about that community, forcing me to answer for the issues in that community. And we don’t have that.” Brennan said that he believes “that we’d be a better-informed electorate if we had more of a chance to have those local conversations.”

Asked what he thinks will be the key to beating Republican Tom Tiffany in the race for governor, Brennan went after Tiffany’s ads. “Everybody has seen commercials to this point of Tom Tiffany looking over his shoulder and looking at his mother,” said Brennan. “I think the fall campaign’s going to have to be Tom Tiffany looking over his shoulder and seeing Donald Trump. Because he has spent more time with Donald Trump than his mother is my guess, and he’s been more closely aligned with him in his voting record than almost anybody else in America, and he has to answer to that.” 

Brennan said that Democrats also need to “offer up a positive vision” including how to help farmers and how to open up educational opportunities, “stop pitting property tax payers against kids,” and how to ensure healthcare is more affordable for people. “We better be offering up an alternative and a vision that solves problems for people and gives them a pathway to understanding that things are going to be better and things are going to be different if we get elected,” he said.

— Isiah Holmes

The primary is tomorrow and many voters are anxious to see if their chosen candidates are going to be successful Tuesday. WPR talked to voters in Milwaukee and Wausau about what they’re hoping for.

The post Wisconsin voters prepare to cast ballots, even as some remain undecided appeared first on WPR.

Four Democratic candidates — Francesca Hong, David Crowley, Joel Brennan and Kelda Roys — remain in the 2026 primary for governor, all vying to face Republican Tom Tiffany in the general election

The post Wisconsin’s 2026 primary for governor hits the home stretch appeared first on WPR.

The Green Bay city clerk is stepping down amid an investigation into how her office mailed out duplicate absentee ballots in back-to-back elections this year.

The post Green Bay City Clerk Celestine Jeffreys to step down amid duplicate ballots scandal appeared first on WPR.

Wisconsin Watch partners with Gigafact to produce Fact Briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. Read our methodology to learn how we check claims.

Yes.

Wisconsin’s voter list from the state elections commission is available to the public — and to foreign countries — for a $12,500 fee. 

In a primetime speech on July 16, 2026, President Donald Trump said voter data had been “bought, stolen or hacked by China” in 18 states following the 2020 election. 

Wisconsin’s voter list is not known to have been hacked, and state election officials say election systems are secure. 

The voter list available from the Wisconsin Elections Commission includes names, addresses and whether a person voted in recent elections, but excludes other personal information such as date of birth, driver’s license number and Social Security number.

State laws don’t apply limits to how that data can be used once it is purchased, according to Wisconsin Legislative Council guidance. Buyers can use it “to contact individuals for any purpose.”

This Fact Brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

Sources

• CNN: Trump’s speech claiming US election vulnerabilities, annotated
• Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Trump questioned election security. What to know about Wisconsin laws
• Wisconsin Legislative Council: Voter information as public record
• Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: In reversal, feds proclaim Russians did not seek to hack Wisconsin's election system
• Wisconsin Elections Commission: Contingency Planning and Election System Security

Can anyone buy Wisconsin voter roll data? is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.

Wisconsin Democrats’ efforts to flip control of the state Senate runs through just a handful of districts — and the most competitive of those will be in a newly-drawn district in southwest Wisconsin.

The post 3 Democrats vie for competitive Senate seat that could determine majority appeared first on WPR.

Peggy Hedberg, a Madison resident, recently switched her support in the Democratic primary for governor from state Sen. Kelda Roys (D-Madison) to Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley — a decision she said she has made because “pragmatically” she wants to vote for someone to win. Roys has been polling in the single digits.

Hedberg said it was Crowley’s energy that won her over.

“I felt like he had the strength to carry us,” she said, noting that it was hard for her to switch. She said she cares about electing women, especially as abortion access is one of the most important issues to her, but she also cares about having a candidate who can work with the Legislature to get things done. “I had to make a decision, and that was hard, but I felt that with Evers’ backing and other factors that this would be a better way for us to move forward.” 

Hedberg was at a meet and greet with Crowley on Wednesday afternoon in downtown Madison. Crowley is looking to win over voters like Hedberg with just five days until Election Day. 

Crowley told reporters that he is focusing on consolidating votes from people who are undecided. According to the last Marquette Law School poll, 34% of likely Democratic primary voters had not yet made up their minds. 

Crowley’s campaign ended in July, then restarted at the end of the month following the implosion of Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez’s campaign. In his second launch, Crowley entered with the endorsement of Gov. Tony Evers, triggering accusations that he is the candidate of the Democratic “establishment.” He said Wednesday that “when people try to call me the establishment, I look at that as a slur, particularly as an African American candidate.” Describing his background as a child of parents who struggled with addiction, mental illness and serial evictions, he said he has always represented the people, not the powerful.

When Crowley entered his campaign’s new office on East Washington Avenue in Madison at mid-day on Wednesday, he made a circuit of the room, greeting attendees individually with a huge grin and firm handshakes. Crowley told reporters that six days is “absolutely” enough time to get voters acquainted with him. 

The stop is one of several Crowley is making this week as he crisscrosses the state in an attempt to introduce himself to voters and win enough support to overcome state Rep. Francesca Hong’s substantial lead in recent polls. Election Day is Tuesday.

Crowley told one group of attendees that “there are Democrats everywhere,” describing his campaign stops in Wausau, Rhinelander, Hudson, Superior and Green Bay. At a recent stop in Baraboo he took pictures at the Clown Museum.

Crowley said he was trying “to see if we could find Tom Tiffany.”

This week, Crowley campaigned in Appleton with Gov. Evers and won the endorsement of U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore, the Congressional Black Caucus PAC and state legislators including Legislative Black Caucus Chair Sen. Dora Drake and Rep. Lisa Subeck, who spoke at the Madison event.

“There is something magnetic about him. I think about some of the things that I have loved about Gov. Tony Evers — he is a good guy, he is a good person who leads with his head and with his heart — and I think David holds many of those same qualities,” Subeck told the crowd.

Crowley and Subeck served in the Legislature while Democrats were in the minority. Subeck said Crowley had a “particular talent for not only standing up for our core values, but for also working across the aisle without compromising our values” when he served in the Legislature.

Crowley told attendees that the biggest problem facing Democrats is that “all we’ve been doing is responding and reacting to Donald Trump and Republicans.”

“As long as we do that, guess who’s defining us for us? They are,” Crowley said. “So, it’s time for us to get off the sidelines and stop playing defense and get on the offense. This is the time where we not only need a Democratic governor, but we need to make sure that we’re flipping the state Senate, flipping the state Assembly, because none of these policies that I’m about to rattle off becomes a reality unless we’re in charge.” 

Crowley spoke about capping the cost of childcare at 7%, fixing the school funding formula and boosting the state’s share of special education costs to 90% as well as supporting unions by repealing the union-busting law Act 10.

At one point, Crowley took issue with a proposed moratorium on AI data centers, which Hong has made a key point in her campaign. He said that he is frustrated that the Republican-led Legislature finished its work this year without establishing any regulation on the constructions of them. 

“People may talk about a moratorium, but what is that moratorium going to do about the data centers that are currently being built or are operating right now? It’s short-term thinking but it doesn’t address the long-term concerns we all have in this state,” Crowley said, adding that data centers need to “pay their own way.”

Crowley said that implementing a ban on non-disclosure agreements between local governments and big tech companies building data centers, requiring union labor and having companies pay for their own clean energy is essential. 

Crowley also challenged predictions based on polling ahead of Election Day, especially after the results of Michigan’s U.S. Senate race. Abdul El-Sayed, a progressive, defeated U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens by about 1 point, after polls showed him leading the race by more than 10 points. 

Hong has been polling 20 points or more ahead of Crowley. 

The Crowley campaign released a memo on Wednesday that said “results in Michigan Tuesday night showed polling that failed to appropriately capture and reflect the primary electorate and well overstated the position of the race frontrunner. Democrats are in the driver’s seat in Wisconsin to choose David Crowley and have the best fighting chance against Tom Tiffany in November.”

The memo found that in the four-person primary for governor, Hong led Crowley 42% to 24% while Roys and former Department of Administration Secretary Joel Brennan were still polling in the single digits. 

Asked about whether he thinks the other candidates could cut into his margins and propel Hong to the nomination, Crowley told reporters that his job is to “convince as many voters as possible why we’re the winning candidate.” 

“With it being almost a clear race between two particular candidates, those voters and those candidates, they’re going to have to make their own decisions,” Crowley said. He also said that he would never tell a candidate to drop out.

The Crowley campaign’s internal poll found Hong up 53% to 33% against Crowley in a head-to-head race. Once those being polled were informed of both candidates’ positions, Hong led Crowley 47% to 38%

Young people make up a large share of Hong’s base, but Evan Natzke, an 18-year-old who recently graduated from Milton High School south of Madison, enthusiastically greeted Crowley at the event. He told the Examiner that he met Crowley before and he appreciated that he seems like a “super genuine person.”

“I just love his energy. I feel like he’s just so charismatic,” Natzke said. 

Natzke said Hong has good ideas, but he is concerned about how she’ll do in the general election, saying that Republicans “are going to be able to paint this picture of her being this super crazy radical person.”

“I just don’t think that a normal voter is going to really like that image that is painted of her,” Natzke said. “And along with that, I’m also unsure if her policies will be able to work at the state level.”

A new campaign finance report details the chaotic end to Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez’s campaign for governor, including the reimbursement of an ostensibly independent outside group for nearly $53,000.

The post Finance report details chaotic end to Sara Rodriguez’s campaign for governor appeared first on WPR.

Hasan Piker and Ilhan Omar join Francesca Hong on the campaign trail for governor of Wisconsin. Polls show that Francesca Hong is leading the Democratic primary for Wisconsin governor. Hasan Piker, Ilhan Omar, and Hong deliver their remarks to a boisterous crowd at South Milwaukee High School. Freelance videographer Jonathan Klett captures full video of the event.