Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley gave final approval to a 2022 contract requested by the Sheriff’s Office and approved by the Board of Supervisors that provides communication tablets to county jail and House of Correction inmates.
Crowley, the Democratic candidate for governor, also approved a three-year extension in 2025.
Generally all inmates can access tablets, which can be used for text messages. People who want to message with inmates must create an account.
The tablets cannot access the internet. They can access the contractor’s “intranet,” which includes entertainment and educational material.
The goal is to help inmates “stay connected to family, loved ones, and legal and support services,” the county executive’s office said.
The tablets became an issue in the gubernatorial campaign after a judge Aug. 28 raised questions about their use for witness intimidation, victim harassment and child pornography access.
This Fact Brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
Sources
Milwaukee County Legislative Information Center: File 21-1004
Milwaukee County Legislative Information Center: File 250222
It took until the early morning hours to call the Democratic primary for governor of Wisconsin. When the counting ended at 3 a.m., Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley had beaten state Rep. Francesca Hong by fewer than 4,000 votes, closing a gap that public polling had put at double digits in Hong’s favor. Hong, a democratic socialist, made a moratorium on new AI data center construction a signature of her campaign. Crowley had a different data center answer: build, but make sure the data centers provide real benefits to surrounding communities.
The postmortems have treated the race as a proxy war between the party’s establishment and its left flank, which is certainly a theme. But it was also a statewide primary in which data centers became a defining issue, and it is worth asking why an issue that appears so popular at first glance was held by the candidate who underperformed at the polls.
Dig beneath the surface, and the anti-data center position seems politically weaker. While national polling can’t explain the results of a statewide race, it suggests voters’ views on data centers may be more nuanced than a simple for-or-against debate. In the Rainey Center’s May national survey of 1,010 registered voters, data centers sat underwater, 29% favorable to 48% unfavorable, and the sharpest hostility was exactly where Hong was strong: 41% of very liberal voters held a very unfavorable view, the most intense opposition of any ideological group.
But when you look closer the picture changes. Black voters were the most favorable group in the electorate, 36% favorable to 30% unfavorable, with a third saying they were not sure. White voters ran 29% to 53%. None of this makes Black voters cheerleaders for AI, but it is a long way from the revolt a moratorium presumes, and the rest of the survey shows why.
Hong’s dismissal of data centers excites populists, but most voters are interested in a more thorough understanding of the issue. It’s worth understanding what voters are actually worried about and how Crowley defused those concerns. In our polling, Black voters are most concerned that data centers will destroy jobs: 19% named AI destroying jobs as their top concern, and another 12% said the projects do not create enough permanent jobs. Jobs are justice, and Black voters want to see a data center policy that creates jobs in their communities.
And while data centers sound scary in the abstract, their impact can be enormously positive. Loudon County, home of more than 250 data centers, will see $1.3 billion in tax revenue next year from data centers, enough that property taxes have been slashed by 30% in the last decade.
Data centers are still controversial, and advocates for America leading the world in technology will need arguments that persuade voters. The pro-data center coalition is unions, blue-collar workers, rural communities looking for economic development, and Black voters. Accountability can strengthen data center support with these voters and expand the coalition.
Requiring data center operators to sign a community benefits agreement, committing to local hiring, infrastructure upgrades, and payments to the community before construction begins, drew 66% support overall and 60% to 14% among Black voters. And 61% want ratepayer protections, the industry pledge that data centers cover their own power costs, written into binding law.
Crowley has embraced the principles of Donald Trump’s Ratepayer Protection Pledge (though he would surely plead ignorance as to the policy’s provenance). He has said data center companies should cover the full cost of the grid upgrades they require, use union labor and sign community benefit agreements. His position aligns with Black voters, union voters and non-college voters who want jobs and accountability.
Rob Smith is a fellow at the Joseph Rainey Center for Public Policy and a commentator on American public policy, culture, leadership, and national priorities. His work focuses on issues including energy independence, U.S. competitiveness and the policies shaping America’s future.
Devan Patel is the Visiting Fellow for Tech Ethics & Democracy at the Joseph Rainey Center for Public Policy and a lawyer and political strategist focused on artificial intelligence, technology and public policy. He is also an adjunct professor of law at Notre Dame Law School and has worked at the intersection of AI ethics, national security and democratic governance.
TheJoseph Rainey Center for Public Policy, named for the first Black House member, is a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit think tank formed in 2018 to examine public policy issues. Its advocacy positions span the partisan divide.
Guest commentaries reflect the views of their authors and are independent of the nonpartisan, in-depth reporting produced by Wisconsin Watch’s newsroom staff. Want to join the Wisconversion? See our guidelines for submissions.
Both Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, the Democratic candidate, and U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, the Republican candidate, were invited to participate, but the debate has now been canceled since both candidates did not accept the invitation. (Photos by Baylor Spears/Wisconsin Examiner)
The Wisconsin Broadcasters Association Foundation has canceled its gubernatorial candidate debate planned for this month.
The organization first announced that it planned to host an October debate between the Republican and Democratic nominees in April. It has hosted debates in the Wisconsin gubernatorial and U.S. Senate races since 1990.
Both Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, the Democratic candidate, and U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, the Republican candidate, were invited to participate, but the debate has now been canceled since both candidates did not accept the invitation. Tiffany has said he was only agreeing to one debate because it is “sufficient” for the race.
“Based on legal precedent, for the foundation to air a debate, multiple candidates must participate. Two invitations were sent and both had to be accepted in order to have a debate,” WBA said in a statement. “That did not happen.”
“I had no time. There was lots of negotiations going on behind the scenes,” Tiffany said. “One debate is sufficient to be able to cover the issues that need to be covered.”
According to WBAY, Crowley was planning to participate in the debate and said in a statement that he looked forward to “continuing the Wisconsin Broadcasters Association’s more than 30-year tradition of putting candidates directly before voters statewide.”
Both candidates have agreed to an Oct. 21 debate hosted by WISN-12. It will be moderated by WISN-12 reporters Matt Smith and Gerron Jordan and will cover topics including cost of living, taxes, immigration enforcement, data centers and election security.
Tiffany said that he watched how the reporters conducted the Democratic primary debate as well as others over his career in politics.
“I think they are very fair and they set up for what appears to be a good [debate],” Tiffany said. “It’s only going to take one debate to get the information out there for the people of Wisconsin… I just always look for fairness in reporters.”
“We look forward to debating Congressman Tiffany on October 21 and speaking directly with Wisconsinites about why David Crowley is the right choice to deliver for working families and serve as a governor for all Wisconsinites,” the Crowley campaign said.
Democratic gubernatorial candidate David Crowley was endorsed by four labor unions on Wednesday. (Photo by Baylor Spears/Wisconsin Examiner)
Days before Labor Day, and with just over two months before the November election, a coalition of labor unions announced Wednesday they were backing Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley’s campaign for governor.
Leaders from American Federation of Teachers-Wisconsin, the Service Employees International Union Wisconsin, the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1473 and the Wisconsin Education Association Council announced their organizations’ endorsements of Crowley — acknowledging that even if they don’t agree with the Democratic nominee on every issue, he’s preferable to Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany — who as a member of the Legislature voted for Act 10, the controversial law that stripped collective bargaining rights from most public employees.
“For the future of labor, this election is incredibly important,” Jon Shelton, president of AFT-Wisconsin and a professor at UW-Green Bay, said. “We know that we just came out of a primary that was contentious, but we are showing the solidarity to work with your campaign to make sure that we don’t just win this election, but we win a trifecta, and we move the state of Wisconsin in the direction that every working person, every kid in our schools, every citizen in this state deserves.”
At a virtual news conference to announce the endorsements, Crowley touted his family’s union membership and the work he’s done in the past to support Wisconsin labor.
“Working people, we aren’t asking for a handout,” he said. “We’re asking for a seat at the table. We’re asking for a fair deal. That’s pro- worker, that’s pro-family, and that’s the Wisconsin that I absolutely believe in.”
Leadership from some of the unions touted the support Crowley has provided to them in previous fights. Pat Raes, president of SEIU Wisconsin Healthcare and a nurse at Madison’s Meriter Hospital, noted that Crowley joined her union’s fight when Meriter’s nurses went on strike last year and when Milwaukee commercial office workers were bargaining for a new contract in 2024.
Raes also pointed to Crowley’s support for raising Wisconsin’s minimum wage, overturning Act 10 and expanding access to child care and healthcare.
But other unions throwing support behind Crowley are making some policy concessions. WEAC had endorsed state Sen. Kelda Roys (D-Madison) in the Democratic primary for governor — partially because of her plan for winding down the state’s private school voucher program.
Private school vouchers
As Milwaukee County executive, Crowley represents the part of the state with the largest number of voucher school students and has said he doesn’t support ending the controversial program, though he has said he wants to increase oversight and transparency.
On Wednesday, WEAC president Peggy Wirtz-Olsen said she’s “talked” with Crowley about the “damage caused by vouchers” and added “Wisconsin educators are convinced that David Crowley will be the best choice for governor.”
“WEAC has met with David Crowley and engaged in extensive conversations about the issues that are affecting public school educators, my colleagues and I, students and families we serve, and public education in Wisconsin,” Wirtz-Olsen, who also teaches high school English and art in Marshfield, said. “We’ve talked honestly about the inadequate and unstable funding, the growing class sizes, educator shortages, mental health, special education, and all the damage caused by the vouchers. We’ve talked about affordability and about high costs and how that’s squeezing families, students, and our educators.”
Tiffany has supported voucher schools and cuts to public education funding as a member of the state Legislature and in Congress. If elected, he and his Republican allies are likely to further expand the state’s voucher programs, which draw from the same pool of resources as public schools. Wirtz-Olsen said that WEAC was supporting a candidate who won’t send more state money to private voucher schools.
“When lawmakers send more taxpayer dollars into unaccountable private school voucher programs instead of fully funding public schools that serve every student, the direct result is fewer resources for students who need the support, larger class sizes, and continued delayed services,” she said. “It’s no wonder that about half of first-time teachers will leave the profession. These demands are unsustainable. That’s been a failure of state priorities. Wisconsin needs a governor who understands that public schools are not a chip for high-stake deals. Public schools are an investment in our children, our workforce, our communities, and our democracy.”
Data centers and trade unions
The early weeks of the general election campaign were dominated by the two candidates wrangling over the issue of data centers, which has become a hot button in elections across the country this year.
Tiffany, who in ads has called Crowley “data center David,” has said he opposes data centers, along with wind and solar farms, on the grounds that they’re taking too much of Wisconsin’s prime farmland. Crowley has said he wants to enact additional regulations governing data center development, including requirements that they be powered by renewable energy and built with union labor.
Wisconsin’s building trade unions have been more supportive of data center developments than the public at large.
But once hyperscale data centers such as those currently under construction in Beaver Dam, Mount Pleasant and Port Washington are built, the artificial intelligence technology they support could potentially disrupt the jobs of thousands of Wisconsin workers, including the teachers, professor and nurses endorsing Crowley.
At the Wednesday event, Crowley said he wanted to make sure Wisconsin is “being aggressive when it comes down to protecting our workforce, protecting our environment, making sure that not one single dime is being pushed off to ratepayers and taxpayers here.” He added that he believes AI should increase productivity rather than replacing it and noted that Tiffany was a deciding vote when the House of Representatives voted to ban states from regulating AI for a decade as part of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. The provision was not in the version of the bill that President Donald Trump signed into law last year.
“Artificial intelligence will never ever be able to compete with authentic intelligence, and that’s what people bring to the table,” Crowley said. “And so it is unfortunate that my opponent, Congressman Tom Tiffany, he actually was the deciding vote to actually put up a state ban on us being able to regulate artificial intelligence. But we have to do everything that we can to make sure that we’re protecting workers moving forward and make sure that workers have a seat at the table as it relates to how we use artificial intelligence in the field, no matter the industry.”
Tom Tiffany (right) and David Crowley (left) will meet for a televised debate on Oct. 21. (Photos by Baylor Spears/Wisconsin Examiner)
A televised debate between gubernatorial candidates David Crowley and Tom Tiffany has been set for Wednesday, Oct 21. The one-hour debate will be held on the Marquette University campus without a live audience at 7 p.m. two weeks ahead of Election Day on Nov. 3.
The Democratic Milwaukee County executive and Republican congressman from the Northwoods are vying in the first open race since 2010 to become the state’s next governor. WISN-12 reporters Matt Smith and Gerron Jordan will moderate the debate, which will cover topics including cost of living, taxes, immigration enforcement, data centers and election security.
It will be streamed on the WISN website and streaming app and also be made available statewide on its partner stations in Green Bay (WBAY), Madison (WKOW), Wausau (WAOW), Eau Claire (WQOW) and La Crosse (WXOW).
The candidates have been invited to two other debates including one hosted by WTMJ-TV on Oct. 8 and one hosted by the Wisconsin Broadcasters Association Oct. 9. The candidates have not agreed to participate in those.
A Flock camera outside of Washington Park in Milwaukee, WI. (Photo by Isiah Holmes/Wisconsin Examiner)
Milwaukee is tightening the leash around Flock automatic license plate reader cameras, with elected leaders calling for more oversight and restrictions as investigations into misuse by officers continue.
Flock cameras utilize AI-powered technology to identify vehicles and license plates that pass within their view on roadways. The data is stored for several weeks or longer, allowing law enforcement officers from anywhere across the country to search for specific vehicles as long as their agency has a contract with Flock.
An analysis by the Wisconsin Examiner found that at least 221 Wisconsin law enforcement agencies searched the Flock network during the first half of 2025, and that officers often used vague search terms to query the system. That same year, the multi-billion dollar Flock Safety company spent $102,000 lobbying the state government for grants to allow law enforcement agencies to acquire license plate reader cameras, though the Republican-backed bills were unsuccessful.
The Wisconsin Examiner’s Criminal Justice Reporting Project shines a light on incarceration, law enforcement and criminal justice issues with support from the Public Welfare Foundation.
On Tuesday, a directive went out from the office of Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley to county departments and the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office to limit Flock-related operations on county property, and to work towards adopting new transparency and accountability standards.
“Public safety partners should have the right tools to keep Milwaukee County safe, but unchecked surveillance isn’t the answer,” said Crowley, who is running against Republican Tom Tiffany to become Wisconsin’s next governor, in a statement. “We have seen what can happen when this technology operates without clear rules, transparency and accountability. Protecting our residents’ privacy and maintaining the public’s trust is a responsibility I take seriously. That is why I am directing all County departments to limit the usage of all Flock camera systems and establish safeguards proactively, before a breach of public trust can occur.”
Crowley is calling on the Office of Corporation Counsel and the Information Management Services Division to evaluate current policies governing the use of any surveillance tech and to develop binding standards for its use. The standards will determine how surveillance technology can be used, how long data is kept, who can access that data and why, and limit when data is shared with an emphasis on prohibiting use for federal immigration enforcement without a judicial warrant, a county press release stated. These standards would also establish independent audits and enforceable consequences when surveillance technology is misused.
Crowley is also calling on other local elected leaders to look closely at their own use of Flock cameras and adopt similar policies. Ultimately, these efforts could result in the adoption of a consistent standard across the county for Flock.
In April Tiffany said he had never heard of Flock cameras, when he was asked about controversy around their use. “I’m going to sound ignorant on this, what are Flock cameras?” Tiffany said during a virtual question-and-answer session.
More recently, Tiffany said that “government should not be building an AI surveillance network that tracks law-abiding Wisconsinites everywhere they drive.” Tiffany said that he would pause state funding for Flock and create a task force to establish stronger protections, penalties for misuse, limits on data sharing, and safeguards against foreign adversaries. Tiffany criticized Crowley for “repeatedly” seeking to install “more red-light cameras, speed cameras, and massive funding increases for automated license plate readers.”
Tom Tiffany (right) and David Crowley (left). (Photos by Baylor Spears/Wisconsin Examiner)
Police departments often acquire Flock cameras through non-competitive sole source contracts which bypass a public bidding process, keeping local councils and residents from even knowing that the technology has been acquired.
The changes in Milwaukee County come after the Milwaukee Police Department announced on Monday that it will be further restricting its Flock network. In a Monday press release the department said that it “supports the use of technology to assist in solving crimes that cause harm to our community,” and that new technology can help solve cases more quickly than traditional methods for investigations.
“With that, we recognize that the use of such technology, like Flock technology, comes with great responsibility,” the department said in the press release. “These tools must always be used to prevent and reduce harm, not create more.” The department acknowledged the growing discontent and angst over Flock technology in the community, saying that “we do not dismiss these opinions.” The department went on to say that it “acknowledges the harm that former department members have caused that has damaged the trust we work so hard to build” and that it “acknowledges the human error that comes with the use of technology” and that the department is “working tirelessly to reduce error as much as we can.”
The Milwaukee police announced that access to Flock has been restricted to supervisors only, and that the department will no longer share its Flock data with neighboring jurisdictions. Furthermore, the cameras may only be used for “Part I crimes” such as homicide, rape, robbery, aggravated assault including non-fatal shootings, burglary, larceny, motor vehicle theft, arson, human trafficking, as well as for critically missing people and investigating drug trafficking organizations.
Earlier this year, the department began revamping its auditing procedures and limited the number of officers with access to Flock cameras to an “as needed basis,” risk manager James Lewis told the Examiner in June.
“MPD will continue to robustly audit its Flock systems,” the department’s Monday press release reads. “We are better together!”
A Milwaukee police squad in front of the Municipal Court downtown. (Photo | Isiah Holmes)
The changes were followed on Tuesday by a statement from Mayor Cavalier Johnson that while technology can help law enforcement, “it is essential that we recognize the limitations and dangers associated with these tools.” Johnson added that “I recognize the benefits of the Flock cameras system.” He said that “on multiple occasions this tool has located critical missing persons and helped apprehend violent criminals in Milwaukee. The technology has also been misused in several notable instances, both locally and nationally, compromising the rights of individuals.”
Several of those cases played out in Milwaukee and elsewhere in Wisconsin. Josue Ayala of Milwaukee, Cristian Morales of Menasha, and Frank McGrath of Kenosha County were all charged with either misdemeanor or felony misconduct in public office after using Flock to surveil their current or former romantic partners. Ayala was given a year of probation and avoided incarceration, whereas Morales was sentenced to six months in jail and three years of probation while avoiding prison time. McGrath’s case is still ongoing.
In July, Tehrangi Chapman, a Milwaukee police internal affairs detective who was involved in investigating Ayala’s misuse of Flock, was also charged with using the cameras and car-mounted GPS devices to keep tabs on someone who he’d surveilled since 2019, before Flock even arrived in Milwaukee. Chapman has been charged with felonies, and his case is still ongoing. On Aug. 26, Chapman pled not guilty, and is expected back in court for a scheduling conference on Oct. 7, according to online court records.
Each of the officers who’ve been found to have abused their access to Flock used terms like “suspicious” or “investigation” to search the Flock network, which were common terms found in the Examiner’s 2025 analysis. Other cases have also emerged, such as that of a man who is now suing the Waukesha County Sheriff’s Department after a deputy searched him in Flock following a traffic stop, for which the man sought to file a complaint against the deputy.
A Flock camera outside of Washington Park in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Photo by Isiah Holmes/Wisconsin Examiner)
As misconduct cases have emerged, communities across the state have opted to drop their Flock cameras including Kaukauna, Sturgeon Bay, Verona, Appleton, Oshkosh, Dane County and Stoughton.
In Oshkosh, the request to cancel the Flock contract actually came from the police chief, who told local elected officials that representatives of the multi-billion dollar Flock Safety company had misled him on whether the cameras were able to develop heatmaps depicting a vehicle’s movement patterns.
Elsewhere, community members have packed public meetings to tell local officials that they don’t want to be placed under perpetual surveillance, expressing fears about how the cameras could be misused by both local and federal law enforcement. Police leaders have had mixed responses to the concerns from residents. The police chief in Green Bay has opted to keep the cameras, citing their usefulness in solving violent crime while also acknowledging that steps need to be taken to protect people’s privacy, while a chief in the small city of Chetek threatened to do background checks on residents who spoke against the cameras in a public meeting.
Exactly how to handle the cameras is still a question local and national leaders are trying to answer. In August, President Donald Trump said that the cameras have “pros and cons” and that “it’s being studied right now, we’ll have an answer soon as to our views on it.” When asked whether he’d consider banning Flock cameras statewide, Democratic Gov. Tony Evers said, “I don’t know what the solution is, but I think there’s people all across our country that’s talking about it.” Evers said he recently talked with Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz about Flock cameras. “Whether that [banning the cameras] is the answer, all’s I know is that we need to have an answer.”
Wisconsin State Capitol (Baylor Spears | Wisconsin Examiner)
The state of Wisconsin collected $23.13 billion in taxes in the 2025-25 fiscal year, a 3.4% increase from the prior year, according to a preliminary report released Thursday by the Department of Revenue.
The amount collected was $450.8 million above the $22.6 billion that the DOR projected the state would collect earlier this year, a 2% gain.
The state brought in $231.3 million more than expected in income taxes as well as $79.9 million more than expected in the general sales and use tax and $83.9 million more than expected in the corporate income tax.
The higher than projected revenue could grow the state’s budget surplus to over $3 billion in a critical election year and ahead of the next state budget process. Legislative Fiscal Bureau estimated in January that the state would finish the 2025-27 biennium with a nearly $2.5 billion surplus.
State Sen. Howard Marklein (R-Spring Green), who co-chairs the Joint Finance Committee, said in a statement that he is “not surprised” by the latest numbers.
“I have been watching the revenue numbers each month and they were indicating we would have a larger surplus than originally thought,” he said, adding that he is disappointed lawmakers could not pass a bipartisan agreement negotiated by Gov. Tony Evers and Republican lawmakers earlier this year.
Following the initial projection, Evers and GOP lawmakers negotiated a $1.8 billion school funding and tax cut deal that would have provided additional special education funding to schools, property tax relief through the school tax credit, $600 rebate checks and the elimination of taxes on tips and overtime. The deal failed in the state Senate in May.
“Our families and taxpayers could use the relief now,” Marklein said.
Rep. Mark Born (R-Beaver Dam), co-chair of the Joint Finance Committee, said in a statement that he would be open to returning to session to do something with the surplus soon.
“If we can reach an agreement that delivers meaningful tax relief for Wisconsin families and can pass both houses, I’m ready to get it done,” he said.
Without further action, the surplus will be dealt with by the next governor and state Legislature. Control of both are up for grabs in November.
U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, the Republican gubernatorial candidate, said in a post on social media that the growth in the state’s budget surplus is a sign that Wisconsin residents are being overtaxed. He claimed that his Democratic opponent, Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, would keep the surplus in Madison and “make government bigger.”
“I’ll send every dollar of the surplus back to you and deliver permanent tax relief for working families,” Tiffany said. Tiffany lobbied Republicans in the state Senate to vote against the earlier deal, which contributed to its defeat.
Crowley said in a statement about the surplus that he would “consider the long-term investments we can make and work with the legislature to bring costs down for all Wisconsinites.”
“What I won’t do is defund our schools, our healthcare system, or the basic services working families rely on like Congressman Tom Tiffany has done his entire political career,” he said.
With less than three months until the midterm election Nov. 3, Democrat David Crowley, left, and Republican Tom Tiffany, right, have been criss-crossing the state to get their names out to voters and win over support. (Photos by Baylor Spears/Wisconsin Examiner)
Democratic gubernatorial candidate David Crowley polled slightly ahead of Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany in the first Marquette Law School poll conducted since the primary earlier this month. The poll results were released Wednesday.
The poll was conducted from Aug. 12, the day after the primary, through Aug. 20. Surveyors interviewed 891 Wisconsin registered voters, with a margin of error of 4 percentage points. The likely voter sample was 738, with a margin of error of 4.5 percentage points.
With less than three months until the midterm election Nov. 3, the candidates have been criss-crossing the state to get their names out to voters and win over support.
Crowley pulled in support from 49% of likely Wisconsin voters, while Tiffany had 44%; another 7% of likely voters said they were undecided. Among registered voters, Crowley and Tiffany were tied at 44%.
The poll found a Democratic advantage among those who are certain that they’ll vote in November, with 84% of Democrats reporting they were certain compared with 82% of Republicans.
“You could either come away with a modest Crowley advantage, by about five points, or a dead tie, depending on whether you’re looking at everybody that’s registered to vote or looking at those absolutely certain to vote,” poll director Charles Franklin said.
The poll showed that 98% of likely voters who were Democrats planned to vote for Crowley, while 91% of likely Republican voters said they planned to vote for Tiffany.
The biggest percentage of undecided voters were independents: 30% of independents who said they were likely to vote were undecided. Among registered voters, undecided independent voters jumped to 47%.
Among likely voters, Crowley had an advantage with independent voters. About 55% said they supported him, while 16% said they would support Tiffany.
Following the divisive and chaotic primary campaign, Crowley called on Democrats to unify to win in November and campaigned with state Rep. Francesca Hong, who finished a close second in the primary.
“It’s interesting that the Democrats do appear to be completely unified behind their candidate and Republicans, quite unified, but not quite as much as Democrats,” Franklin said.
Tiffany and Crowley will be working to win over undecided voters and flip people to support them over the next 10 weeks, especially as Wisconsin’s statewide races are typically decided by close margins. In 2018, Gov. Tony Evers defeated Gov. Scott Walker by about 30,000 votes.
Billionaire businessman Elon Musk at the KI Convention Center on March 30, 2025, in Green Bay, Wisconsin, where he handed out checks to voters as part of his advocacy for Brad Schimel's state Supreme Court race. A local prosecutor assigned to investigate whether Musk violated Wisconsin law with the stunt said this week he would not prosecute Musk. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)
David Crowley, the Democratic nominee for governor of Wisconsin, said at an event Tuesday in Madison that he’s “kind of befuddled” by the decision of the La Crosse County district attorney not to charge Elon Musk with election bribery over the two $1 million checks he gave to voters during Wisconsin’s 2025 state Supreme Court race.
In July, the Wisconsin Elections Commission voted 5-1 to refer two complaints to the Brown County District Attorney’s office, alleging that Musk’s handouts — which he announced went to people who could prove they had already voted in the election — amounted to bribery.
During the 2025 election, Musk pumped more than $20 million into the race on behalf of conservative Brad Schimel. Schimel lost to Justice Susan Crawford partially because of backlash to Musk’s involvement at the peak of opposition to his DOGE effort to cut federal government spending for President Donald Trump.
La Crosse County DA Tim Gruenke was appointed as a special prosecutor to decide if charges should be brought against Musk, the world’s richest man.
In a letter released Tuesday, Gruenke said that while Musk posted on X, the platform he owns, that the checks he handed out at a political rally in Green Bay would go to people who had cast absentee ballots, he said in a later post that entrance to the rally was limited to people who had signed a petition opposing “activist judges.”
“In this case, without the famous name attached and the large dollar amounts involved, it is a simple case of a poorly worded statement that was corrected and brought into compliance with the law,” Gruenke wrote. “Because the original post was poorly worded and ambiguous about who would receive money, and the second post corrected the problem relatively quickly, I do not believe a jury would convict Elon Musk of a crime.”
At the Tuesday event, Crowley said he hadn’t read Gruenke’s reasoning but that Musk had “publicly talked about giving a million dollars to folks to actually go vote, which is absolutely against the law in Wisconsin.”
The city of Milwaukee is currently the only city with its own sales tax of 2%. Both the 0.9% county rate and 2% city rate went into effect Jan. 1, 2024.
Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, will not face criminal charges in Wisconsin for promising $1 million checks to voters during the 2025 Wisconsin Supreme Court race.
La Crosse County District Attorney Tim Gruenke, a Democrat, who was tapped as a special prosecutor to review the case, wrote in a letter Tuesday that he did not believe a jury would convict Musk of a crime.
“I have routinely worked with campaigns and candidates from both parties and nonpartisan elections to correct any potential violations of election/campaign laws,” Gruenke wrote. “In this case, without the famous name attached and the large dollar amounts involved, it is a simple case of a poorly worded statement that was corrected and brought into compliance with the law.”
Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, the Democratic nominee for governor, said during a campaign stop in Madison he was “befuddled” by the decision.
Crowley, who said he had not read the reasoning behind the decision, was confused how Musk’s promises ahead of a 2025 event in Green Bay did not violate state laws.
Wisconsin law prohibits a person from offering, promising, giving or lending anything of value to someone to convince the person to go to the polls, vote or refrain from voting. The Wisconsin Elections Commission in July found that Musk likely broke the law and referred complaints to the Brown County District Attorney’s Office, which earlier this month referred the case to Gruenke as a special prosecutor after identifying a conflict of interest.
“We are talking about someone who publicly talked about giving a million dollars to folks to actually go vote, which is absolutely against the law here in the state of Wisconsin,” Crowley told reporters outside a health clinic in Madison.
U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, the Republican nominee for governor, did not immediately respond to questions from Wisconsin Watch Tuesday afternoon.
Crowley on Tuesday did not say whether he would support additional legislation to strengthen the state’s election bribery laws.
“I would assume that our laws are very clear as far as the fact that we cannot give more than $1 to make sure that people are voting,” he said. “I think the laws are extremely clear.”
Democratic state lawmakers last year proposed bills seeking to expand the state’s election bribery laws to prohibit payments to voters for signing petitions during an election, like in the Musk case. The legislation died without receiving a hearing in the Republican-controlled Legislature.
The context
About $144.5 million was spent on the 2025 election between now-Justice Susan Crawford and former Attorney General Brad Schimel, making it the most expensive state supreme court race in U.S. history. Musk spent about $30 million of that total, which included giveaways to conservative voters.
The issues stemmed from social media posts Musk made in March 2025. The first post promoted an event in Wisconsin in which Musk said entrance would be “limited to those who have voted in the Supreme Court Election” in addition to providing million-dollar checks to voters “in appreciation for you taking the time to vote.”
Musk hours later shared a message that entrance was limited to people who signed a petition “in opposition to activist judges” and the million-dollar checks would be provided to spokespersons for the petition.
Gruenke said he did not believe a jury would convict Musk given that nothing was given to individuals for voting.
“Even if I could convince a jury that the original post was still a bribe, I do not believe that a jury would convict Elon Musk of a crime after considering the intent, the second post, and the fact nothing of value was ever given to anyone for voting for an incident occurring in March of 2025,” Gruenke wrote.
Musk still faces a civil lawsuit in Brown County Circuit Court brought by the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign regarding bribery allegations tied to the 2025 state Supreme Court race.
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Crowley said he would not vote for the constitutional amendment that would limit the executive veto power. (Photo by Baylor Spears/Wisconsin Examiner)
Democratic gubernatorial candidate David Crowley told reporters Tuesday in Madison that he would not vote for a change in the state Constitution to prohibit using the partial veto to create or increase a tax or fee.
Voters in November will have the final say on the constitutional amendment proposal that could further limit Wisconsin’s uniquely strong executive partial veto power. The proposal was introduced in reaction to Gov. Tony Evers’ 2023 state budget partial veto that extended annual school revenue limit increases for 400 years.
The Milwaukee County executive, who has won the endorsement of Evers, said he would “absolutely not” vote for the amendment. He said that what Republicans in the Legislature are “trying to do is just rig the system.”
The partial veto power has been a recurring issue throughout the Evers’ two terms in office. He often used it in creative ways to shape policy sent to him by Republican lawmakers, who in return worked painstakingly to make their legislation veto-proof.
In 2023, Republicans were shocked to find that Evers had used the power on the state budget to increase school districts’ ability to raise property taxes. Republicans and their allies have often referred to the governor’s action as implementing a “400-year tax increase,” though the veto did not automatically mean taxes would increase. The increase in revenue limits allows schools the option to bring in additional revenue through property taxes or state revenue, though Republicans have declined to provide funds to backfill the revenue limit increases. School boards still have to opt in to increase property taxes.
That use of the veto pen was upheld by the state Supreme Court in 2025 as constitutional, which led to Republicans’ decision to put the issue up to voters. Constitutional amendment proposals in Wisconsin must pass two consecutive sessions of the state Legislature before they go to voters for the final say.
Crowley, who previously served in the state Assembly while Democrats held a minority of seats, noted his time in the state Legislature.
“What I’ve seen from the Republican-controlled legislatures is that, anytime that there’s a stop gap on all the policies, dangerous policies, that they want to push through, they want to eliminate the power of the governor,” Crowley said.
U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, the Republican candidate for governor, has made repealing the veto alongside freezing property taxes a central promise of his campaign. It was one of the points in his housing plan and one of the points of his affordability plan released on Tuesday.
Tiffany said in a statement about his plan that “Wisconsin families work hard for every dollar they earn, but government at every level keeps taking more” and that “property taxes are too high, utility bills have soared and everyday purchases cost more.” He criticized Crowley for supporting a sales tax increase in Milwaukee, which was implemented to help address financial challenges in the state’s largest county, and recent property tax increases in the county.
Tiffany told the Wisconsin Examiner in a statement that he plans to vote for the constitutional amendment and promised not to use the veto pen to increase taxes or fees.
“No governor should have the power to raise your taxes with the stroke of a pen,” Tiffany said in a statement. “David Crowley opposes this referendum because he wants the authority to raise taxes on Wisconsin families statewide, and that should scare every taxpayer who has paid attention to his record in Milwaukee County. Crowley has never met a tax hike he didn’t like, and now he wants a veto pen to make it even easier to take more of your money. We’ve already seen the damage this kind of unchecked power can do. It’s how Wisconsin got stuck with a 400-year property tax increase.”
Crowley said Tiffany has “done absolutely nothing to lower costs here in the state of Wisconsin.”
“[Tiffany] has not grown a backbone. He has not stood up to this particular president, and he hasn’t authored one particular bill that’s actually helping out Wisconsinites. Unfortunately, he has been carrying the water of Donald Trump,” Crowley said.
Crowley also said he would use the partial veto power as governor to ensure that “there’s no harm being placed or forced on Wisconsinites.”
If passed, this would not be the first time the Wisconsin executive veto power has been restricted. During his first term in office, the state Supreme Court limited the governor’s veto power after a lawsuit challenging his vetoes on the 2019 state budget.
The executive partial veto power has also been previously been restricted through constitutional amendments. In 1990, voters approved prohibiting the “Vanna White” veto, eliminating single letters within words, and in 2008, voters approved eliminating the “Frankenstein veto” — the ability for governors to create new sentences by combining parts of two or more sentences.
Voters will see the question on their ballots on Nov. 3: “Shall section 10 (1) (c) of article V of the constitution be amended to prohibit the governor, in exercising his or her partial veto authority, from creating or increasing or authorizing the creation or increase of any tax or fee?”
UPDATE: This story has been updated to include comment from U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany.
Senate Chambers in the Wisconsin State Capitol. (Photo by Baylor Spears/Wisconsin Examiner)
Out of the 98 state legislative bodies across the U.S., the Wisconsin Senate has been deemed the “most flippable” by Wisconsin Democrats. Still, Sen. Patrick Testin (R-Stevens Point) told the Wisconsin Examiner that he sees a definite path for Republicans to maintain their majority.
“We have our chessboard fully laid out. I don’t think there’s any question that, you know, this cycle, it seems as though our backs are against the wall,” Testin said.
Testin is leading the Committee to Elect a Republican Senate (CERS), which is the campaign arm of the Senate Republican caucus, as Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu (R-Oostburg) decided to retire this year.
Senate Republicans currently have an 18-seat majority, meaning that they only have room to lose one seat this year. Four seats have been identified by Democrats and Republicans as essential to determining control:
Senate District 5: covering Wauwatosa and other parts of Milwaukee County. State Rep. Robyn Vining (D-Wauwatosa) and Republican Mike Roberts are vying for the seat that is currently represented by Sen. Rob Hutton, who opted not to run for reelection.
Senate District 17: A southwest district covering Iowa, Lafayette, Green, Crawford and Grant counties as well as parts of Dane County. Sen. Howard Marklein (R-Spring Green) faces a challenge from Rep. Jenna Jacobson (D-Oregon).
Senate District 21: Incumbent Sen. Van Wanggaard (R-Racine) is retiring this year, leaving open the southeast district that includes part of Racine and Milwaukee Counties. Democrat Trevor Jung, the former Racine transit and mobility director, is running against Republican businessman Jim Croft.
Senate District 31: Sen Jeff Smith (D-Brunswick) is seeking another term in office and faces a challenge from Republican Michele Magadance Skinner, an Eau Claire County board member. The district covers Eau Claire County and parts of Dunn, Trempealeau and Chippewa counties.
Senate Minority Leader Dianne Hesselbein (D-Middleton) expressed confidence in her party’s effort to take over the chamber during a press conference after the August primary, saying that Senate Democrats flipped four seats in 2024 and her caucus expects to do the same this year. “I think we’re going to be able to do it with David Crowley leading the way,” she said.
There are a few factors that have contributed to Democrats’ confidence.
The midterm election environment is expected to be friendlier to Democrats with a Republican in the White House, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. President Donald Trump’s popularity has steadily declined in Wisconsin since he took office for his second term, according to Marquette Law School polling.
A recent Marquette poll found that 46% of Wisconsin voters said they would vote for Democrats in legislative races, while 42% said they’d vote for Republicans. The survey did not deliver detailed information on specific districts.
Democrats also got to work early, immediately after the state budget was finished last year, hoping to take advantage of new, more favorable voting maps.
“We had these maps early,” Hesselbein said. As a result, campaigns got started sooner than they had in past years.
Senate Democrats are targeting two districts that went for Trump in 2024. Democrat Charly Ray and Republican Erik Severson are competing in Senate District 25, an open district that encompasses Douglas, Bayfield, Ashland, Washburn, Iron, Sawyer, Polk and Burnett Counties. In Senate District 29, which includes Marathon, Wood, Portage and Waupaca Counties, Sen. Cory Tomczyk (R-Mosinee), who was elected to the seat in 2022, is facing a challenge from Democrat Gillian Battino, a retired radiologist.
Republicans didn’t know until this year how many of their incumbents would run for reelection — one-third of the caucus ended up deciding to retire including Sen. Van Wanggaard in SD 21, Sen. Rob Hutton in SD 5 and Sen. Jesse James, who had previously planned to challenge Smith.
Testin said the environment around the races “means we have to work overtime between now and November to help our candidates get across the finish line and do what we can to contrast our candidates versus the Democrats in the key races.”
Testin said this may be the year that not having incumbents in a seat could turn into an advantage, noting that there’s been “sort of an incumbency malaise that we’ve seen in the electorate” and Republican Senate candidates are being encouraged to stay “hyper focused on local and state issues”, including affordability issues and lowering property taxes, and to avoid “getting wrapped into the national narratives of what’s happening out in D.C.” He said their candidates are relying on a good “ground game” to protect their seats and candidates have strict metrics for doorknocking and are on track to get to 15,000 to 20,000 doors in the key seats.
“So far our candidates have done exactly that,” Testin said.
“We have our budget set for our key races,” Testin added, noting that it could be anywhere from $1.5 million to $2.5 million allocated to the competitive seats. “Based on what we’re able to raise, we are going to make adjustments on the fly as needed, and as things sort of evolve on the ground and things change as they always do in campaigns, you have to be nimble and flexible.”
According to July reports, the Committee to Elect a Republican Senate has raised nearly $5 million this year and had $5.3 million on hand. The bulk of that fundraising came from billionaires Diane Hendricks and Elizabeth Uihlein, who each gave $2 million.
Testin said he is proud that the Republicans have been able to outraise Democrats so far and they are running ahead of where they were in 2024 when it comes to fundraising, but he is expecting money to flood into the state now that the primary is over.
“These races are expensive. It costs a lot of money to get our candidates’ message out there, to get them up on air to do digital ads, radio, direct mail, and that’s just the sad reality,” Testin said.
When it come to the Uihleins and Hendricks, he said they’ve been strong supporters of the caucus and “despite the criticism leveled against those individuals, what never gets a light shined onto it is the money that comes in from states like Illinois, New York, California, billionaires and multi-and mega-millionaires from the liberal elite who have flooded Democrat coffers for years.”
Sen. Patrick Testin (R-Stevens Point) speaks at a Republican news conference before a Senate floor session in June 2025. (Photo by Baylor Spears/Wisconsin Examiner)
The Republican Senate committee is also working closely with its Assembly counterpart, which is being led by Assembly Majority Leader Tyler August: “I often joke that — we speak on the phone more often than we speak to anyone else,” Testin said.
“This is what’s sort of unique, as opposed to previous cycles, where we have historically sort of operated in our own silos,” Testin said. “We are working hand in hand to ensure that there is no daylight between us,” he said, including “coordinating as best that we can with their candidates in the key seats that overlap ours.”
Senate Democrats’ recently filed a lawsuit against Skinner, who is running in Eau Claire, over questions related to her residency, attempting to get her removed from the ballot in November.
The effort was blocked by a Dane County judge this week. State Senate Democratic Committee Executive Director Andrew Whitley said in a statement that questions still remained, but the issue would be left up to voters.
Testin said ahead of the hearing that the effort smelled of “desperation.”
“You would think if they would spend more time propping up their own candidate and his record and track record, that they’d be able to highlight that. But they haven’t been able to,” Testin said. “From our standpoint, we are in the driver’s seat between now and Nov. 3.”
The Wisconsin governor’s race is expected to have some influence on downballot races. Testin said Republicans were “salivating” at the prospect of running against State Rep. Francesca Hong, a democratic socialist, who narrowly lost the primary to Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley. Her loss, Testin said, makes the job of Republicans a little bit harder.
Crowley faces Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany in November.
“Full disclosure, I mean, I consider David Crowley a friend of mine,” Testin said, adding that they were freshmen in the state Legislature at the same time. “Obviously, I don’t agree with him politically.”
Testin said Crowley will have to grapple with controversies during his tenure as Milwaukee county executive, including a lapse in an employee health insurance contract and projected future budget deficits. He also mentioned comments that Crowley made minimizing his differences from Hong.
“I think that’s going to be a real problem for them because the Democrats in these key seats are going to have to answer for some of those policy positions,” Testin said, citing “some of these radical policies that have been pushed by the DSA.”
Testin said a potential Crowley governorship is part of the reason it’s crucial that Republicans hang onto the state Senate.
“It’s so crucial and important that, at the very least, if Tom Tiffany were to fall short in his bid for governor — which I don’t think he will — that at the very least, that we have a backstop in the state Senate as well as the state Assembly, to have a counterbalance to any of the proposals that would come out that administration,” Testin said.
A server room in a data center. (Photo by Getty Images)
There’s no bigger issue in the Wisconsin governor’s race than data centers. Republican candidate Tom Tiffany, who was hoping to run on not canceling Thanksgiving, quickly pivoted after democratic socialist candidate Francesca Hong lost the primary, moving to capture the issue that galvanized Hong’s supporters: opposing data center development. Tiffany spent the first week of the general election campaign attacking his Democratic rival by labeling him “Data Center David Crowley,” warning that Crowley’s pro-data-center policies would mean “our lakes run dry, family farms paved over.”
Crowley, meanwhile, has not come up with a message that satisfies the Hong supporters who embraced her call for a statewide moratorium on data center construction. Neither he nor Tiffany favors a moratorium. In fact, as Baylor Spears reports, despite Tiffany’s attacks, the two candidates don’t appear to be very far apart on data center regulation. Both say they will protect communities’ right to reject new data center construction; both say the state must ensure that ratepayers aren’t stuck with higher utility bills; both promise to protect Wisconsin’s land and water and insist on transparency in data center contracts. Both have also taken money from data center supporters — Crowley from the building trade unions that want to construct the new facilities, and Tiffany from the lobbyist for the Wisconsin Data Center Coalition, which supports nondisclosure agreements and data center tax exemptions.
Crowley, as the county executive of an industrial hub that has suffered from the loss of manufacturing jobs, has a more optimistic view of the job-creation and economic development potential of new technology than many voters in Wisconsin, a majority of whom see proposed hyperscale data centers as eyesores and energy hogs. But Tiffany, as Spears reports, is not that different. He voted for a bill in Congress that would have banned states from regulating AI and has called data centers “exciting new technology.”
What specific policies should Wisconsinites demand from their political leaders on data centers?
“There’s a simple answer,” says Joel Rogers, a University of Wisconsin professor who created a center for the study of “high-road” development based on shared prosperity, environmental sustainability and democracy. “First, inspect everything that has already been approved and make sure it conforms to labor, environmental and design standards,” Rogers says. “Second, no public money for people who are richer than Mammon. We are spending hundreds of millions on tax breaks we can’t afford on these data centers. That should stop immediately.”
Rogers is not against data centers in general. “Water and noise are the big issues,” he says. He wants to see strict regulation that compels companies to design structures that dampen noise pollution. Water use, he says, is not a big concern inside data centers with closed-loop, water recycling systems. Rather, it’s the massive generation of electricity that, without intelligent planning, will tax Wisconsin’s water supply. “If you produce energy in an inefficient way, it creates lots of excess heat,” he explains. “The way to cool it is with water. That’s catastrophic.” Discharging warm water into lakes and streams causes thermal shock, fish kills and algal blooms.
But creating a more efficient and sustainable electric grid is, in Rogers’ view, a big potential upside of data center development. His hope is that data centers could spur serious investments in renewable energy and reduce the tremendous waste involved in our current electricity-generation system. That could mean more plentiful, cheaper power for ratepayers and a more rational, environmentally friendly energy grid.
“If you increase power production investment, that should be good for ratepayers, not bad,” Rogers says. “A bigger base means lower rates.”
The problems with data center development currently is “intermediate,” in Rogers’ view. “States are trying to attract data centers, there’s inappropriate siting, like in dry areas. It messes up farming and ordinary water usage.”
“But if we are serious about climate we should be for heat pumps for all … electrify everything,” he adds.
Rogers’ position is similar to that of a candidate who didn’t get a lot of traction in the Democratic gubernatorial primary — state Sen. Kelda Roys.
Roys’ plan to stop unregulated data center development includes passing a bill that gained 49 cosponsors in the Legislature, laying out sturdy environmental, labor and transparency regulations. In addition, Roys called for repealing tax subsidies and incentives for data center developers (something Crowley has declined to endorse), creating a statewide public negotiation team to help local communities drive a harder bargain with Big Tech firms, and demanding big upfront payments from those firms to fund a clean energy infrastructure bank.
“Wisconsin has no fossil fuels, so every dollar we spend on hydrocarbons leaves our state,” Roys points out. Investing in clean energy is good for the state economy as well as the climate. Her plan leverages data center development to make a faster transition to a green economy.
That’s a step further than Crowley has gone, although he is campaigning on a pledge to make data center developers “bring your own clean energy.” Tiffany has been attacking Crowley precisely for his clean energy pledge, warning that it will disfigure the landscape by blanketing Wisconsin with solar panels. A recent Tiffany campaign press release declared that “using solar to generate the equivalent annual electricity needed for just the Mount Pleasant and Port Washington data centers would consume roughly 100,000 acres of Wisconsin land.”
But just saying no to both renewable energy and data centers does not amount to a plan. For one thing, there are already 47 existing data centers in Wisconsin. Local communities are struggling over how to regulate them separately all over the state. Melissa Scanlan, the director of UW-Milwaukee’s Center for Water Policy, told the Examiner’s Henry Redman that Wisconsin’s failure to address data centers comprehensively will soon put a big strain on the state’s utilities.
“Doing it in a piecemeal way, where you’ve got local governments deciding about hosting, but then utilities that are committed to supplying the electricity and water, is going to very quickly bump up against the realities of our ability to generate electricity in a responsible way,” Scanlan told Redman.
Rogers remains optimistic. “Data centers are coming, whether they are in Wisconsin or nearby it doesn’t matter,” he says. He doesn’t favor a moratorium in one state that drives massive hyperscale data center development over the border, when everyone in the region relies on the same water resources. “I’m not for rivalry and scarcity,” he says.
Instead, he maintains, thoughtful policymakers could address worries about data centers by creating policies that address the larger, existential environmental issues that confront us all.
Neither Tiffany (right) nor Crowley (left) supports a moratorium on the construction of new data centers. (Photos by Baylor Spears/Wisconsin Examiner)
Republican gubernatorial candidate U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany began his general election campaign against Democratic nominee Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley by seeking to paint his opponent as a fan of data centers. Data centers have become a source of great concern for Wisconsin voters. Crowley’s Democratic primary opponent Francesca Hong made the issue central to her campaign before narrowly losing to Crowley last week. Neither Tiffany nor Crowley supports a moratorium on the construction of new data centers, as Hong did. Both Tiffany and Crowley support new guardrails for data centers.
Crowley has cited the issue when contrasting himself with the candidacy of Hong, who was the only candidate in the Democratic primary to support a one-year moratorium on the construction of new AI data centers. Crowley says a moratorium would do nothing to regulate the data centers that already exist in Wisconsin, and says that his own strategy includes stringent regulation of both existing and prospective data centers.
In a July Marquette Law School poll, 73% of Wisconsinites said the costs of data centers outweigh the benefits and 27% said the benefits are greater than the costs.
Crowley and Tiffany have expressed support for some of the same policies when it comes to data centers, including prohibiting nondisclosure agreements between the companies that build them and local governments, allowing local communities to have final say on whether a data center is built and protecting consumers’ utility rates.
“Data centers should pay the full cost of the infrastructure, energy demand and public services they require,” Crowley has said.
Tiffany has highlighted protecting the state’s farmland and Crowley has highlighted protecting the state’s natural resources, including by encouraging companies that seek to build in the state to “bring your own clean energy,” which Crowley refers to as his “Beyonce” plan. Crowley also proposes that the state require contributions to Wisconsin’s Focus on Energy fund, an energy efficiency and renewable energy program, and that only union labor be allowed for the construction of data centers.
One area of difference — Tiffany supports repealing a tax credit that was passed by the Republican-led state Legislature and signed into law under Gov. Tony Evers, while Crowley has not committed to doing so.
“I do not believe Wisconsin should automatically roll back all data center tax incentives, but I do believe we need a more rigorous review of whether taxpayers are receiving sufficient value for the incentives being provided,” Crowley told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel in July.
In a recent statewide ad, Tiffany’s campaign introduced the Milwaukee County executive as “Data Center David Crowley.
The ad follows days of his campaign highlighting the issue, including releasing a clip of Crowley being interviewed on NBC news in which he says he does not support a moratorium on data centers and circulating a video of Crowley saying at a forum early in the Democratic primary that Wisconsin had the “opportunity” to become the “AI and data hub not only for the entire country, but for the entire globe.”
“And he wants you to pay for it. Data Center David Crowley won’t roll back tax incentives. Our lakes run dry. Family farms paved over. Why? Because Crowley’s campaign is funded by the people building them. Big Tech wins. Wisconsin pays,” the ad states.
The ad is referring to contributions that Crowley has received from unions including the Wisconsin Pipe Trades Association PAC Fund and the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 139 PAC.
Tiffany told reporters the day after the primary election that it sounds like David Crowley will give “a blank check to data centers” and that data centers “do not need to be subsidized by us, the taxpayers.”
However, Tiffany has not been a big critic of data centers until recently. He called data centers “exciting new technology” in an interview in January. While in Congress, he voted for a bill that would have banned states from being able to regulate AI developers for 10 years.
Tiffany also recently received a $5,000 contribution from Robert Marchant, the lobbyist for the Wisconsin Data Center Coalition, which lobbied against a bill that would ban data center nondisclosure agreements and lobbied for sales tax exemptions for data centers.
The Crowley campaign has responded to Tiffany’s attacks by sharing videos of Crowley explaining his positions on data centers, including highlighting his support for allowing local communities to decide whether they want a data center.
“Communities should be able to make a decision whether or not they want a data center. It shouldn’t be steamrolled; it should be brought to the table. If they don’t want a data center, they shouldn’t be forced to have one. There are no ifs, ands or buts about that,” Crowley said in a video posted to social media over the weekend. “If they decide to make their own decision, they need to be transparent. They need to protect taxpayers. They need to increase the level of renewable energy production and protect our water. They need to do all of that while providing family-sustaining opportunities for Wisconsinites, rather than bringing people into Wisconsin. If they make a decision not to do it, we need to honor that decision. We need to make sure that we are holding these folks accountable because, right now, they’re getting all these tax breaks and steamrolling local communities.”
As TV monitors at a primary night watch party showed state Rep. Francesca Hong leading the Democratic race for governor in Dane County, the crowd erupted in cheers.
But this wasn’t Hong’s event in Madison. It was the party for Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany at the Rustic Manor wedding barn in Hartland.
Attendees saw a Hong victory as a path to take back the governor’s office, where Democratic Gov. Tony Evers has blocked conservative bills for nearly eight years. In recent weeks, Tiffany and fellow Republicans attacked Hong over past social media posts, including calls to abolish the U.S. Senate, defund police and cancel Thanksgiving. They saw the posts as signs Hong would be a weak general election opponent.
“We’re hoping that Hong will win the primaries because what she says is just outright insanity,” 19-year-old Tiffany campaign worker Ellie Guida said.
Instead, Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley eked out a comeback victory to win the Democratic nomination.
And now a new poll shows why Republicans have reason to worry.
Crowley led Tiffany 48% to 44% in a new Badger Battleground Poll conducted Aug. 12 and 13 by Platform Communications. Crowley also led 42% to 30% among independents and 54% to 35% in competitive Assembly districts.
Tiffany was viewed unfavorably by 43% of poll respondents, compared with 26% with an unfavorable view of Crowley, with 31% lacking a solid opinion of Crowley. The margin of error was 4.4 percentage points, and the poll was conducted via landline and cellphone interviews.
Still, even attendees at Crowley’s watch party in Milwaukee raised concerns about whether he can persuade Hong voters to support him in the general election.
Keith Schmitz, leader of the suburban Milwaukee progressive group Grassroots North Shore, said Hong’s supporters are more likely to back Crowley if Hong strongly endorses him. He expects Democrats to unify around beating Tiffany.
Crowley’s win reshapes the race for Wisconsin Democrats and Republicans. The three gubernatorial candidates who lost the primary joined top Democrats, including U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan and Attorney General Josh Kaul at a breakfast Wednesday in Middleton with Crowley and Democratic lieutenant governor nominee Sarah Godlewski in a show of unity.
Tiffany began a “Common-Sense Leadership Tour” in Green Bay Wednesday with Republican lieutenant governor nominee David Varnam and Attorney General nominee Eric Toney.
Brandon Scholz, former chair of the Republican Party of Wisconsin and now an independent political analyst, highlighted how facing Crowley instead of Hong changes the challenge for Tiffany. He pointed to Crowley being “more measured in his responses and comments,” along with his more moderate positions.
“It will be hard, I think, for Tiffany to do the damage to Crowley that he could have done to Hong,” Scholz said.
Anthony Chergosky, a political science professor at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, said he expects Tiffany to portray Crowley as a “far-left liberal who has demonstrated shortcomings in his position in Milwaukee.”
Right on cue, Tiffany released a statement and ad Wednesday responding to Crowley’s primary win. Tiffany claimed there was no difference between Crowley and “a socialist.” The ad highlighted Milwaukee County budget deficits under Crowley and suggested that portended mismanagement, higher prices and increased taxes if he became governor.
Supporters cheer U.S. Rep. and Republican gubernatorial nominee Tom Tiffany at his primary election watch party at the Rustic Manor wedding barn in Hartland, Wis., Aug. 11, 2026. (Zoey Elwood / Wisconsin Watch)
In response, a Crowley spokesperson said Tiffany was in “meltdown mode” as he prepared to face Crowley. The spokesperson called the attack “a desperate effort to distract from his own extreme record of voting 100% of the time to advance Donald Trump’s extreme MAGA agenda.”
Here is what else we learned from Wisconsin’s partisan primary and how it sets up the road to the Nov. 3 election.
Undecided voters broke for Crowley
As Crowley looks to unify Democrats, the 40-year-old may need to shore up support among younger voters.
The Marquette Law School Poll showed 66% of voters ages 18 to 29 supported Hong, while election results showed she led in 10 of the 13 counties with University of Wisconsin campuses.
Polling showed Crowley with more support among older voters and people living in rural counties. Crowley led Hong by half a percentage point statewide, but his margin widened to 4 percentage points in rural counties, according to a New York Times analysis. Hong’s lack of spending on broadcast TV ads may have contributed to her weaker performance among older and rural voters.
The last Marquette Poll before the primary found 34% of Democratic primary voters were undecided — a dynamic Marquette Law School Poll director Charles Franklin said benefited Crowley.
“The fact that so many undecideds apparently coalesce on Crowley is an important lesson that undecideds really can make up their mind in a lopsided way,” Franklin said.
Older people and moderates likely fueled Crowley’s late surge, according to Franklin.
Supporters cheer as results come in for the Wisconsin Democratic gubernatorial primary election during Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley’s election night watch party at the Hyatt Regency, Aug. 11, 2026, in Milwaukee. (Jonathan Aguilar / Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service / CatchLight Local)
Franklin said older voters don’t usually wait to decide, but this year they did, potentially helping Crowley. Older people also vote more than younger people. He also noted how moderate voters were initially undecided, helping Crowley.
Many people don’t tune in to primaries until a few weeks before voting, Franklin added. He pointed to Evers’ endorsement late in the race. In the last Marquette Poll before the election. 36% of Democratic primary voters said Evers’ endorsement mattered to them.
“It’s obvious that a lot of those late deciders did go to Crowley, overwhelmingly. It just took them till the last week or so of the campaign to decide to do that, or even on Election Day,” Franklin said.
The next Marquette Poll is scheduled for release by the end of August. The first Marquette Poll after the 2018 primary showed Evers and incumbent Gov. Scott Walker tied, but Evers went on to win by 1 percentage point. That election came during Trump’s first midterm cycle.
Evers’ job approval rating stood at 51% in a July 22 Marquette Poll, and Franklin said the poll showed Evers remained popular with Democratic primary voters.
This was the first time in more than 50 years that a sitting Wisconsin governor endorsed a candidate.
“Governor Evers’ endorsement proved to be the key factor in this election,” Chergosky said. “It’s a great reminder that endorsements can make a huge difference in primary elections.”
Two GOP-endorsed candidates lose statewide races
The state Republican Party suffered two more setbacks Tuesday as party-endorsed candidates lost statewide races.
The party endorsed consultant Will Martin — a staffer under former Govs. Tommy Thompson and Scott Walker — for lieutenant governor, but stay-at-home dad and former Lancaster mayor David Varnam secured the Republican nomination by 11 percentage points.
The party also backed beef farmer and auctioneer Nate Pollnow for secretary of state. He lost to real estate investor Jay Schroeder by more than 20 percentage points. Schroeder said he would make the secretary of state Wisconsin’s chief election official and abolish the Wisconsin Elections Commission — something that would require legislative action. Republicans skeptical of the 2020 election results have rallied against the WEC in recent years, which may explain Schroeder’s appeal among primary voters.
The secretary of state keeps track of enrolled laws, resolutions, official acts, fees, positions and appointments, but generally attracts little notice.
While both secretary of state candidates aligned with Trump, Schroeder more heavily emphasized his support for Trump’s movement.
Martin’s lieutenant governor campaign website focused largely on developing energy resources and protecting public safety. Varnam focused on immigration and cutting taxes — issues that ranked as more important among Republican voters surveyed in the Marquette poll earlier this year.
Scholz said the endorsed candidates’ losses raise questions about the state party’s role in elections.
“Does Wisconsin have a viable state party organization that can contribute?” Scholz asked. “And I’m not talking about getting $9 million of contributions from (billionaire GOP megadonors Richard and Liz) Uihlein and (Diane) Hendricks and then pushing them through to campaigns. That’s not a state party.”
The state GOP didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Congressional races set
U.S. Rep. Derrick Van Orden and 2024 Democratic nominee Rebecca Cooke face each other again in the 3rd Congressional District.
Cooke lost to Van Orden in 2024 by 3 percentage points. She ran in the Democratic primary for the district in 2022 but lost to state Sen. Brad Pfaff, D-Onalaska.
Van Orden beat Pfaff to flip the seat in 2022 and has held it for two terms. This year marks the first time Van Orden will run for reelection with a Republican president in office.
Van Orden first ran for the seat in 2020 and lost by just under 3 percentage points as Democrat Joe Biden carried Wisconsin. In 2022, when Republicans took back the House, Van Orden won by nearly 4 percentage points.
Democrat Rebecca Cooke, left, is vying to unseat U.S. Rep. Derrick Van Orden. (Cooke campaign and Joe Timmerman / Wisconsin Watch)
Chergosky said Van Orden, a close Trump ally, must rally MAGA supporters, who can be more difficult to turn out during a midterm election.
“There are many voters who eagerly show up to vote for Trump, but aren’t as excited to vote when he’s not on the ballot,” Chergosky said.
Cooke enters the rematch with higher name recognition and national endorsements from Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin. She also has outraised Van Orden by $1 million.
The 7th Congressional District, which Tiffany is vacating, will likely stay Republican, Chergosky said. Michael Alfonso, son-in-law of Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, won the Republican nomination.
Backed by Trump, Alfonso defeated runner-up Kevin Hermening, by 22 percentage points.
“His victory shows the power of the Trump endorsement in Republican primaries,” Chergosky said.
Alfonso will face Democratic Rep. Fred Clark.
Republicans have held onto the northern Wisconsin district since 2011 when Duffy was elected.
Emergency room nurse Mitchell Berman won the Democratic nomination in the 1st Congressional District and will faceRepublican U.S. Rep. Bryan Steil. Berman defeated the runner up Peter Burgelis by nearly 23 percentage points after Burgelis ended his campaign to endorse Berman in July.
National Democrats are targeting this seat as they seek to win control of the House. But Steil had more than 35 times the cash on hand as the Democratic primary challengers combined as of July. Chergosky also said Steil has a well-developed brand in his southeastern Wisconsin district, giving him the advantage.
For Berman to defeat Steil, Chergosky said he’ll need to raise money quickly and increase his name recognition.
Legislative Democrats play it safe
Democrats have a shot at winning control of the Legislature for the first time in 16 years. Doing so would require flipping two Senate seats and five Assembly seats. In three districts Wisconsin Watch monitored, Democratic voters chose familiar faces in the primary.
In the 17th Senate District, Rep. Jenna Jacobson, D-Oregon, will face incumbent Sen. Howard Marklein, R-Spring Green.
Jacobson, endorsed by the State Senate Democratic Committee, won the primary by nearly 30 percentage points over former New Glarus School Board member Corrine Hendrickson, who focused on funding public schools and child care. Jacobson has served in the Assembly since 2022.
Kamala Harris won the district in the 2024 presidential race when Marklein, a co-chair of the powerful Joint Finance Committee, was not up for reelection.
In the 21st Assembly District, Oak Creek Mayor Dan Bukiewicz defeated David Liners for the Democratic nomination.
Bukiewicz has served as mayor of Oak Creek, which the district encompasses, since 2017. But Republicans have held the seat since 2003.
Liners ran as a democratic socialist, but he hadn’t previously held office. Bukiewicz benefited from strong name recognition and high-profile endorsements like U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin.
Democratic strategist and former Evers staffer Melissa Baldauff said Democrats want candidates they can trust, rather than unknowns.
“There’s definitely something to be said for voting for a known entity,” Baldauff said.
Another democratic socialist, Rep. Ryan Clancy, D-Milwaukee, will likely keep his 19th Assembly District seat after defeating the more moderate Bridget Maniaci in the Democratic primary.
Maniaci criticized Clancy for what she said was failed legislation and unleveraged resources. She outraised him by $2,000.
While other democratic socialists, including Liners and Hong, lost their elections, Clancy won by nearly 9 percentage points. Chergosky said it’s because his constituents know his record.
“In Clancy’s heavily Democratic district, voters may be comfortable supporting an outspoken democratic socialist whose record they already know,” Chergosky said. “In a statewide race for governor, voters may place much greater emphasis on who they believe can defeat the Republican nominee in November.”
Chergosky said each Assembly district is unique, and many are “ideologically homogeneous.” He said voters in an urban, heavily Democratic Assembly district may be more receptive to a candidate like Clancy than voters in a statewide race, where candidates must appeal to urban, suburban and rural voters.
‘A referendum on President Trump’
Democrats cast substantially more primary votes than Republicans, a trend that could shape the outcomes in November, especially as Trump’s approval ratings decline.
Democrats cast nearly 800,000 votes, compared with nearly 500,000 votes from Republicans.
Meanwhile, nine Republicans are retiring from the Legislature this election cycle, including Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, and Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu, R-Oostburg.
Political science experts have said these retirements come during an expected Democratic surge. Wisconsin’s legislative maps were redrawn in February 2024 after experts described the previous maps as some of the most gerrymandered in the country. In November 2024, Democrats flipped 14 legislative seats.
In 2024, Vice President Kamala Harris won Assembly Districts 61, 21 and 51 — three districts Democrats aim to flip this November.
Republicans have held each seat for more than a decade, but the incumbents won by just 3 percentage points in 2024.
While Assembly Districts 51 and 61 still have incumbents, Rep. Jessie Rodriguez, R-Oak Creek, is retiring from her 21st Assembly District seat. Republican nominee Dylan Pfaffenbach, a Carroll University student, will face Bukiewicz, the more experienced Democrat.
The party controlling the White House, Chergosky said, notoriously faces headwinds in midterm elections. Tracking Trump’s approval rate will be key to predicting outcomes. The new Platform Communications poll found 30% of respondents had a favorable view and 66% had an unfavorable view of Trump.
“For Democrats, the playbook is clear: Frame this election as a referendum on President Trump,” Chergosky said.
Tom Kertscher and Brittany Carloni contributed reporting.
Wisconsin Watch is a nonprofit, nonpartisan newsroom. Subscribe to our newsletters for original stories and our Friday news roundup.
Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley’s win over Madison Rep. Francesca Hong in Tuesday’s gubernatorial primary was undoubtedly a shocking comeback.
In the last Marquette Law School Poll before the primary, Hong had 38% support compared with 7% for Crowley. But don’t blame the polling! That same poll showed former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes with 16% support before he dropped out. Another 34% were undecided. The rapid pace of the modern news cycle means voters likely didn’t even tune in until the final weeks. We knew Democrats were sharply divided heading into Tuesday, but predicting precise results proved to be a fool’s errand.
But now that we know the winner, here are some factors that might account for what happened.
A sitting governor’s endorsement matters — a lot
There’s no modern precedent — not since 1970 — for a sitting Wisconsin governor backing a candidate in their party’s primary. The lack of clear direction from the establishment allowed several candidates to hang around until Tuesday, but once Gov. Tony Evers started stumping for Crowley, conservative and moderate Democrats had clarity.
Also worth noting: Evers is still relatively popular. The Marquette Poll found 47% of all voters had a favorable view compared with 43% who had an unfavorable view (most politicians these days are under water). His job approval was at 51%. And 36% of likely Democratic primary voters said Evers’ endorsement made it more likely they would support Crowley.
Democrats want to win
When Democrats were desperate to defeat Gov. Scott Walker in 2018, they nominated the moderate old white guy. That became a blueprint for winning the 2020 presidential election as well. After electing five Supreme Court justices and knocking on the door of a legislative majority this fall, they don’t want to blow a once-in-a-generation chance to enact their agenda (i.e. reversing Act 10, accepting Medicaid expansion, protecting abortion access, boosting public schools).
Hong spent the last two weeks of the primary as the presumptive nominee and faced an avalanche of negative press about her past social media statements about defunding the police and canceling Thanksgiving.
Whether you like those views or not, they’re not moderate. But Wisconsin general election voters generally are. It’s possible that’s what kept progressives like U.S. Sens. Tammy Baldwin and Bernie Sanders and U.S. Reps. Mark Pocan and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on the sidelines.
One other consideration: Crowley has been running Milwaukee County government for six years. A primary is like a job interview, and Crowley’s resume was a better fit for the traditional notion of what a governor does.
Huge turnout
There were nearly 800,000 votes cast in the Democratic primary this year. In 2018 there were 538,000 votes cast. Evers won about 42% that year. Crowley won just shy of 40%.
There was some speculation that Republicans would cross over and vote for Hong in the primary to help U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany. But in the final weekend top Republicans, including Walker, were discouraging that strategy because of concerns about a democratic socialist winning in November. Whether that was more bluster aimed at pushing voters into Hong’s column … doesn’t really matter any more.
Hong won Dane County, Crowley won Milwaukee County — but not by much
Neither candidate ran up the scoreboard on their home turf. But that’s likely because there are moderate and progressive Democrats all over.
Some noted Sen. Kelda Roys’ strong showing in Dane County might have cost Hong progressive votes. Roys received about 10,000 fewer votes than she did in 2018.
Hong also polled much better among young voters, and she appeared to do well in counties with University of Wisconsin campuses like Eau Claire, La Crosse, Kenosha and Winnebago, but undergraduates don’t return until the end of August.
Black voters are mobilizing in 2026
Black voters are a small (about 5% of the general electorate) but important voting bloc for Democrats. When they stay home, Republicans have a better shot of winning statewide elections. When they mobilize, Democrats like Barack Obama win Wisconsin by double digits.
There’s some evidence that Republican attempts to dismantle majority-Black voting districts for the sake of picking up House seats in the South are mobilizing voters there. Elections are nationalizing, and what mobilizes a voting bloc in one part of the country could be mobilizing them everywhere. In Milwaukee County there were 151,000 votes cast, up from 113,000 in 2018.
Worth noting: Crowley would be Wisconsin’s first Black governor. The United States has only ever had six Black men serve as governor. Only Maryland Gov. Wes Moore is serving currently.
Betting markets on the Wisconsin governor’s race have flipped
In the weeks before the election, Tiffany had overtaken a generic Democratic candidate in the betting markets (which Wisconsin voters can’t legally participate in) with a 60% chance of winning. As it became clear that Crowley had a chance of beating Hong on Tuesday night, the market flipped to 78% in favor of Crowley.
Another easily preventable late Milwaukee ballot count
Ballot-counting errors happen. When elections are blowouts, no one notices. When they’re close, every little misstep gets overblown.
Milwaukee didn’t report its final absentee ballot count until early Wednesday morning. There was a mistake in downloading data from vote tabulators. There’s no evidence that votes were tampered with or changed. Republicans still pounced on the delay as evidence of something suspicious.
It’s worth noting that Republicans are also the ones who have refused to pass a clean bill that would allow absentee ballots to be processed starting on the Monday before an election. That would likely prevent the kind of hyperventilating that happens when a winner isn’t known before the 10 o’clock news.
Wisconsin Watch is a nonprofit, nonpartisan newsroom. Subscribe to our newsletters for original stories and our Friday news roundup.
“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. (Photo by Baylor Spears/Wisconsin Examiner)
Wisconsin’s crazy rollercoaster of a Democratic primary is finally over. After staying up all night waiting to see David Crowley declared the winner by one-half of one percentage point at 2:30 Wednesday morning, a lot of voters are feeling dizzy and seasick.
Many Francesca Hong supporters are angry. Their grassroots campaign, the best organized, most energized, with the boldest vision throughout the race, was big-footed by Gov. Tony Evers’ last-minute endorsement of Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley. Adding insult to injury, Crowley had already dropped out when Evers urged him to jump back in with a big boost from late campaign cash, apparently for the sole purpose of thwarting Hong.
Crowley supporters are relieved. They saw Hong as an inexperienced candidate who would lose a winnable general election to Republican Tom Tiffany, a Donald Trump enabler and election denier who has plans to sell off public lands and bring back a total abortion ban.
National media viewed the Wisconsin primary as a test of the left which, according to the New York Times, the left clearly failed with Hong’s “stunning” loss.
But feverish punditry about the significance of Wisconsin’s primary has distorted the real meaning of the results. Polls showing Hong was on track to win by double digits were less accurate than the anecdotal experience of voters who knew their friends and neighbors were fretting about how to vote and hadn’t made up their minds right up until Election Day. Those voters moved to Crowley in big numbers at the very end of the race, as he came to seem like the safe alternative. But Hong’s near-miss is hardly a stunning defeat. On the contrary, it showed real strength for a candidate who, when she started, was counted out.
If your main exposure to Hong was the video of her appearance on Fox News, where she talked in circles about an old tweet in which she recommended canceling Thanksgiving, refusing to either disavow or endorse the idea, the worry made sense.
It wasn’t just old, establishment types who felt it. “A lot of our members had to be talked down off the fence, they were so worried about electability,” says Robert Kraig, executive director of Citizen Action of Wisconsin, which endorsed Hong.
For those voters, the big struggle in the primary was a contest between hope and fear. Kraig sees this as a natural phenomenon. “People are hard-wired to be risk-averse,” he says. Especially when the stakes are high, people’s fears, and the sense that they have to protect what they have, overcome their aspirations for something better. Kraig spent time trying to persuade people that they needed to be more imaginative, to consider that many candidates who once seemed improbable, including President Barack Obama and Sen. Tammy Baldwin, changed people’s views of “electability.”
Hong’s priorities — free childcare, a massive expansion of healthcare, a big minimum wage hike, fully funded schools paid for with a tax increase on the rich — and her assertive, take-it-to-the-hoop attacks on Tiffany, whom she called a “traitor,” resonated with a lot of Wisconsin Democrats. It was the fear that she was not ready for prime time, that she would lose regular voters by speaking the lingo of the academic left, more than her socialist policy positions, that caused them to jump ship. That doesn’t mean the Hong movement failed, or that Democrats can afford to ignore it now that Crowley pulled off his narrow win.
As Kraig points out, voters are not particularly attached to “moderate” policy positions. Progressive ideas can generate big support among a cross-section of voters. Hong’s campaign demonstrated that.
It makes sense that people who were the most fed up, who felt they had the least to lose, supported Hong. Some were young DSA members. But also, Kraig says, some of his group’s organizers who are “standard liberals” — doctors who are deeply concerned about the systemic failures of healthcare — pushed hard for the group to endorse Hong because of her recognition of the need for radical change in the healthcare system.
The night before the election, I watched Hong fire up canvassers at her campaign office on the east side of Madison. A young, excited group of volunteers clearly felt like they were part of something historic. That movement energy has not been lost. It’s up to Crowley to tap it and to Democrats to recognize its significance. It would be a huge mistake for the Crowley campaign, having pulled off its narrow victory, not to try to connect seriously with the grassroots energy that animated Hong’s supporters.
Kraig and Christine Neumann-Ortiz, the executive director of the immigrant rights group Voces de la Frontera, which also endorsed Hong, both hold out hope that Crowley, a former community organizer, will not just talk about “unity” with Hong voters, but will listen seriously to them and adopt some of their positions.
Kraig suggests that Crowley take a page from President Joe Biden, who invited the Bernie Sanders/Elizabeth Warren wing of the Democratic party to help him shape policy after he won in 2020. “It would be good to be credible. To take some positions. Not just call for unity. He could do events with Fran on some issues he wants to lean in on,” Kraig says.
Crowley could make inroads with an energized voting base by taking a stronger position against rapacious AI data centers — one of the issues that animated the Hong campaign. That could be complicated for him with his trade union endorsers. But Hong was the first to recognize what others now see: Voters are demanding a stronger stance.
“It’s going to be really important to connect to those organizer roots and to be bold, not to be timid and move to the center or the right,” says Neumann-Ortiz.
Voces embraced Hong because she was deeply engaged in defending immigrant rights, including through the Statewide Community Defense Network. “People are coming together to support immigrant families being persecuted by ICE,” Neumann-Ortiz says. Crowley could do more to connect to that, taking a clear stand in support of measures that protect immigrant families.
“We are in a period of growing authoritarianism — people see that, and growing economic inequality — people feel that,” says Neumann-Ortiz. “We need a movement that brings working people together and challenges the divisions of the right and Tom Tiffany. That’s what’s needed; not to lose that fighting spirit.”
People are fed up with the lesser-evil argument that “you have no choice,” she adds. And they aren’t putting up with it. “We have seen the emergence of candidates that are much more progressive,” she says. “They come out of a community organizing culture and are willing to demand more.”
More progressives are going to continue to run for office, Neumann-Ortiz predicts. Real political power, she says, “comes from that organized community. They are doing the real democracy work, not just in elections, but the ongoing work of people coming together.”
Crowley won with a boost from Evers, although he dismisses the idea that he is a creature of the “establishment.” Kraig thinks that’s silly – of course he got a big establishment hand up. But that doesn’t have to be how he governs.
“Progressive Era champions put into office by the political machines turned against them and became reformers,” Kraig points out. He holds out hope that Crowley, connecting with his organizer roots, might follow in that great Wisconsin tradition.
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. (Photo by Baylor Spears/Wisconsin Examiner)
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.
Tom Tiffany (left), who has Trump’s endorsement, met with supporters in the afternoon at a bar in Deforest alongside lieutenant governor nominee David Varnam (right). (Photo by Baylor Spears/Wisconsin Examiner)
“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.
David 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.” (Photo by Baylor Spears/Wisconsin Examiner)
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.”
David Crowley, Milwaukee County Executive, joins his supporters as he relaunches his campaign to become Wisconsin's next governor. (Photo by Isiah Holmes/Wisconsin Examiner)
Democratic gubernatorial nominee David Crowley called on Democrats to unite as he accepted the nomination Wednesday.
The race was called in the early morning hours Wednesday as Crowley defeated state Rep. Francesca Hong by a razor-thin margin. Hong called Crowley to concede shortly after 2 a.m. . If elected in November, Crowley would be the first Black person to serve as governor of Wisconsin. Crowley was elected as Milwaukee’s first Black county executive in 2020 after serving two terms in the state Assembly.
“The job is not done. The job is not finished,” Crowley said. “My job is not to become the first, and if I do become the first, my job is to make sure that I’m not the last and provide more opportunities for young men and women all across this state.”
Democrats have their work cut out for them as they compete against Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, a three-term congressman endorsed by President Donald Trump who currently represents the state’s largest congressional district in the northern half of the state.
Crowley started that work as he accepted the nomination at 9 a.m. Wednesday in Milwaukee.
“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, between progressives and the establishment, between insiders and outsiders, that narrative misses the entire point of what we’re doing,” Crowley said.
Crowley’s comeback in the race was powered by an endorsement from Gov. Tony Evers, the popular, departing two-term governor. Evers and Crowley spent the last two weeks traveling around the state in a last-ditch campaign. Crowley had previously dropped out of the race on July 8 and endorsed Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez. When Rodriguez’s campaign imploded due to a financial scandal on July 17, Evers encouraged Crowley to restart his campaign. He reintroduced himself on July 18.
After getting back into the race, Crowley faced accusations of being the “establishment” candidate who was chosen to defeat the democratic socialist candidate, Francesca Hong. He called that accusation a “slur.”
As he accepted the nomination, Crowley thanked Evers “for his friendship, his leadership and his belief that Wisconsin works best when working people come together to solve problems.” He also sought to put to bed the narrative that had surrounded the race as he thanked his primary opponents. He said that Hong’s campaign “reminded people across Wisconsin that there are no long shots when it comes to believing in a better future and fighting to expand opportunities to every family” and said he looks forward to earning the support of Hong voters. The narrative that the primary was ”a battle between the left and the center, between progressive and the establishment, between insiders and outsiders” was inaccurate, Crowley said.
“When I traveled across Wisconsin, I didn’t meet people who introduced themselves that way. I met parents wondering how they afford childcare. I met workers who want wages that keep up with the costs of living. I met farmers trying to preserve family traditions. I met small business owners trying to keep their doors open, and I met seniors who deserve security and dignity after a lifetime of work. We may not agree on every policy, we may not use the same labels, but we all want safe communities, strong schools, affordable health care, good-paying jobs, and a brighter future for all of our children.”
Crowley said Democrats must now unite around keeping “MAGA extremism” out of Wisconsin and called Tiffany the “real threat.”
“Tiffany stood with those who tried to overturn a free and fair presidential election instead of defending our democracy,” Crowley said. “He’s worked in lockstep with Donald Trump to slash programs that Wisconsin families depend on, including SNAP and healthcare for our children, our seniors and veterans and working families. He backed harmful, costly policies like the war in Iran, while too many families right here, right at home, are struggling to make ends meet. He spends his time fueling culture wars because sowing division is much easier than delivering results.”
“Wisconsin, we deserve better than politicians who divide us for their own political gain,” Crowley said.
Tiffany said in a statement about Crowley’s victory that there is “not a dime’s worth of difference between these Democrat candidates.”
“David Crowley proved my point when he admitted there aren’t many policy differences between him and a socialist,” Tiffany said. “His record in Milwaukee County shows exactly what Wisconsin would get: mismanage the government, run up the bill and raise your taxes to pay for it. Wisconsin doesn’t need more of the same failed policies.”
Democrats are meeting for a unity breakfast that will bring together Crowley, Hong, state Sen. Kelda Roys, another of the candidates in the Democratic primary, Lt. Gov. candidate Sarah Godlewski, U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin and U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan around 11 a.m. in Middleton, as they , seek to move past the divisiveness of the primary with less than three months until the general election.
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