Small wonder nearly half of voters haven’t decided who to back in the Democratic primary for Wisconsin’s next governor. If you sent in your ballot early, you might have voted for the candidate who won the straw poll at the Democratic party convention only to flail her way through a dramatic public scandal, run out of money and quit. The latest Marquette Law School poll, released this week, still had her name as a candidate, but didn’t include the candidate who dropped out two weeks ago before getting back in the race with Gov. Tony Evers’ endorsement. 

Meanwhile, the frontrunner in poll after poll, as Baylor Spears reports, is Francesca Hong. 

Some Democrats are so sure Hong, as a democratic socialist, will lose in a general-election matchup with Republican Tom Tiffany they’re desperately hopping from horse to horse, searching for an alternative. One of those horses, Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez, stumbled badly and collapsed. Now we’ve got Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, whose late endorsement by Evers generated a backlash against the “Democratic establishment.”

Whoever’s running the “establishment’ might be overbearing, but they sure don’t seem to be adept at picking winners. Days after his reentry, Crowley is struggling with negative stories about crude posts to an old Twitter account.

The problem Democrats in Wisconsin face is less about party bosses behind the scenes calling the shots than it is lack of any organization. A little leadership from Evers earlier in the process might have staved off disaster.

At a minimum, he could have made up his mind to back Crowley before Crowley dropped out. He could have had painful but necessary conversations with Joel Brennan, Sara Rodriguez and Missy Hughes, the other members of his administration who campaigned at least partly on their association with him. “Look, I see a bright future for you in politics, but I’ve decided to go with Crowley in this race,” he might have said. Then Crowley (or whoever Evers decided to support) could have built some strength over the course of the campaign.

Instead, we have the current mess.

Wisconsin’s messy primary is also a symptom of Democrats’ general disarray. Unable to come up with a plan to effectively counter the frightening power of a violent, kleptocratic regime in Washington, they are waffling between trying not to alienate swing voters by sounding too radical versus tapping into the energy and outrage of the anti-Trump electorate.

Looking over their shoulders at the Republicans, several Democratic campaigns point to the millions of dollars in TV ads the Republican Governors Association bought featuring light criticism of Hong. The ads appear to be a transparent effort to boost Hong in the primary, since Republicans think they can beat her in the general election. So what? Hong appears to be winning the primary anyway, with or without the RGA boost, through her straight talk, superb social media strategy, grassroots ground game and the enthusiasm she’s generating, especially from young voters who don’t trust normal politicians and institutional Democratic party politics. 

That doesn’t mean she’s the best candidate to beat Tiffany. But instead of buying into the Republican political analysis, or as one Democrat did, running an ominous attack ad trumpeting that Hong is a “proud socialist!” (the horror!), Democrats should be trying to steal a page from Hong. That ugly ad, featuring photos of the three candidates of color, labeling them all unelectable, and then toggling to Joel Brennan, the only white guy in the race, is a good example of what Democratic primary voters want to reject.

It’s no surprise Hong is catching fire. People like candidates who say what they mean and aren’t afraid to be themselves, as opposed to candidates who seem to be trying to tell them what they want to hear or pretending to be just like them. They want to see courage and conviction in the face of bullying and corruption. They do not particularly like seeing Democrats tearing each other apart — especially not by drawing on the kinds of smug, bigoted attacks made by the other side. 

Imagine a Democratic party that includes democratic socialists and more middle-of-the-road candidates, promoting an uplifting message about protecting a decent society, functional government and human rights. 

That’s the vision people are hungry for. Wisconsin Democrats should not be afraid to serve it up. 

Republican candidates seeking to replace U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany in Wisconsin’s 7th Congressional District participated in a debate Tuesday night, during which they touted their loyalty to President Donald Trump and laid out differing priorities for Congress. 

Tuesday’s debate, hosted by WJFW Newswatch 12, is the only televised debate in which all the Republican primary candidates have agreed to participate. Those candidates include Michael Alfonso, whose father-in-law, Department of Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, formerly held the 7th CD seat and has been campaigning on his behalf, has Trump’s endorsement; Niina Baum a lifelong Northwoods resident and dog musher who founded Northwoods Young Professionals to attract and retain workers in northern Wisconsin; Jessi Ebben, a public relations professional who describes herself as a “Trump Republican,” and who previously ran to represent Wisconsin’s 3rd CD and Kevin Hermening, a financial advisor and former United States Marine. Don Raihala, an accountant, will also appear on the ballot in August, though he wasn’t invited to participate.

Alfonso had refused to participate in earlier debates, in one case because he was attending a lobbyist event hosted by the Republican Party of Wisconsin in Washington D.C., and said he would only participate in one local news forum.

The winner of the Republican primary will face the winner of the Democratic primary in November. While the district has been represented by Republicans in recent years, the 7th CD was represented by Democrat Dave Obey, the longest serving U.S. House member in Wisconsin history, from 1969 until 2011. The three candidates vying for the Democratic nomination are Fred Clarke, Chris Armstrong and Ginger Murray.

The district, which encompasses a huge portion of the state, stretches from eastern to western Wisconsin and from central Wisconsin to the Northwoods. Tiffany, who has represented the district since 2020, is running for governor in 2026.

While Trump’s endorsement has helped Tiffany, whose primary opponent in the governor’s race dropped out, in Alfonso’s case it has not cleared the field. Republicans from local county parties and his primary opponents have criticized Alfonso’s lack of experience and his father-in-law’s help as he tries to win the race.

“I’m the only candidate on this stage that our great president, the greatest president of my lifetime, President Donald J. Trump, trusts to get his agenda into law,” Alfonso said during the debate. “We hear a lot about politicians saying they’re pro-Trump only in the year of an election. What the Trump endorsement means is that I will support the president, I will fight for his agenda.”

Alfonso said he sat down with Trump for an interview and promised the president that no one would out work him in Congress.

While Alfonso used the endorsement as his main argument to differentiate himself from the other candidates, he was not the only candidate to claim he would carry forward Trump’s agenda in Congress

Hermening, said he would be experienced, tested and “ready on day one” to serve in Congress and help Trump achieve his agenda. In his closing remarks, Hermening criticized the current Congress for allowing some items in the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” to sunset within a short period of time and for not passing more of Trump’s agenda. 

“The president has put forward so many executive orders… Congress needs to finish the job and put some of those executive orders into actual legislation,” Hermening said. “I’m committed to helping him finish that job.”

Hermening noted that Trump had already endorsed Alfonso before he entered the race, but said he has been honored to get endorsements from other Republicans in the district including state lawmakers Mary Felzkowski, John Spiros, Duke Tucker, Brent Jacobson, Pat Snyder and Romaine Quinn.

“I’m not running to be someone,” Hermening said. “I’m running to do something.” 

Alfonso, 26, directly addressed concerns about his lack of experience during the debate, including saying that he is currently employed as an accountant. Prior to running for Congress, Alfonso worked in construction while a student at UW-Madison. After graduating, he moved to Florida and worked on a podcast hosted by Dan Bongino for a year. He has since moved back to Hayward, Wisconsin.

Alfonso argued that young people can bring energy to politics and that experience is not the only measure of effectiveness. 

“Let me ask you, did Nick Shirley have experience?” Alfonso said, referring to the young Youtuber whose debunked videos of empty childcare centers helped spur investigations into fraud in Minnesota. “He was only a young man in his 20s. Young people are capable of so much in a culture where we seek to make young people infantilized.” 

Alfonso in his opening remarks attacked Democratic Socialism and State Rep. Francesca Hong, who is seeking the Democratic nomination for governor, mentioning communism and his roots in Cuba. He said he wants to fight “Marxism” in Congress.

“The older generation has already won the battle with communism. They fought very hard, but I will tell you what, my generation is falling for those very same lies,” Alfonso said. “I look forward to working every single day to stop the spread of violent Marxism, which is what got my friend Charlie Kirk murdered.”

A couple of candidates spent time in the debate defending their status as Republicans. 

Ebben addressed controversy over her 2011 signature on a petition protesting Act 10, the law signed by former Gov. Scott Walker that significantly curbed union rights for public employees. 

“I was 21 years old in college, and I was told by my parents who were lied to by the teachers unions that they were worried about losing their jobs, and that didn’t happen,” Ebben said. “So, I was not only in college when this happened, but I became a Christian. I became a conservative, and I’ve knocked thousands of doors for candidates in the conservative movement for Republicans up and down the ballot over the years, helping them get elected, and like President Trump and President Reagan, I chose to become a Republican.” 

Baum was asked directly whether she is a Republican. She noted that the last time she voted for Trump was in 2016, but added that people do not fit into neat political boxes. 

“The job of a representative is to represent the people and what they need, and what if something that the people in this district want and need doesn’t align perfectly with party lines, then we’re supposed to blindly follow that? I don’t think so,” Baum said. 

Throughout the debate Baum said she would be in Congress to serve the people of the 7th CD, adding that she won’t take corporate PAC money and wants to end Citizens United, the U.S. Supreme Court decision that allowed corporations to spend unlimited money on elections. 

During closing remarks, she announced that she will be embarking on a 400-mile bike trip through the district to meet with voters and hear from them directly, and promised to pay close attention and listen to people. 

“The job of a representative is to represent the people, not the president’s priorities, no matter who the president is,” Baum said when asked whether she would support Trump’s agenda. “If those priorities align, I will absolutely support them, but if they don’t , I’m going to stand up for them, just like with these AI data centers.”

The candidates were asked whether they support Trump’s war in Iran. 

Alfonso repeated Trump’s claim that the war was necessary to stop Iran from developing nuclear weapons.

“I look forward to working with President Trump to bring peace to the Middle East,” Alfonso said. 

Hermening, who was among the Americans held captive for 444 days during the 1979 Iran hostage crisis, said he does not support having boots on the ground to pursue regime change in the country.

“That is a decision that the Iranian people need to make on their own. They need to be responsible for that. It is not our job to be the policeman of the world,” Hermening said, though he added that he thought Trump had done the right thing by seeking to block the development of nuclear weapons in Iran. “In any negotiation, it requires two honest brokers, and it is very evident to me in watching what’s been going on between the United States and Iran for 47 years that the Iranians have never sent an honest broker to any negotiation, so I believe that we have to be very steadfast in what we are standing for.” 

Ebben said that she thinks the country needs to focus on domestic issues as opposed to war overseas. 

“I don’t want my son in the future to have to go off and fight another war,” Ebben said. “I don’t want any mother or father to have to worry about sending their son or daughter overseas to champion someone else’s war. We need to get back to America First.” 

The candidates agreed on some issues, including wanting to reduce government spending and regulation as a way of addressing the cost of living, though they differed on Congress’ role in regulating artificial intelligence and data centers as well as combating PFAS.

Hermening said the federal government needs to ensure that the U.S. isn’t left behind on the world stage, so it shouldn’t put unnecessary regulations in place on people who want to grow their companies. 

“Too often the government gets in the way,” Hermening said. 

Ebben said that the government needs to be cautious about artificial intelligence and ensure that people, including students in school, aren’t relying on it too much. 

Alfonso said he didn’t know whether Congress should do more to regulate AI. 

“We don’t know where this technology is going to take us but we need to watch it very closely. We cannot have hundreds of thousands of Americans displaced from their jobs,” he said. 

Baum said she would work to implement a moratorium on data center construction and described hearing from local residents who reached out to her about a company that wanted to buy their land for a data center.

“There’s no regulations around them and they impact us in so many different ways,” Baum said of data centers. “They impact our natural resources, our water, our utility bills and recently our phone prices… are going to be impacted because of the demand for memory chips from AI data centers.” 

Baum also criticized the sales and use tax exemption that the Wisconsin state government approved for data centers.

“I know this is a state-level thing, but I’m using this as an example because why are they getting that benefit when there are small businesses who actually provide consistent jobs and more jobs than an AI data center will at the end of its completion. They should not be getting breaks.” 

The candidates also differed on how much of a role the federal government should play in addressing the issue, a long-running concern for communities in the Northwoods including the town of Stella. 

“I would advocate for clean water, lower costs to bring about the lesser contamination,” Hermening said. “When the government helps to make policies that bring about contamination, whether it is approving certain types of chemicals that end up in our groundwater, the government has a responsibility for making it right.”

Ebben said she is concerned about the federal government stepping in and imposing too much regulation. 

Alfonso declared that he had the endorsement of the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) PAC and said he would work with Trump to both encourage businesses and protect natural resources. He said he would also want to leave PFAS regulation up to states rather than the federal government. 

Baum said that the federal government was involved with spreading PFAS contamination, so the federal government has a responsibility to help ensure access to clean drinking water. 

The primary will be held on Aug. 11.