At a forum hosted by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the Democrats competing in the primary for Wisconsin governor debated data center regulation. Freelance videographer Jonathan Klett captured full video of the event, featuring current candidates Joel Brennan, David Crowley, Francesca Hong and Kelda Roys as well as Mandela Barnes, who dropped out of the race shortly after participating in the forum.

 

UPDATE: This story has been updated with additional details.

Former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes announced he is suspending his campaign for governor Thursday in a video posted to social media, narrowing the field to four as state Rep. Francesca Hong has expanded her lead in polls. 

“We’re incredibly proud of all the things that we’ve accomplished and all the resources that we have raised to spread our message, but it’s become very clear who our nominee is going to be,” Barnes said in the video without naming a candidate. 

Mainstream Democrats in recent weeks have been seeking a candidate to consolidate behind to stop Hong, a democratic socialist many fear cannot win the general election against Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, but her lead has only grown in the last week. 

Barnes had faced doubts since he launched his campaign last Dec., in part due to his failed U.S. campaign against U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson in 2022, but he has largely been considered to be among the  frontrunners in the race. The latest Marquette University Law School poll showed him with 16% support among likely primary voters, second to Hong’s 38%, but way ahead of the rest of the field, with Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley placing third at 7%. In recent weeks, Barnes has been competing most directly with Crowley, who exited the race a few weeks ago, but restarted his campaign with the endorsement of Gov. Tony Evers after Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez dropped her bid.

According to a Politico report, Barnes’ announcement comes as damaging media reports about him were expected to hit in coming hours. His exit leaves it a four-way race between Hong, Crowley, former Department of Administration Secretary Joel Brennan and state Sen. Kelda Roys. 

The winner of the Aug. 11 Democratic primary will likely face U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, the presumptive GOP candidate in November. 

“Now, we have to do everything we possibly can to defeat Tom Tiffany, and that’s exactly what I’m committed to do for the next 96 days,” Barnes said.

According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Barnes’ decision also comes amid reporting by the outlet on allegations that Barnes took advantage of his role in the party to have sexual encounters with young adult women. He has not been accused of any crimes. According to the Journal Sentinel report, in 2025, the Democratic Party of Wisconsin hired a law firm to look into similar claims but the allegations they received were anonymous and unspecific and nothing actionable was found.

Reactions from Evers, candidates

Evers told reporters, in reaction to the news, that he was surprised by Barnes’ dropping out. Barnes served as lieutenant governor during Evers’ first term in office and was the first Black person to hold the position in the state’s history.

“But he needs to do what he needs to do,” Evers said. “I don’t know why he’s getting out. I have to believe it’s something relatively important.”

Evers also reiterated his support for Crowley.

“He’s the best candidate running even if Mandela was in,” Evers said.

Other candidates in the race sought to encourage Barnes supporters to join their campaign.

“The Barnes campaign helped grow the progressive movement,” Hong said in a statement. “To everyone who supported Mandela because you believe working people deserve a government that fights for them, I welcome you to our movement.”

“To everyone who backed Mandela: there’s a place for you in what we’re building,” Crowley said in a social media post. “It’s going to take all of us to beat Tom Tiffany.”

Brennan said it is “unfortunate for voters that this primary has gotten more attention for chaos than the stakes of this election.” He said that he is “going to continue to focus on reaching voters to talk about what I’ll do to win and lead our state to a stronger future.”

In a statement, the Roys campaign also focused on moving forward with sharing her message across the state.

“She has the most endorsements, the most cash on hand, the most experience, and the most likelihood of beating Tom Tiffany in November,” Jalen Knuteson, spokesperson for the Roys campaign, said in a statement. “No drama, no baggage, just a lifetime of fighting bullies and billionaires and turning progressive ideas into law.”

 

Thank you, Wisconsin. pic.twitter.com/FKDjCaPdJZ

— Mandela Barnes (@TheOtherMandela) July 30, 2026

Reading Time: 4 minutes

Former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes announced he ended his campaign for governor in a video posted to social media on Thursday, July 30. Barnes did not endorse any candidate, but hinted at the growing support for Madison state Rep. Francesca Hong. “It’s become very clear who our nominee is going to be,” he said.

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As early voting gets under way ahead of the Aug. 11 primary, Wisconsin is hurtling toward a gubernatorial matchup between Madison state Rep. Francesca Hong, a democratic socialist, and Northwoods U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, a MAGA Republican.

Hong, a 37-year-old former restaurant owner, has emerged as the front-runner in the Democratic primary, growing a lead over her opponents in four consecutive Marquette University Law School polls. Just in the past week, her support increased — from 26% to 38% — among likely Democratic primary voters even after the chaotic maneuvering by candidates earlier this month. Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez exited the race after issues with her campaign finance reports, and Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley restarted his campaign with a rare primary endorsement from Gov. Tony Evers. 

Marquette Poll director Charles Franklin described Hong’s position in the latest poll as “a pretty sizable lead.” It’s reminiscent of 2018 when Evers’ support in polls grew over the course of the crowded Democratic primary, Franklin said. Evers won the primary with about 42% of the vote in 2018.

“She’s increased her lead compared to last week, and it’s increased across virtually every demographic group we look at,” Franklin said. “That doesn’t necessarily mean it’s an insurmountable lead in the sense that there’s 34% still undecided. But if you look at the trend from a week ago to this week, she’s in a better position than she was then.” 

Hong also faced few attacks from her opponents in the first and only televised primary debate held in Milwaukee this week, even as she faces questions about her past social media posts supporting Democratic Socialists of America organization policies such as abolishing the U.S. Senate and abolishing and defunding police. The July 22 Marquette Poll showed 49% of registered voters in Wisconsin have an unfavorable view of the DSA organization and the democratic socialist label. 

In Tuesday’s debate, Hong said as governor she would not sign a budget that cuts funding for police departments. She also said she does not support the full platform of the national DSA nor is she endorsed by the national organization, while highlighting bipartisan support her campaign has received for policies like a moratorium on the construction of new AI data centers.

“I am looking forward to helping Democrats become the big tent party that they have aimed to become for many years,” she said. 

As Hong rises, some Democrats have questioned whether a democratic socialist can win statewide in November and help down-ballot Democrats. But party leaders have failed to shore up an opponent who can defeat Hong.

Crowley’s reentry with Evers’ endorsement may have muddied the waters, said Barry Burden, a political science professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and director of the Elections Research Center.  

“With in-person voting already underway, it is difficult to see how an issue, scandal, endorsement, or other development can impede her path to the nomination,” Burden said. 

The latest Marquette Poll released Wednesday showed that while a majority of potential Democratic primary voters indicated they heard about Evers’ endorsement, it did not make a significant impact on who they would support in the race. Crowley received 7% support among likely primary voters behind Hong at 38% and former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes at 16%. 

Crowley said in the last two weeks of the primary campaign he will continue to make the case to voters about why he is the best candidate. 

“We still have the same amount of folks when I actually stepped out of this race, right? It’s still five of us,” Crowley said. “So, I truly believe our job is just to make the case. And I do think that folks may be a little bit overwhelmed by how many candidates are in this race and want to make sure they’re making the right choice, but that’s why we’re on the campaign trail.” 

Barnes, who was initially seen as the front-runner in the primary due to the name recognition from his 2022 U.S. Senate campaign, took more swipes at Crowley during Tuesday night’s debate, targeting the Milwaukee County executive for his reentry into the race being “revived by special interests.” Barnes’ support remained flat in the two July Marquette polls.

“I think that people should be frustrated. People are tired of having their politics meddled in,” Barnes said after the debate. “People have seen, you know, the power brokers that be meddling in elections time and time again. And because of that meddling, people have been turned off from politics. People don’t show up to vote. They feel as if there is no place for them if the decision is made before they even get a chance to cast a ballot.” 

It is increasingly unlikely that any consolidation happens ahead of Aug. 11. Madison state Sen. Kelda Roys and former Department of Administration Secretary Joel Brennan, who have continued to poll in the low single digits, told reporters on Tuesday that they had no intention of leaving the race. 

Brennan said he believes potential voters are only just beginning to tune into the race. 

“I still think that there are people who are going to come to me and who are going to see that I am the best path to winning a general election and being the best governor,” Brennan said. 

“​​I’ve made that commitment to the voters and my supporters, and I am confident that we are going to make progress as we have continued throughout this race,” Roys said. 

Meanwhile, Tiffany, who is endorsed by President Donald Trump, also sees Hong as his opponent in November, and the Republican Governor’s Association has run ads casting Hong as being “too liberal for Wisconsin” while highlighting policies, such as abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement, that could appeal to Democratic primary voters. 

In a statement following the debate, Tiffany took aim at “Socialist Francesca Hong” and highlighted Hong’s past social media posts that called for abolishing the police, prisons and the U.S. Senate. 

“While Democrats offer chaos, I’m offering common sense: lower taxes, safer communities, stronger schools, and a government that lets the people of Wisconsin keep more of their hard-earned money,” Tiffany said.

With less than two weeks to go, key indicators point to a Hong-Tiffany matchup for Wisconsin governor is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.

State Rep. Francesca Hong received a significant bump following the shakeup in the Democratic primary for governor, according to a Marquette Law School poll released Wednesday.

With in-person early voting underway and Election Day less than two weeks away, it is the latest poll to be released that seeks to understand how Democratic primary voters are responding to recent events. Once again it shows Hong leading. It is also the last Marquette Law School poll that will be released ahead of the primary. 

A Marquette Law School poll released last week showed that 26% of likely Democratic primary voters would vote for Hong. Former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes followed with 15% of likely Democratic voters in that poll. However, that poll was taken before Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez dropped out of the race due to a campaign finance disaster and before Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley got back into the race. 

“I’m pleased to say we managed to do an entire week of polling and no candidates changed,” Charles Franklin, director of the poll, joked at the start of the release of the results. 

The latest poll was conducted between July 22 and July 27. Just after Crowley rejoined the race on July 18 with the endorsement of Gov. Tony Evers. The poll included responses from 407 registered voters, including 254 respondents who were also interviewed for the previous poll and 153 new respondents.

The poll showed that Hong received support from 38% of likely Democratic primary voters — a 12-point jump. She was followed by Barnes with 16% and Crowley with 7%. Former Department of Administration Secretary Joel Brennan and state Sen. Kelda Roys were each supported by 2% of those polled. 

About 34% of likely voters said they were still undecided — down from 45% the week prior. Franklin said this isn’t a trivial number. 

The poll also asked undecided voters who they were leaning towards. The choice of Democratic primary voters, including those with a lean, was 46% Hong, 21% Barnes, 11% Crowley and 4% each for Brennan and Roys.

“This is the lay of the land and what you see is very obvious and that is Francesca Hong has opened up her lead, expanded it beyond where it was a week or so ago,” Franklin said, adding that it looks similar to Evers’ position in 2018 polling during that Democratic primary. “Took people a long time make up their minds and get to know the candidates, and Evers moved up into a significant lead at the end.” 

The poll also sought to understand the impact of Evers’ endorsement. About 62% of those polled said they had heard of the endorsement. Among primary voters, 36% said the Evers endorsement makes them more likely to support Crowley, 9% said less likely and 56% said the endorsement doesn’t make any difference.

Franklin said the numbers reflect “the fact that endorsements don’t matter the way they did 30 years ago, even with a guy with an 89% approval rating.”

“People make up their own minds. The machine is not what it used to be,” Franklin said. “I think there’s a wide open debate, and I guess we’ll really know the answer on the 11th or the morning of the 12th… He does still have two weeks to go in this campaign to convert that into votes.” 

Of Crowley, Franklin said, “He’s certainly in a better position than he was in March when we asked about him way, way, long ago. But these fundamental results say he’s in third place.” 

“Things could shift, I guess, but the Evers endorsement and the reentry did not boost him into second place. He’s in third place.”

Democratic candidates for governor largely avoided direct attacks on one another during their only televised primary debate Tuesday night, with two weeks remaining before the Aug. 11 primary, instead laying out differences on issues including school vouchers and data centers.

This year’s election is the first open race for governor in Wisconsin since 2010, and the five candidates left in a field that used to include seven are former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, Joel Brennan, former state Department of Administration chief, Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, state Rep. Francesca Hong and state Sen. Kelda Roys.

More than 40% of Wisconsin voters have not made up their minds about which candidate to support. 

Recent polls show Hong leading the race. 

The debate was hosted by WISN 12 on the Marquette University campus and moderated by Gerron Jordan and Matt Smith, WISN 12 journalists and hosts of “Upfront,” on the first day of in-person early voting. The candidates were told at the beginning that they were allowed to speak to one another at the start of the debate, but direct back and forth and criticism was minimal throughout the hour-long debate. 

The winner of the primary will likely face U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, the presumptive Republican nominee in November.

Addressing criticisms 

The debate started with each candidate addressing a critique of their candidacy. 

Crowley, who recently reentered the race for governor with the endorsement of Gov. Tony Evers, was asked about his decision to drop out and then restart his campaign and whether he is a “prop” of the Democratic establishment.

“I was never born into the establishment. I was actually born into struggle… I’m not here to protect the establishment. I’m here to deliver real results for Wisconsinites all over our state,” Crowley said, adding that the “stakes are too high and that’s why I got back into this race.”

Barnes, who served as lieutenant governor in Evers’ first term, was asked about entering the race after losing his 2022 U.S. Senate race against Sen. Ron Johnson, his failure to garner Evers’ endorsement, and why voters should trust him to win in November when he previously lost. 

Barnes said that his narrow loss to Johnson taught him about the influence of money on elections as well as “how low Republicans can go.” He said that he thinks his campaign will have the resources and support to win, and he appeared to take a poke at Crowley.

“I have zero interest in upholding the status quo. I have zero interest in being the establishment candidate,” Barnes said. “That is the difference right here on the stage because I am pushing the envelope to make sure that we are as bold as we can possibly be in the Donald Trump era, because that’s what people have been calling for Democrats to be all along.” 

Hong, who identifies as a democratic socialist, was asked whether she supports the full platform of the Democratic Socialists of America, which includes abolishing the U.S. Senate. Tiffany has been criticizing her for a tweet from 2021, in which she said “Abolish the Senate.” She said no. 

“I do not support the full platform of the national DSA and I am not endorsed by DSA National,” Hong said. She then focused on defining democratic socialism, saying it is a “form of government that puts working class people first.” 

Brennan and Roys, who are both polling in the single digits, were asked about whether voters were “wasting” their vote by voting for them.

“The challenge that I have had from day one is not that anybody thinks I’m unqualified for the office,” Brennan said, noting his experience as a cabinet member under Evers. “The challenge I have had is that people don’t know me as well as they know some other candidates around the state.” 

Brennan said the recent upheaval in the race  — as well as the perception of insiders “putting their thumb on the scale” — has gotten people more engaged and that will help his candidacy. 

Roys responded to the same question by saying, “If you want the best public schools in the nation for your children, if you want to open up the state’s healthcare plan so that everyone can buy in and we can lower costs for all Wisconsinites, if you want a candidate who is going to stand up and fight Donald Trump and bring an end to this authoritarian regime, then you should vote for me.” 

Public safety funding

Each candidate said he or she would not sign a budget that cut funding to law enforcement and all said that they would sign a bill requiring police across the state of Wisconsin to wear body cameras. 

Candidates were asked about the killing of Corey Ruiz, a Black man, by Madison police. Hong was asked about her public speech on the site of the killing in which she called it an example of state-sanctioned violence and an “execution.” Hong said during the debate that she would not have made the comments before an investigation as governor, since the office has “the largest microphone in the state” and there is “deep responsibility” with that.

“It was clearly the type of violence where no one’s life should have been taken,” Hong said. 

Asked about previous comments she made supporting defunding the police, Hong said she would not cut funding for public safety, but wants to invest in local governments and communities to help reduce crime including by investing in schools, addressing the opioid epidemic and ensuring people coming out of incarceration have proper resources.

“The governor cannot defund police, and I am not here to govern by slogan,” Hong said. “I am here to make sure I am the governor that’s most serious about public safety.”

Barnes faced criticism during his 2022 Senate campaign over comments supporting reducing police funding. He said during the debate he would not sign a budget that decreased police  funding in part because he said police departments must be able to afford body cameras, which Madison police do not have. 

Roys said that she wouldn’t cut police funding and added that the state also needs to invest in local governments, so they can invest in evidence-based programs that reduce and prevent crime. 

“We have to invest in proven strategies that actually do that, unlike what Republicans like Tom Tiffany have done, which is cut funding to local governments and take away local control,” Roys said. 

“We cannot defund the police. We should be investing in public safety,” Crowley said, adding that that includes investing in wraparound services.

Brennan said there needs to be robust funding for local governments, and that the state should look to Minnesota as a model for how to reduce crime, spend less and reduce the prison population while investing in early childhood and K-12 education.

Voucher program

When it comes to the state’s school voucher system, candidates took different positions. 

Barnes said he would reduce the voucher programs in the state, including in Milwaukee where nearly half of students in the city use publicly funded private school vouchers. 

Roys laid out her three-step plan to sunset the voucher programs including implementing transparency and accountability measures to close schools that don’t adhere to higher standards, end the statewide program in the first state budget and wind down the programs while allowing current participating students and their siblings to continue attending private schools with vouchers.

Hong said she would not put a “firm” number on when the voucher programs would need to end, but she supports strengthening public schools and would wind down the voucher program through a “responsible program and process where we work directly with the families and the different schools.” 

Crowley said he would not sign a bill reducing the programs, though he added that he doesn’t want to see them expand either. 

“I don’t think the question is whether or not we should have vouchers,” Crowley said. “The question should be, how do we continue to invest in our public schools to make sure that they’re the school of choice.”

Brennan offered the strongest argument for not signing a bill to reduce or close the programs. He said he wants to cap enrollment and disclose costs of private voucher schools on taxpayers’ property tax bills, but he said reducing the program is not politically feasible. 

“There is not going to be a bill passed in the Legislature that is put on the governor’s desk right now to end vouchers in Milwaukee. There are representatives in Milwaukee… for whom more than half the people who live there are sending their kids to private schools. We have to live in the real world. This is dividing Democrats,” Brennan said. “I wouldn’t put legislators in a position where they’re going to have to tell parents that they can’t send their kids to their schools of their choice.” 

Brennan added that he wants to make Wisconsin’s public schools better than any private school.

Data centers 

Data center construction has become a key issue in the race for governor with polling suggesting that 76% of Wisconsinites say they believe the costs of data centers outweigh the benefits. Candidates provided different solutions for regulating data centers. 

Hong touted the fact that she is the only candidate to call for a moratorium on data centers and said she would call a special session on the issue to have lawmakers take action on a bill that would impose regulations on data center construction in the state. 

“This moratorium is necessary so that we can responsibly put in enforcement mechanisms to protect communities,” Hong said, noting that some local governments have already imposed  moratoriums. “We also want to make sure that there are the guard rails, the legal resources, and that if data centers are going to come here in our state that they pay their own way and actually pay up front.” 

Crowley said that he did not think a moratorium would address the long-term concerns, and said he would rather focus on ensuring that data centers have to pay for their energy use, grid upgrades and use clean energy.

Brennan said he has not called for a moratorium, but would put a 100-day pause on construction. He said he would also ensure that Wisconsinites are not paying for the construction, ensure there are regulations with “teeth” and that companies are using renewable energy, ensure that union workers are employed on the projects and ban non-disclosure agreements between companies and local governments.

“If we can do that in the first 100 days, it’s not going to make everybody happy, but it’s going to set the bar and take away that uncertainty and take away another reason why people distrust government and why they’re so angry,” Brennan said. 

Barnes said that he wanted no new data center construction without guardrails being put in place to ensure the state’s natural resources and air quality are protected and that residents’ energy bills are not climbing. 

“If a community rejects a data center proposal, then there should be no new data center constructed,” Barnes said. 

Roys said she doubted a moratorium bill could pass, but a bill focused on strong regulations could be successful. 

“I will not stop there,” Roys said. “I will also establish a public negotiating team so that any community that decides it would like to engage with a data center has the opportunity to have expert negotiators. I will increase shared revenue so that communities don’t feel desperate … I will also end the subsidies for data centers because they should be paying us and not the other way around.”

In 30-second closing statements, as each candidate made a pitch for voters’ support, Barnes made some of the most pointed remarks of the night taking shots at Crowley and Hong.

“I want you to know that the establishment is trying to rig this election. They want you to choose between their preferred candidate and also Republican billionaires are lining up to the tune of three and a half million dollars to choose a democratic nominee in this race,” Barnes said, referring to the money the Republican party has invested in ads widely seen as aimed at boosting Hong. “I’m here to say, that’s BS. I’ve been a progressive fighter who’s taken on the tough fights.”

Brennan suggested he is the only one who could win the general election, Roys and Crowley each emphasized their experience and Hong said she was already beating Tiffany by garnering statewide support and would be a fighter for working class voters.

The five Democratic candidates for governor of Wisconsin will face off in the only televised debate ahead of the Aug. 11 primary Tuesday evening at 7 p.m.

The candidates are former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, Joel Brennan, former state Department of Administration chief, Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, state Rep. Francesca Hong and state Sen. Kelda Roys.

The meeting of the candidates comes on the first day of in-person early voting with two weeks to go before Election Day. Candidates are still seeking ways to gain an advantage in the race as over 40% of Wisconsin likely voters have not made up their minds about which candidate to support. Recent polls show Hong leading the race. 

The winner of the primary will likely face U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, the presumptive Republican nominee in November. 

The debate, which will run until 8 p.m., will be hosted by WISN 12 on the Marquette University campus and moderated by Gerron Jordan and Matt Smith, WISN 12 journalists and hosts of “Upfront.” There will not be an in-person audience. 

According to WISN, the debate will air on WISN 12 along with local ABC affiliates across the state including WBAY in Green Bay, WKOW 27.2 in Madison, WXOW 19.2 in La Crosse, WQOW 18.2 in Eau Claire and WAOW 9.2 in Wausau. It will also be livestreamed on the WISN-12 app as well as the station’s Facebook page and YouTube page. 

Reading Time: 13 minutes

The Democratic primary for governor of Wisconsin has changed both dramatically and barely at all since the start of this year.

The size of the field, which remained stagnant at seven major candidates for months, shifted rapidly in the span of 10 days in July that included both the exit of Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez from the race after she revealed problems with her campaign finance reports and the reentry of Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, who secured a historically rare endorsement from Gov. Tony Evers. 

As of Sunday, the race includes former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, former Department of Administration Secretary Joel Brennan, Crowley, Madison state Rep. Francesca Hong and Madison state Sen. Kelda Roys. 

Here is what hasn’t changed: Hong, a self-described democratic socialist, led her opponents in the third consecutive Marquette University Law School poll released last week, which was conducted prior to Rodriguez’s exit from the race. Internal polling released by Barnes and Crowley’s campaigns also showed Hong in front. 

A fractured field means support continues to be spread out across the remaining five candidates and could result in a winner on primary Election Day with far less than 50% of the vote. Meanwhile, Republicans have coalesced around likely nominee U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany for months.

“Hong could certainly win the nomination with 35 to 40% of the vote,” said Anthony Chergosky, an associate professor of political science at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. “All available evidence indicates that Hong is below 50% of the vote, but she doesn’t even need 50% of the vote if the field remains so fragmented and divided.” 

At the same time, the percentage of undecided voters continues to be higher than those who have selected any specific candidate. The Marquette poll found nearly half of registered voters surveyed in mid-July were undecided. 

Wisconsin Watch traveled to forums, farm tours and meet-and-greets around the state as the five remaining candidates have continued to lay out their vision to voters and explain why they are best suited to lead Wisconsin. 

The stakes of the race are high. Democrats see 2026 as an opportunity to win control of the Capitol for the first time since 2010, which could result in dramatic new progressive legislation. After Republicans won the governor’s office and majorities in the Senate and the Assembly in 2010, they used that power to dismantle public sector unions, increase pension and health insurance contributions for public employees, cut taxes, freeze UW tuition, restrict abortion, permit concealed carry of firearms, end the state’s land conservation program and enact gerrymandered legislative maps that protected their majority from a Democratic wave in 2018. 

It leaves a lot for voters to digest as in-person early voting begins Tuesday and two weeks remain before the partisan primary on Aug. 11. Two key moments this week could reshape the race — a debate hosted by WISN on Tuesday evening and a new Marquette Law School Poll of the current field expected to be released on Wednesday. 

Barnes takes aim at political establishment

The same day the Wisconsin Elections Commission determined tech businessman Elon Musk likely broke state election laws during the 2025 state Supreme Court race, former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes slammed the influence of money in politics at a town hall with End Citizens United, a political group that quickly endorsed him upon his entry in the governor’s race in December.  

Wisconsinites rejected Musk’s financial influence last year and must continue to fight against a “rigged system” that doesn’t support policies for working people, like raising the minimum wage, Barnes told the small group gathered at the Goodman Community Center in Madison. 

“These are the same industries that are making money hand over fist, the same people in industries that continue to make it hard for folks to get paid,” Barnes said. “You talk about people working harder and harder but life also getting harder and harder. It’s more difficult to get into the middle class. It’s more difficult to be able to purchase that first home. It’s more difficult to be able to even think about the American Dream now.” 

Barnes grew up in Milwaukee with a mother as a public school teacher and a father who belonged to the United Auto Workers union. He is a former organizer who served two terms in the state Assembly, ran for and lost a state Senate seat and was elected lieutenant governor during the 2018 blue wave. He has led a voter turnout organization and a clean energy advocacy group, but hasn’t run any large organizations, which opponents have highlighted as a weakness for someone seeking to be the state’s chief executive.

In 2022 he won the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate after opponents dropped out ahead of the primary, but narrowly lost to Republican U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson. While the race has driven his name recognition in the gubernatorial primary, that 26,000-vote defeat still eats at him, he told guests at the Wisconsin Democratic Convention in June. 

The loss has opened him to criticism from other Democrats who have questioned whether he can win in a year when the party is striving for a trifecta in the governor’s office and the Legislature. 

While he trails in the polls behind Hong, Barnes insists he remains the most battle-tested candidate to take on obstacles for Democrats after the primary. The recent Marquette poll shows only Barnes leading in head-to-head matchups against Tiffany among the remaining candidates in the race, although last week’s poll did not include Crowley.

Barnes has campaigned on what he calls “The Wisconsin Way,” a policy agenda that includes raising taxes on the rich, expanding BadgerCare, passing universal child care and freezing utility rates, though some experts question whether Barnes would have the legal authority to freeze rates as governor. 

At a Democratic forum in Belmont, Barnes criticized the political moves that led Crowley to reenter the governor’s race with Evers’ endorsement. It’s another example of a system that leaves people frustrated with politics, he said in a clip shared on social media. 

“The only people who win when we continue to play these insider politics games are corporations and special interests,” he said. “We deserve so much more.” 

Brennan brings state government experience

Joel Brennan arrived at an East Troy farm ready to listen. 

Brennan nodded as Jim Stute, a research agronomist, explained how precipitation levels have changed on the property he has lived on for nearly three decades. Brennan leaned against a headless scarecrow in a white lab suit among the neat rows of research crops as Stute described his tactics to scare away sandhill cranes.

It’s a window into how Brennan, a longtime city dweller who grew up in Brookfield and lives in Milwaukee, has approached his campaign for governor. 

“It’s got to be about learning and listening. If we’re going to get stuff done, it has to be around … data-driven decisions and personal stories,” Brennan explained. “For me it is about how do I get out here and do this, how do I learn from people who have been doing it, what are the successes, what are the ways the state’s been involved, and what’s the opportunity for us?” 

Brennan is unabashedly running as a moderate Democrat, often aligning himself with the Evers administration that he helped lead as the secretary of the Department of Administration. He highlights his willingness to continue working across the aisle to get things done for Wisconsinites.

Like many of Brennan’s primary opponents, his campaign has focused on ways to make life more affordable in Wisconsin, such as expanding Medicaid and providing a public option for BadgerCare. But his ideas have often differed from some of the large-scale policies of his primary opponents. While the other Democrats have backed universal child care, Brennan has instead favored tax credits for child care businesses, caps on out-of-pocket costs for families and expanding eligibility for the existing Wisconsin Shares program. 

He entered the race in mid-December and has leaned on his career experience holding executive-level roles in businesses and nonprofits, including serving as CEO of Discovery World and president of the Greater Milwaukee Committee. In 2018, Evers tapped Brennan to lead the DOA, the top state executive agency tasked with overseeing financial management of state agencies and helping the governor draft the biennial budget. Brennan left that position in 2022. 

Brennan is the only one of the remaining candidates who has not held elected office before, which has limited his name recognition. Though he was the first Democratic candidate to launch a campaign ad in June, he only mustered 5% support in last week’s Marquette poll. 

Still, he has tried to find ways to push through the crowd, including questioning the electability of front-runners or his primary opponents’ leadership decisions. He was the first to attack Rodriguez with pointed questions after she fired her campaign manager over inaccuracies in her financial reports and released an ad last week criticizing Hong, Barnes and Crowley as unelectable in a general election. The ad, however, received pushback from Black Democrats, who called the spot racist for specifically highlighting candidates of color. It left out mention of Roys, who is white like Brennan. 

Brennan insists his executive experience gives him an edge over the candidates with legislative experience who “don’t have defined duties.” 

“That’s what I’m going to keep leaning into,” Brennan said. “That, plus listening and learning, I think, gets you to a point where people can see me doing the job, know that I could win and could be effective as governor. Those are the ingredients that get me to where I need to get to.” 

Crowley returns with Evers’ endorsement

The first question for Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley from a smattering of people gathered at the Concordia Ballroom in La Crosse was about why he dropped out of the governor’s race in early July. 

“It’s a long story,” Crowley said. He explained he initially chose to leave the race based on the numbers and campaign ad buy announcements that seemed to show Rodriguez with the best path forward, but more information came out about Rodriguez’s financial position that showed it was not the case. 

Crowley restarted his campaign on July 18. While Crowley acknowledged he may be the “double Dutch candidate” in the race, he told the group in La Crosse he feels a momentum propelling his campaign that was not there before. 

The most significant boost came from Evers, who endorsed Crowley on July 18 over the remaining candidates who served in his administration. Evers in a statement described Crowley as “the right candidate for the people of Wisconsin.” 

“He’s not just a candidate who can win in November,” Evers said. “But he’s the kind of person who cares about doing the job right, he has the experience to make tough decisions, and he’s proven he can work together with others to get good things done.” 

Crowley, at 40, is both the youngest and first Black person to serve as Milwaukee County executive, the job that oversees the most populous county in Wisconsin. It’s a role previously held by former Republican Gov. Scott Walker. “I’m not like him, though,” Crowley said with a chuckle to a guest in La Crosse.

Crowley grew up in Milwaukee and navigated challenging early years as his parents struggled with mental health and addiction and his family faced evictions. He credits public schools with his path to success and eventually became a community organizer. 

His entry into politics first began with work on former U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold’s campaign. Crowley was first elected to office in 2016 when he ran for state Assembly. He served two terms and left the Legislature in 2020 to run for Milwaukee County executive. 

Crowley tells audiences at campaign events how, as county executive, he has not shied away from working with anyone, including lawmakers across the aisle, to improve the lives of people in Milwaukee County. In La Crosse, he told the group about his efforts in passing the 2023 shared revenue law that has helped Milwaukee County pay off debts incurred from the pension scandal in the early 2000s, although Crowley acknowledged the law did not solve all municipal funding problems across the state.

Crowley has focused his campaign on an affordability plan referred to as the “Badger Basics,” which includes proposals such as building more housing, creating a public option for BadgerCare and easing child care costs for families with a child under age 5 by capping their costs at 7% of their household income. 

The key question for Crowley’s campaign is whether any momentum following his reentry into the race can actually push Crowley to the front of the field with just two weeks left to go. 

The new Marquette poll this week will provide a window into if his support has grown among registered voters, but in recent days, Crowley has also had to field questions about profane social media posts on an account he said he once shared with others. Crowley’s campaign told news outlets that although he had access to the account, he did not write any of the posts. 

Crowley said Evers’ endorsement shows the governor, whose job performance remains favorable among Wisconsin voters, believes in Crowley’s judgment.

“I think indirectly, people are wondering, ‘OK, who the hell is this dude, and why did Governor Evers pick him?’” Crowley said. “So, people are showing up. They’re paying attention to our social media posts, and they’re coming out to volunteer and donating their hard-earned money to support this campaign because they trust his judgment.” 

Hong rides momentum into final weeks of primary campaign 

Francesca Hong diced tomatoes for pico de gallo as she told guests at Dan Wegmueller’s farm in Monroe about the top question she hears on the campaign trail. 

Why is she a democratic socialist? 

“It’s less about the labels and more about the solutions,” Hong explained as her knife hit the cutting board, a familiar task for the chef and former restaurant owner. “When we are focusing on local, on the means of taking care of people and lowering costs, that has to mean being less reliant on industry. Right now, our community is being dominated by billionaires and mega corporations not paying their fair share, and then deciding a lot of the pricing and the way that we live our lives.”

Hong, a 37-year-old state representative from deep-blue Madison, has emerged as a top contender in Wisconsin’s Democratic gubernatorial primary. Her surprising rise comes as democratic socialists are winning primaries across the country and rejecting establishment policies. Hong has led in three Marquette polls since October and finished second behind Rodriguez in the WisPolitics straw poll at the Wisconsin Democratic Convention in June. 

If Hong wins the nomination, the key question for Democrats in swing-state Wisconsin is whether her policies appeal to voters across the state. The Marquette poll last week showed more registered voters have an unfavorable view of the democratic socialist label than a favorable one.

Republicans appear to be rooting for her nomination. A recent ad from the Republican Governors Association ominously casts her as being too liberal, opposed to President Donald Trump and supportive of abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement — all statements that could entice Democrats to vote for her in the primary.

Hong has had to answer questions about controversial democratic socialist views, such as her past social media posts in support of defunding and abolishing the police. She told radio station WTMJ in July that she does not believe police funding should go away. At the same time, Hong has faced backlash from Republicans for her statement that described the fatal shooting of Corey Ruiz in Madison as “an execution.” 

Hong also has had to fend off questions about appearing on a fundraising live stream with Hasan Piker, the controversial political commentator and streamer, who has been criticized for antisemitic comments. Hong told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that she disagrees with some of Piker’s comments, but said candidates should not give up opportunities to address large audiences. 

Hong, a single mother who was elected to the Assembly in 2020, has leaned on her service industry background and economic policy proposals, including universal child care and a moratorium on data center construction, to connect with voters.

In the final weeks, Hong said she plans to continue to show up in communities not expecting to see a candidate and engage in one-to-one conversations to drive curiosity about her vision and policies. People underestimate the extent that policy matters more than labels and existing political boundaries, Hong said. 

“I’m lucky that I get to say and show up as a chef, a mom, a renter, a service industry worker,” Hong said. “That from worker to worker we’ve got to talk about how we’ve got to fix this.”  

Roys has teachers union endorsement, campaign experience

Kelda Roys, sitting center stage in Evansville High School’s auditorium, eagerly chose a bucket brimming with education questions as the first category of the night during a forum on rural issues in early July. Just three candidates — Roys, Hong and Republican Andy Manske — participated. 

It was an obvious move for the Madison state senator, who won the endorsement of Wisconsin’s largest teachers union and bills herself as the “education candidate” in this year’s Democratic primary. 

Roys used the question — explain your position on separation of church and state regarding public schools in Wisconsin — to share her broader vision for public education in the state. 

“What my kids are getting in our public schools is not the same as what my sisters and I got, and it’s not OK with me,” Roys told the crowd. “A huge part of that reason is because we are diverting public resources into private unaccountable vouchers, many of them religious in nature. So, as governor, I will fully fund our public schools.” 

Gubernatorial forums are familiar spaces for Roys. She ran for governor in 2018, when 10 candidates competed in the Democratic primary for the chance to unseat then-Republican Gov. Scott Walker. Roys finished third far behind Evers, who defeated Walker that November. 

Before that, she served two terms in the Assembly from 2009 through 2013, which overlapped with the early years of the Republican trifecta control of state government and the passage of Act 10. Roys led protests against the law that dismantled collective bargaining rights for most public employees while serving as the Assembly’s Democratic caucus chair. 

In 2012, she ran for Congress and lost the Democratic primary to now-U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan. Roys returned to the Legislature when she was elected to the state Senate in 2020 after winning a seven-candidate Democratic primary on Madison’s west side and ran unopposed in 2024. She is also an attorney and a real estate agent. 

Roys has focused her campaign on funding public schools, but also lowering costs and raising wages. Her policies include plans to open the state’s insurance plan to all Wisconsinites to decrease the cost of health insurance. She also proposes universal access to Wisconsin Shares, the state’s child care subsidy program for low-income families, with costs capped at 7% of parents’ income per child. The state would fund its portion of the costs through legalizing marijuana. “You’re going to be able to get baked for babies,” she said to laughs in Evansville. 

She is quick at campaign events to describe the Trump administration as a “dangerous authoritarian regime,” while promising to safeguard Wisconsinites and their rights from attacks by the federal government.

Roys, though, has not made inroads in polling over the course of the primary, and last week’s Marquette poll shows her at the bottom of the pack among registered voters with support at just 2%. 

Still, Wisconsin needs an experienced leader in this moment when Democratic control is on the line, and her experience in the Legislature makes her best suited for the job, she said. 

“For over 20 years I have been turning progressive ideas into law in the toughest of political environments, and that is the kind of experience and deliverables that we should expect from our next governor,” Roys said. “Not just somebody with good ideas, because we’ve got six (now five) great Democrats running … but you’ve got to be able to turn them into law.”

Editor’s note: This story corrects that Joel Brennan was president of the Greater Milwaukee Committee.

Wisconsin’s Democratic primary for governor has changed a lot since January — and not much at all is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.

State Rep. Francesca Hong (D-Madison) is leading the four other Democrats in the primary campaign for governor in a new Marquette Law School poll, a sign of her continued momentum, while more than 40% of primary voters remain undecided.

The poll was conducted July 8 through 16 — around the same time that the Democratic primary field changed dramatically — failing to capture Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez’s exit from the race and the reentry of Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley with the endorsement of Gov. Tony Evers.

Charles Franklin, the poll’s director, said upon it’s release that there is  “plenty of room for change” in the race.

Hong led her primary opponents, excluding Crowley, with 26% support among Democratic primary voters, with 45% undecided. The poll included Rodiguez, who dropped out after it was completed, but not Crowley, who had not reentered the race.

Hong has led the Democratic field in each Marquette Law School poll released this campaign cycle so far. 

“Consistency counts for something,” Franklin said. “And we see that consistency over this entire time.” 

Former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes had 15%, Rodriguez had 11%, Joel Brennan garnered 2% and 1% supported state Sen. Kelda Roys.

Some Democrats are skeptical of how Hong, a democratic socialist, will perform in November against presumptive GOP nominee U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany.

The new Marquette poll also showed that Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes was the only candidate who polled ahead of Republican candidate Tom Tiffany. Barnes had 44%, while Tiffany had 40%. 

Hong in a matchup against Tiffany polled at 40% to Tiffany’s 43%.

The Hong campaign pointed out  that among likely voters the poll showed Hong and Tiffany tied at 44%.

“This poll puts to rest the claim that our campaign cannot compete statewide,” Hong said. “We are building the multiracial, multigenerational and working-class coalition it will take to defeat Tom Tiffany and deliver universal childcare, fairer and cheaper health care, fully funded public schools and permanent affordability for Wisconsin families.”

Franklin said the takeaway from the poll is that the race is close. Another poll will be released next Wednesday, the day after the candidates are scheduled to debate.

Barnes and Crowley both released internal polls seeking to highlight their advantages, though each poll also showed Hong leading. 

The internal poll from the Crowley campaign showed Hong with 35% of the vote, Barnes with 15% of the vote and Crowley at 14%. His campaign highlighted that after people were provided with information about the candidates he jumped to 22% of support — 11 percentage points behind Hong. 

The internal poll from the Barnes campaign showed Hong at 39%, Barnes at 26% and Crowley at 11%. 

A poll conducted by the Roys campaign found that Hong polled at 29% followed by Barnes at 21%, Crowley at 11% and Roys at 7%. According to the poll when voters were provided with information about Roys, their support shifted to 25% Hong, 21% Roys and 16% Barnes.

“We are proud of our momentum, but as they say: Polls do not decide elections – people do,” Hong said. “Over the next 20 days, we will keep traveling, organizing and working to earn every vote in every corner of Wisconsin.”

Hong’s opponents target her in new TV ads

Hong’s Democratic primary opponents have begun to target her in campaign ads. 

Crowley does not mention Hong by name in his first ad released since getting back into the race, but highlights a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel article about Republican groups investing more than $2 million in ads that seeming aimed at boosting Hong’s campaign.

“The Republicans have made their choice,” Crowley says in the ad, “spending millions of dollars on candidates they know they can beat. It’s time for Democrats to make our choice.” He also highlighted Evers’ endorsement.

The Barnes campaign also focused on the Hong ads purchased by the Republican Governors’ Association.

“There’s nothing more important than beating Trump’s handpicked candidate Tom Tiffany, and polls show I’m the only candidate in this race who can,” Barnes said in a statement. “That’s exactly why we are seeing the Republicans meddle in our primary with over $3 million to boost my opponent who Tom Tiffany beats in every poll.” 

Joel Brennan, the former head of the Department of Administration, who has consistently polled behind his opponents in the primary, released an ad Tuesday that flashed photos of  the three frontrunners, all of whom are people of color. 

“She’s a proud socialist,” Brennan says as Hong’s photo is displayed on screen. “He lost statewide before,” he says over an image of Barnes. “A couple weeks ago, he dropped out,” he says over an image of Crowley.

The ad does not mention Roys, who, like Brennan, is white. 

“They’ll all lose to Republicans in November,” Brennan says in the ad, before talking about himself. 

His campaign has received pushback for targeting the candidates of color in the race. 

According to the Milwaukee Courier, the Democratic Party of Wisconsin Black Caucus Executive Board responded to the ad by saying it is “extremely disappointing that Joel Brennan released an ad saying none of the candidates of color running for governor could win in November following previous comments in May on this issue.”

Brennan’s campaign said in a statement that the ad was meant to highlight that there are other candidates running apart from the three promoted by “Madison insiders”.

“Each candidate has to make their own case, and the ad points to the facts about others running, why Joel is the strongest candidate to beat Tom Tiffany and what he’ll do for Wisconsin as governor,” the Brennan campaign said in a statement. 

Hong released her own ad this week that goes after Tiffany, not her Democratic opponents. She called him an “anti-abortion,” an “election denier” and an “Epstein pedophile protector” and said he “sides with the powerful, not the people.”

Three Democratic candidates for governor told a citizens’ group that communities most affected by state policy decisions should have a greater role in shaping them during a Monday night forum in Madison focused on affordability.

The forum was hosted by Kaleidoscope Wisconsin, a coalition of organizations that are “rooted” in marginalized communities in the state, at the Center for Black Excellence in Madison. Angela Russell, founder of the Undercurrent, a consulting and advisory practice for organizations that care about social impact, moderated the event. It took place with just three weeks to go before  the primary election and following a massive shakeup in the race last week, when Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez dropped out because of a financial scandal and Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, who had previously dropped out, got back into the race with the endorsement of Gov. Tony Evers.

State Rep. Francesca Hong, state Sen. Kelda Roys and former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes participated. Crowley and Joel Brennan, former head of the Department of Administration, did not attend.

Throughout the evening, the candidates stated that Wisconsin’s affordability challenges stem from systemic failures in housing, healthcare, education and taxation, and agreed on the need for more progressive taxation and greater investment in public services.

Roys said she wants to end the state’s private school voucher program, restore collective bargaining rights for public employees and open the state employee health insurance plan to more residents. She criticized state subsidies for data center developers. 

Barnes talked about reforming the manufacturing and agriculture tax credit, expanding BadgerCare through a public option and increasing taxes on wealthy individuals and corporations.

Hong highlighted her plans to tax millionaires and billionaires, expand Medicaid, increase shared revenue for local governments, raise the minimum wage and establish guaranteed paid leave.

While candidates articulated their policy ideas, they also repeatedly turned to a broader question: Who has influence over state government and whose voices are included in decision-making?

Hong said people in local communities know what they need and don’t need to be told what they need. She said politicians should be public servants who ensure people have access to programs, adding that she doesn’t see food, housing, education and healthcare as benefits but instead sees them as rights and “things that are needed in order to build economic security and freedom.”

Hong said an effective governor must listen to communities and that “the people” should be the ones government answers to, rather than “lobbyists” or those with the most access to the governor’s office.

“We need not only a new type of politics, but somebody right now who isn’t answering to industry and who isn’t being pressured by the status quo,” Hong said. 

Barnes said he still sees himself as the community organizer he once was, adding that elected officials need to remain connected to the communities they represent and that it can be easy for politicians to “get into office and lose touch.”

“It’s impossible to lose touch if you’re still going home to the same place every night,” Barnes said, adding that he learned as lieutenant governor how important it was for him to “bring people who are  representative of communities that have been left behind” as well as “people who challenge me” into his circle.

Roys said the solutions to the problem facing Wisconsin are not unknown, but that the “political will” to make change has not been there. She said that Republicans have broken the “positive feedback loop” that should exist between people and lawmakers. She described a cycle in which voters give power to policymakers, who then are expected to deliver results and return to communities to understand what more needs to be done.

“It is up to us to demand change,” Roys said, adding that people should hold her accountable as well.

The candidates were asked what they have learned from each other. 

Hong said she was inspired by remarks Barnes made over the weekend about the dramatic twists and turns in the governor’s race. She recalled a speech he gave in which he commented on Evers’ decision to endorse Crowley, and his reversal of his decision to drop out of the race, saying it showed why “so many people are frustrated and want nothing to do with the Democratic establishment.” Some supporters of Barnes and Hong have complained that Crowley  is being elevated by “establishment” Democrats to stop more progressive Democrats from getting through the primary.

“There’s been a lot of news in the governor’s race,” Hong said. “It’s been a little bit chaotic…I think Mandela gave his strongest remarks at a forum that I’d heard in a while.”

Hong called it “very empowering.”

“He was speaking to a community that I think still feels very much like the elections are just being decided for them,” Hong said. “And to use the time that you’re supposed to talk about yourself, to share remarks with the community… this election belongs to the voters. It should always be about the voters.”

Hong also said she has learned how to explain policy in clearer ways from Roys.

Roys said she has learned how to be more active and authentic on social media from Hong, and agreed with Hong about Barnes’ comments over the weekend, saying he “really distilled out what this is about.”

Barnes, who noted that the candidates have known each other for a long time, said Hong has brought “newness” to the forefront.

“If you want to build a real democracy, it is about not just working with the basic folks that you’ve known forever, of course, that’s the foundation of the work, but we’re in the business of addition,” Barnes said. “For so long, people hadn’t wanted to be a part of our politics… Over the last week, the people are fired up. People are ready for change, and I think it would be unwise for some people to seek to dismiss that.”

Barnes said he appreciated that Roys has sharp “elbows” and is willing to be critical and fight, including with members of her own party. He noted the primary has been very long, but said that it is good for democracy.

“These long primaries suck,” Barnes said, but he added, “it is good for people to be able to push each other, to challenge each other, to be able to generate ideas from one another, to have a moment to see what works, what doesn’t work, and ultimately to give people a choice. The more that choice is taken away the more we do to undo all the good work that has happened.”

All three Democratic candidates, along with Brennan and Crowley, are competing for a spot on the November ballot to take on U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, the presumptive Republican nominee. In-person absentee voting starts on July 28. The primary is Aug. 11.

Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley announced he was reentering the Democratic primary for governor Saturday, reversing his recent decision to drop out of the race. “Wisconsin, we cannot afford four years of Tom Tiffany,” Crowley told dozens of excited supporters gathered to hear his announcement Saturday morning in downtown Milwaukee.

Crowley suspended his campaign just 10 days ago and endorsed Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez. But a crippling campaign finance mismanagement scandal forced Rodriguez to drop out of the race Friday. This left a four-person Democratic field consisting of Rep. Francesca Hong (D-Madison), Rep. Kelda Roys (D-Madison), former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, and former secretary of the state Department of Administration Joel Brennan. Barnes has raised the most money among the Democratic contenders, while  Hong and Roys have the most cash on hand. 

Crowley started his campaign with the most money raised, but reports filed this week showed he had not kept up with his opponents still in the race. He started the year with $602,181 in the bank, raised $250,047 over six months and spent $537,050. He ended the last reporting period with $315,178 in cash on hand. 

Crowley had endorsed Rodriguez after suspending his own campaign last Wednesday — the same day Rodriguez said she learned about the financial troubles that ultimately sank her campaign. “I believed that I was supporting the strongest candidate at the moment,” he told the Examiner Saturday.

The crowd that came out to hear Crowley jump back in the race included a who’s who in Milwaukee politics and organizing. Among those in attendance were activist Vaun Mayes, former state legislator David Bowen who is now executive director of Wisconsin Voices, a statewide coalition of progressive advocacy groups, state Sen. Melissa Ratcliff and Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson as well as the mayors of Sheboygan, Waukesha and Wauwatosa, members of the Milwaukee County Board and Common Council and union leaders.

Crowley was also joined by his wife Ericka, introduced by the mayor  as “the next first lady.” She told the crowd that she wasn’t thrilled when “people were encouraging him to get back into this race.” The couple had closed that chapter, she said, and they were beginning to focus on spending more time with their family. “But the phone calls didn’t stop,” Ericka Crowley said. “Friends called, community leaders called, people from every corner of Wisconsin called, and they were like, ‘David, please reconsider,’ and still, the answer was no!” 

Ericka said the family relied on their Christian faith and prayed for a sign. She saw a cardinal, she said, a significant religious symbol to them. Then Rodriguez,  dropped out. “And in that moment, everything that we prayed about just felt different,” she said . “It was like the atmosphere shifted.” Crowley told reporters that both dropping out of the race and then reentering it were “very hard” decisions to make.

Evers’ endorsement and the ‘Democratic establishment’ 

Crowley returns to the primary race with departing Democratic Governor Tony Evers’ endorsement, a benefit none of the other candidates, including Rodriguez, Evers’ lieutenant governor, received. 

“I have indicated I did not plan to endorse anyone in the race for governor because I know each of the candidates and I wanted them to have the opportunity to make their case to Wisconsinistes first, just like I did,” Evers said in his statement endorsing Crowley Saturday. “I also believe that, in a race this close, Wisconsinites deserve to have the perspective of someone who’s done the job, who understands what it takes, and who’s had the benefit of spending years quietly watching how others in politics conduct themselves and treat people when they thought no one was paying attention.”

“David is not only the best candidate to beat Tom Tiffany,” Evers continued, “he’s the right candidate for the people of Wisconsin. He’s created thousands of new jobs, cut the county’s local carbon emissions in half, and passed a balanced budget, all while delivering the largest property tax cut in the county’s history, and I know he’ll continue to deliver results statewide.”

“It’s just an honor to receive his endorsement,” Crowley told the Examiner. He recounted Evers’ victory over former Republican Gov. Scott Walker, his leadership  guiding Wisconsin through the COVID-19 pandemic, and his tenure as “the best damn goalie that Democrats could have from stopping the Republican-controlled Legislature from having its way.” 

In addition to Evers’ endorsement, he said, he has received  “a groundswell of support from volunteers, from other elected leaders, as well as labor unions.” 

Responding to criticism that his re-entry into the race represents an effort by the Democratic party establishment to push forward someone to defeat Democratic Socialist candidate Francesca Hong, who had repeatedly finished at the top of public polls, Crowley said, “This isn’t about any of the other primary candidates.” Rather, he said, “this is about making sure that we have the best candidate that can defeat Tom Tiffany and his extreme MAGA agenda,” a goal he said he shares with all of the other Democratic candidates. 

Yet when he addressed the crowd of supporters in Milwaukee Saturday, Crowley took more direct aim at his opponents. He pointed to the Republican Governors Association’s recent $2 million ad blitz featuring Hong. The ads portray Hong, a self-described Democratic Socialist, as “too liberal for Wisconsin” and denounce her for wanting to return the state to its “progressive roots.” Barnes has called the ads “counterintuitive,” saying they appear to feature political attacks but are actually designed to increase Hong’s popularity among Democratic voters instead of hurting her chances. Many Democrats have concluded that the ads are designed to boost Hong, the Republicans’ preferred target in November, and that the Republicans are holding back stronger criticism they plan to deploy against her in the general election. 

Crowley seemed to endorse that theory at his campaign relaunch event, saying that the ads are meant “not to attack the Democratic party, but to boost one up.” He told  the crowd that Republicans are “deciding the Democratic nominee that they want to beat in November. They’re making an investment right now, and this should all be a five-alarm warning sign to all of us. We cannot allow the GOP to choose the Democratic nominee for governor of the great state of Wisconsin. Period.” 

Crowley told the Examiner  that people should be alarmed that Republican money is being used in a Democratic primary. “At the end of the day, there’s clearly an agenda there if they’re spending money in our primary,” he said. 

Democratic candidates respond

The Barnes campaign immediately blasted   Crowley’s reentry into the race in statements issued Friday and Saturday, claiming that Crowley’s campaign has ties to big corporations, that he’s trying to emerge as the “leading establishment Democrat” despite under-performing in multiple polls, and highlighting a county health insurance scandal earlier this year. 

A March Marquette Law School poll showed support for Crowley among voters at 3%, compared with 14% for Hong, 11% for Barnes and 3% for Rodriguez, with most respondents still undecided. 

Crowley discounted claims that he’s being hand-picked by the Democratic establishment, saying that “a 40-year-old Black man” isn’t what people think about when thinking about the “Democratic establishment.” He told the Examiner, “I know where my roots come from,” including  growing up in the impoverished 53206 zip code, “being the son of loving parents who struggled with mental health and drug addiction, who did everything that they could to make sure that their children were successful.” He added, “I look at my story as Wisconsin’s story.” He called the attacks by the  Barnes campaign “unfortunate,”  particularly because they are, by extension, also attacks on “a governor that he actually served alongside with during his first term.”

Hong took a less combative tone, welcoming  Crowley back into the race. “I look forward to the perspective he’ll bring as we each make our case to Wisconsinites over the next three weeks,” Hong said. “Competition is good for democracy, and voters deserve a substantive debate about the future of our state. Our campaign will remain focused on building the working-class coalition it will take to defeat Tom Tiffany and deliver permanent affordability for Wisconsin families.”

Brennan’s campaign released a statement saying, “Joel Brennan is in this race to win it. Wisconsin needs a candidate who can beat Tom Tiffany in November and get to work for Wisconsin families from day one. That was true yesterday, and it’s still true today — no matter who else is in or out.”

A spokesperson for the Roys campaign said, “We need to move forward and unite behind the strongest candidate to beat Tom Tiffany and deliver a Democratic legislature, which is Kelda Roys. We have been on TV statewide for over a month and still have more cash on hand than most of the field, the most endorsements by far, and the most momentum. We are laser-focused on winning August 11 and delivering a trifecta on November 3.”

The Republican Governor’s Association issued a statement mocking both the demise of the Rodriguez campaign and  Crowley’s decision to reenter the race: “Watching Wisconsin Democrats is like watching a clown car crash into a parked semi-truck,” RGA  communications director Kollin Crimpton said. “From financial scandals to re-launching failed campaigns, these Democrats shouldn’t be in charge of a lemonade stand let alone the state of Wisconsin…Tom Tiffany is fighting to lower property taxes, protect Wisconsin land, and require health care price transparency. The choice is clear for Wisconsinites: commonsense versus crazy.”

Beating Tiffany will require a focus on “policies that people care about,” Crowley told the Examiner Saturday, highlighting his campaign’s Badger Basics Plan to increase affordability, care and opportunity. “People care about making sure that we fully invest in our public schools,” he said, “that we increase the reimbursement rates for special education; that childcare and 4-K is affordable and accessible; that we expand Badger Care across every community across Wisconsin.” 

Repealing Act 10 and “enshrining workers’ rights directly into our Constitution” are also priorities, he said. “We have to speak directly to what people care about. And we can’t get caught up, you know, in the misinformation, in the disinformation, in the distractions quite frankly that Tom Tiffany, the Republican Party, as well as the Trump administration continue to throw our way.”

 Addressing voters across Wisconsin from the podium as he relaunched his campaign, Crowley declared, “Let’s ride, not just on Aug. 11 but in November.” He added,  “My goal is to get as many people to the table as possible,” so “if you see me out there, please don’t be afraid to come speak and spark up a conversation.”

UPDATE: This story has been updated to include further details on candidates’ finance reports, additional reaction from campaigns and the amended report from the campaign of Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez.

With 26 days until Wisconsin’s primary election, campaign finance reports filed Wednesday by U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany show he raised over $8 million, the bulk of which came from the Republican Party of Wisconsin after major gifts from rightwing donors. Democratic candidates in the primary for governor show former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes is raising and spending more money than his rivals.

The primary is scheduled for Aug. 11, and the recent reports cover the period of time from Jan. 1 through June 30. 

Tiffany, who is the presumptive Republican nominee for governor, reported raising $8.7 million during the latest period, bringing his total raised over the course of his campaign to more than $10 million. 

Tiffany ended the period with nearly $3 million cash-in-hand, having spent $7.4 million during the reporting period. 

Over $6.1 million of Tiffany’s contributions came from transfers from the Republican Party of Wisconsin.

The state party received more than $6 million in contributions from megadonors including $4 million from Richard and Elizabeth Uihlein, owners of Uline shipping supply company located in Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin, as well as $2.5 million from Diane Hendricks, ABC Supply CEO and a billionaire from Beloit. The contributions helped the party outraise the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, which reported raising $3.17 million, spending $2.87 million and having $1.59 million cash-on-hand. 

There are five Democratic candidates running for the spot on the November ballot, and candidates sought to use their campaign reports to highlight their strengths.

Barnes reported the highest amount raised of the period at $841,358. He also spent the most of any Democratic candidate at $1.1 million. He ended the period with $204,207 on hand, nearly the least of any candidate. Barnes’ campaign manager Darby O’Connor said the numbers show that the campaign has the “resources we need to communicate on air to Wisconsin voters, most of whom already know Mandela very well.”

State Rep. Francesca Hong, the Democratic Socialist from Madison who has been tapping into national progressive networks, including appearing on progressive streamer Hasan Piker’s California-based program, reported raising $708,883, spending $432,508 and ending the period with $410,563 on hand. 

According to the Hong campaign, the average size of a donation to her campaign was $45. The campaign’s only $20,000 contribution, the maximum limit for an individual donating to a candidate for governor, came from a Florida resident named Robert Clancy. 

“We are proving that a campaign powered by working people can compete with the millionaire and billionaire class,” Hong said. “Our message of permanent affordability and our vision for building a better Wisconsin are resonating with voters across the political spectrum.”

The campaign has received more than 22,700 contributions which have come from more than  13,000 unique donors, 9,455 of whom are from Wisconsin.

The campaign declared that the Democratic primary race has become a two-person contest between Hong and Barnes, noting that 41% of donors to Democratic candidates in the primary have given to Hong, while 39% gave to Barnes. 

In spite of her trip to California to fundraise ahead of the reporting deadline, Hong highlighted the number of Wisconsin residents who contributed to her campaign in a memo. According to Hong’s analysis, about 70% of the contributions to Barnes’ campaign came from donors out of state, whereas out-of-state contributions made up just 24% of her money.

In the most recent fundraising cycle, some of the notable donors who gave Barnes $20,000 contributions included Elizabeth Diane Simons, daughter of the late billionaire hedge fund manager and mathematician James Simons, and Lynda Resnick, co-owner of the Wonderful Company.

Joel Brennan, former head of the Department of Administration under Gov. Tony Evers, raised $665,627, spent $858,382 and reported having $359,583 cash-on-hand. Brennan, similar to Barnes, had money from the previous reporting period that allowed him to spend more money than he raised in this period. In a memo, his campaign argued that the reports showed him at least even with all the other candidates. 

“No candidate has a fundraising advantage in this primary race, and Joel has raised similar amounts of money and has similar cash on hand to his rivals,” the memo stated. 

State Sen. Kelda Roys reported raising $527,431 during the first half of the year, the least of any candidate. She spent $453,971 and ended the period with $406,492, an amount that leaves her with more cash on hand than most of her rivals. 

Roys argued that the primary is now a two-way race between Hong and herself, instead of between Hong and Barnes. 

Roys spokesperson Jalen Knuteson said in a statement that the “difference is that Kelda has been up on TV statewide for 4 weeks, and has just made a significant broadcast buy in Milwaukee, while Hong has yet to launch any paid media.” 

“Kelda is now well positioned to consolidate support across the state, as Democrats face the very real threat of a Tiffany governorship and a GOP legislature,” Knuteson said. 

While Hong hasn’t launched paid media, she has invested in an online media campaign as well as found earned media coverage from national outlets including the New York Times, Politico and NBC. 

Rodriguez’s reports show she has only $35,000 with $150,000 in debt

Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez, who is navigating the fallout from a financial disaster that led her to fire her former campaign manager, ended her reporting period with a little less than $35,000 in the bank. 

Her original report filed at midnight on July 15 listed her as having a $29,089 opening balance, only $34,991 cash on hand and $152,276 in debts. The campaign said in a statement Thursday morning that it was “actively working to ensure our financial records are accurate and complete.”

“The former staff member who was responsible for preparing our campaign finance information provided limited documentation before termination, and we are continuing to gather the full picture. We expect to amend our reports as additional information becomes available,” the campaign said in a statement. The Thursday statement also said that “since July 1, the Rodriguez campaign has raised $219,307.00, and since Monday morning, the Rodriguez campaign has raised $143,028.48.”

Rodriguez’s campaign did submit an amended report Thursday afternoon that dramatically increased the tally of her campaign dollars, showing that she started the reporting period with $603,075 in the bank and ended the period with $643,206. However, the campaign later told Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reporter Jessie Opoien that the report was a mistake, and the campaign did end the period with only $34,991 cash-on-hand after all.

Rodriguez also announced the launch of a new campaign ad Thursday highlighting her plans to hold drug and insurance companies accountable, reverse cuts to Medicaid and create a public option in Wisconsin. 

The Barnes campaign criticized Rodriguez for running the ad given her debts. Both her original and amended report listed a little over $152,000 in debts.

“Cool that you’re on TV. Have you paid your debts? You owe taxpayers thousands of dollars for security costs but are making TV buys?” Barnes’ campaign account said on X.

According to Rodriguez’s campaign finance report, about $9,430 of the $152,000 she owes is to the state of Wisconsin for mileage during the first quarter of the year. As lieutenant governor, Rodriguez must travel with the Dignitary Protection Unit, which is part of the state patrol, when she travels. When it is for campaign related expenses, she must reimburse the state.

After disclosing a  crisis in her campaign for governor this week, Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez remains committed to staying in the contest for the Democratic nomination, a spokesperson for her campaign said Wednesday.

The Rodriguez campaign has lined up a public relations and crisis communications firm, Pod3Strategies, whose CEO, Christina Freundlich, has been fielding calls from reporters this week and spoke briefly with the Wisconsin Examiner Wednesday.

Rodriguez met with residents of the Madison YWCA on Tuesday, outlining her campaign’s policy positions and answering questions. The campaign was working to file its next round of campaign finance reports by the Wednesday midnight deadline, Freundlich said.

Meanwhile, Citizen Action of Wisconsin announced its endorsement of state Rep. Francesca Hong Wednesday in the governor’s race. The grassroots advocacy organization cited Hong’s positions on data centers, healthcare and hospital costs, utility costs and a minimum wage increase.

“In our intensive grassroots endorsement process Citizen Action leaders concluded that Francesca Hong is the best candidate to meet the moment by restoring a vibrant popular democracy that acts in the interest of average Wisconsinites, not the corporate monopolies that dominate state government,” said Robert Kraig, the organization’s executive director.

Wednesday was also the deadline for campaign finance reports for state offices. Reports covering fundraising and spending from January through June were due by 12 midnight.

A massive shortfall in the Rodriguez campaign along with inaccuracies in the reports that the campaign filed in January rocked the Democratic primary contest this week days before the Wednesday deadline. Rodriguez fired her campaign manager, Kara Spencer, on Sunday and at a press conference Monday said she would continue her campaign while working to rectify the errors that had been committed.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported Wednesday that Spencer had a history of financial problems prior to being named to her campaign job.

Rodriguez said Monday that the campaign’s financial problems surfaced for her when a statewide ad did not start to run on TV a week ago Tuesday. The campaign had put out a press release announcing it was making a $1 million ad buy. 

A review of the campaign’s last finance report filed in January showed numerous duplicate transactions. Rodriguez said Monday that her report this week would show about $200,000 in cash on hand and that she has raised nearly $1 million over the course of the campaign.

On Wednesday, another rival of Rodriguez for the Democratic nomination, former Wisconsin Department of Administration Secretary Joel Brennan, held a news conference about his campaign finance report and flagged the document’s top line — $665,000 raised from Jan. 1 to June 30. Brennan said he’s raised $1.22 million since entering the race in December.  

Brennan spoke outside the office building in downtown Madison that houses the Wisconsin Ethics Commission, which collects the finance reports.

Brennan described his campaign’s infrastructure, with a fundraising team and with reports compiled with the assistance of a compliance firm, a lawyer, the campaign manager and the campaign treasurer.

“It goes through all of those layers before it gets submitted here to the state of Wisconsin. That’s what responsible management is like in a campaign,” Brennan said. “That’s what we do in government.”

In an account published Wednesday, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that an unnamed Rodriguez campaign official was asked whether the campaign treasurer had signed off on the January finance report or had raised questions about the $1 million ad buy.

According to the newspaper, the official said the treasurer “is a figurehead and volunteer role and was not involved in day to day finance operations.”

Brennan mentioned that description and, drawing a contrast, introduced his own campaign treasurer, Janet Piraino. He described her as a trusted individual whom he had known for decades. But he also emphasized that it was up to the campaign to establish “the infrastructure around [its financial reports] to ensure that what they are doing is going to be accurate, is going to be right, is going to reflect the will of the donors and the will of the people of Wisconsin.”

He said that the first money raised in his campaign was spent to establish that infrastructure and ensure the professionals responsible for fundraising and reporting were paid.

Asked directly whether Rodriguez should drop out of the race, Brennan demurred.

“That’s for Sara to decide. That’s for her and her family and the people around her,” he said.

But he argued the missteps in the Rodriguez campaign would be used against her in the general election if she is nominated as the Democratic candidate, and would interfere with campaign messaging around issues including healthcare costs, public education and other topics.

“If you can’t demonstrate competence when it comes to running your campaign, that shouldn’t give people a lot of confidence in your ability to manage the hugely complex areas around state government,” Brennan said.

Another candidate for the Democratic nomination, former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes declined Tuesday to say Rodriguez should quit the race.

Barnes spoke to reporters after a campaign event critiquing the role of money in politics. He was asked if the Rodriguez campaign’s financial errors were “disqualifying” and how voters should assess them in evaluating her candidacy.

“I think that is up to her campaign to figure out,” Barnes said. “It’s up to voters to decide if that campaign will ultimately be the strongest or not, if they’re able to communicate that or not. But that’s a decision that should be left up to them.”

Also running in the Democratic primary is state Sen. Kelda Roys, who held an event focused on healthcare in Milwaukee Wednesday.

Wisconsin Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez, one of the leading candidates in the Democratic primary for governor, fired her campaign manager over the weekend due to mismanagement of financial reports. She told reporters Monday that her campaign will continue, calling it a “bump in the road,” although the error means she has hundreds of thousands of dollars less than she thought.

On Sunday at 9:30 p.m., the Rodriguez campaign released a statement saying that the candidate had fired her campaign manager, Kara Spencer, “after discovering serious mismanagement and inaccuracies in campaign finance filings she prepared.”

Rodriguez said at the press conference at her campaign office in Madison that she became aware something was wrong when a statewide ad did not start to run on TV last Tuesday. The campaign had put out press release announcing it was making a $1 million ad buy. 

Rodriguez said she became concerned and started asking questions when the ad did not run. She said that on Wednesday she was notified by her media team of an unpaid invoice. 

“I was given excuses by my campaign manager that did not make sense. By Thursday afternoon, I saw that the total cash was far lower than I had expected,” she said, adding that she wouldn’t be able to give a specific number because her books were still being reconciled.

Rodriguez said she brought in a team of political communications, legal and compliance experts to analyze her reports. They found “double counting of contributions that inflated how much money we had raised” and “a significant failure to report certain expenses that had been paid.” 

According to Wisconsin’s campaign finance website, Rodriguez’s January report was submitted at 2:13 a.m. — after the Jan. 15 deadline. It was then amended at 3:23 a.m. and then again at 5:01 a.m.

Rodiguez’s final campaign finance report uploaded that evening included a number of duplicate payments. According to a review of the campaign finance reports by WisPolitics, there are  at least $275,000 in duplicate donations.

In January, Rodriguez reported raising $618,284.

Rodriguez said her campaign manager had worked with her for several years and in compliance for her whole career.

“As we are trying to make sure we have a lean campaign, it made sense for her to do the compliance report since that was her expertise, and that was one thing I had full trust in,” Rodriguez said, adding that Spencer had given her reports on a regular basis about the finances and everything looked fine until last week. 

“I cannot tell you what was in her mind about why she did what she did. I will tell you that when you work with somebody for as long as I have, it was an enormous shock that this happened,” Rodriguez said. “It took me a little while to believe that these reports were erroneous, but once I was able to look within the system to look within the bank accounts, to look at the reports that were filed, it was clear that these were egregiously in error, and that she needed to be let go.” 

Rodriguez said she had had a conversation with Spencer, but did not provide details on her reaction. She said Spencer’s termination notice was addressed by a lawyer.

“I am hurt, angry and deeply disappointed by someone I trusted to run my campaign,” Rodriguez said, adding it was a breach of her trust as well as her supporters’ trust. 

Rodriguez argued that her press conference and willingness to answer questions was a show of her commitment to accountability and transparency, which makes her a good candidate for governor.

In recent weeks, momentum appeared to be building behind Rodriguez’s campaign after she finished first in a straw poll conducted at the Democratic Party of Wisconsin Convention. Last week, Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley dropped out of the race and endorsed her, as did  former Wisconsin Economic Development CEO Missy Hughes, who dropped out and endorsed her in June.

“I think we still have that momentum. I think we’re still moving forward. This is a bump in the road for the campaign, but we are going to be as honest and transparent as we can be,” Rodriguez said at the press conference inside her Madison, Wisconsin, campaign headquarters Monday. “That is why I am standing here in front of all of you in front of all of these cameras in front of all of these microphones and telling you when I see something that is an error.” 

Rodriguez said the analysis of the report is still underway, but they are working to see whether there are any additional discrepancies. Her campaign has also contacted the Wisconsin Ethics Commission, which administers and enforces Wisconsin law pertaining to ethics and lobbying, to report the discrepancies and make a plan to correct the mistakes. 

The firing and revelation about her January report comes just ahead of the next campaign finance report deadline on July 15. 

Rodriguez said she will report having about $200,000 cash-on-hand and that she has raised nearly $1 million over the course of the campaign. She said she plans to continue her campaign and that her ad will go up on TV next week. During the press conference, Rodriguez surrounded herself with supporters holding signs and cheering.

“I know who gets hurt when people like me decide it’s not worth the fight. I intend to put my heart and soul into this race over the next month, and until November, every single day of it. There are people who get knocked down, and don’t get back up. I’m not one of them,” Rodriguez said. 

Democratic opponents critical

The rest of the Democratic primary candidates in the race were highly critical of Rodriguez Monday afternoon. Joel Brennan, a former head of the Wisconsin Department of Administration, was one of the first to speak out, saying in a statement ahead of the press conference that she needed to answer several questions to be transparent with Wisconsinites. 

“How is this not disqualifying?” Brennan asked.

Brennan told the Wisconsin Examiner in a phone interview Monday afternoon that the issue is one of competence and accountability and the “buck stops” with the candidate when it comes to campaign finance. 

“We are ultimately accountable for everything that’s got our name on it, and there is nothing more important in that than managing the resources we have because those resources come from voters in the state of Wisconsin, they come from family, they come from close friends, they come from networks, they come from allies and advocates and people who we need to represent,” Brennan said. “If you can’t manage several hundred thousand in a campaign account, how are you going to be able to demonstrate to people that they should trust a $110 billion budget for the state of Wisconsin?”

Brennan questioned why Rodriguez did not have the infrastructure to ensure there were checks in her finances. He said that he knows on a “day-to-day” basis how much money there is in his campaign.

Brennan said Rodriguez did not provide direct answers to key questions, but instead provided “some self congratulations for standing up in front of a bank of cameras” to address problems that were “created under her watch” and she was “expecting to be congratulated for doing that — like that somehow is courageous.”

Brennan stopped short of calling for Rodriguez to end her campaign, saying he doesn’t make that decision for anyone. However, he said Democrats should be spending time talking about issues that matter to people.

“If we are spending our time talking about missed deadlines when it comes to campaign, being unable to track down hundreds of thousands of dollars of campaign contributions, we will never get to the point where we can talk about Donald Trump, about Rep. Tom Tiffany, about the harm they’ve done to Wisconsin, and what we’re going to do for people to make their lives better in our state,” Brennan said. “The stakes are high when it comes to healthcare that people can’t afford. The stakes are high related to utility costs that are out of control and housing challenges that people face, whether they’re renters or homeowners, and where we are in public education.”

The firing is not the first controversy to disrupt Rodriguez’s campaign for governor. She also faced criticism from her opponents for saying she would negotiate the state’s budget “behind closed curtains” and recently for taking corporate PAC money from WE Energies after voting for a Republican-authored tax break for the company. 

Jalen Knuteson, spokesperson for state Sen. Kelda Roys’ campaign, highlighted those instances in a statement, saying that the “public is getting far too familiar with hearing Sara Rodriguez apologize.” 

“This recurring pattern shows that Rodriguez is unprepared for the rigors of a general election or governing,” Roys said. 

Darby O’Connor, spokesperson for former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, said in a statement that Rodriguez “only noticed hundreds of thousands of dollars missing when she didn’t see her face on TV.” 

“This level of gross mismanagement of finances and staff is unheard of in professional politics,” Barnes said.

State Rep. Francesca Hong said she was “staying focused on our campaign,” but that her campaign has “shown we’re a campaign focused on transparency and accountability.”

“Especially with the next finance reports coming out this week, I think it’s vital that everyone running for this position is creating a standard of trust, honesty and accountability,” she added.

The gubernatorial primary is scheduled for Aug. 11 — less than a month away. The winner will face U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, the presumptive Republican nominee, in November.

In his announcement dropping his bid for governor, Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley said Democrats will need to coalesce around a candidate who can defeat Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany in November. He provided his answer Thursday for who he thinks can win in the general election: Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez.

Crowley is the second candidate to drop out of the race in recent weeks, leaving five candidates competing for the Democratic spot on the November ballot. Along with Rodriguez the Democratic candidates who remain are state Rep. Francesca Hong, state Sen. Kelda Roys, former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes and Joel Brennan, former head of the Department of Administration under Gov. Tony Evers. The winner of the August primary will likely face Tiffany, who is endorsed by the state GOP and President Donald Trump.

“I’ve said all along that the next governor’s job description is simple: make this state affordable, make sure care shows up for families before a crisis hits, and build real opportunity that runs from the classroom to a good-paying job,” Crowley said in a statement Thursday. “That was the mission of my campaign, and it’s exactly what Sara Rodriguez has spent her career doing. She doesn’t just meet that job description; she’s lived it, on the front lines, for the people who need it most. That’s the governor Wisconsin needs, and that’s why I’m proud to stand with her.”

Crowley announced his decision to suspend his campaign after failing to break into the top tier of contenders in  public polling. A Marquette Law School poll showed  he had about 3% of Democratic primary voters’ support. The next Marquette Law School poll will be released on July 22.

“We share a belief that government should solve problems and put people first,” Rodriguez said about Crowley in a statement. “We may have started this race on different paths, but today we’re united in the same fight: delivering for Wisconsin families.”

It’s the latest big change in the Democratic primary field as Rodriguez has started to gain some momentum in the race, finishing first in a straw poll at the state party convention last month. Former Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. CEO Missy Hughes, who dropped out in late June, also endorsed Rodriguez. 

At a press conference Thursday morning in Milwaukee, Crowley said nobody called him to ask him to step out and there was “no establishment process” behind his decision. He was answering a question about what he would say to voters who are concerned that mainstream Democrats may be consolidating behind Rodriguez in order to stop Democratic Socialist candidate Francesca Hong.

Hong is running on a platform of universal childcare, paid family and medical leave, establishing a public grocery store and bank as well as implementing a one-year moratorium on data center construction. She has had growing support behind her over the course of the campaign including polling at the top of public polls. 

Hong came in second after Rodriguez in a straw poll of party activists conducted at the Democratic Party of Wisconsin convention.

“I think it’s extremely important that all of us as candidates start to make decisions about how we win this race and making sure that we are keeping the Democratic party, keeping the people at the center of these decisions,” Crowley said, adding that he made the decision himself.

Rodriguez, responding  to the question about whether her supporters are seeking to push out a more progressive candidate, said people should look at her campaign website: “Look at what I’ve done for the state of Wisconsin. Look at what I’m planning to do.”

Rodriguez has served with Evers as lieutenant governor since 2023 and previously served in the state Assembly for one term. Prior to that she worked as a nurse and then in leadership positions for a couple of healthcare organizations, including at Advocate Aurora Health. 

Democratic candidates seek to show strength

Crowley’s departure from the race left other candidates seeking ways to show their campaigns’ strength.

The Barnes campaign shared an internal poll with reporters that was conducted from April 17-23 with 800 likely Democratic primary voters in Wisconsin. The poll showed Barnes polling at 30% support, Hong at 23% and Rodriguez at 17%. Crowley had 5%. The campaign said the internal poll, which also asked voters about their second choice, “suggests Crowley’s exit significantly increases Mandela’s paths to victory, with the majority of his voters going to Barnes.”

The campaign also noted an internal poll from the Rodriguez campaign conducted in May that showed Barnes polling at 26%, Hong at 22% and Rodriguez at 15%. 

In a social media post after Crowley’s announcement, Barnes highlighted that both of them are from the same zip code in Milwaukee.

“David has a life experience that is far too often missing from our politics, and that life experience has driven him to deliver real results for Milwaukee County families,” Barnes said in a social media post. “I hope all those inspired by David’s campaign can find a place in our movement to end the rigged system that’s holding back Wisconsin families. It’s time for us all to come together to beat Tom Tiffany.”

Barnes also launched a six-figure ad buy Thursday that will run in the Milwaukee in the run-up to the primary. An outside group backing Barnes, Impossible Until It’s Done, has also started a $500,000 TV ad for him.

Ahead of next week’s campaign finance filing deadline, Roys’ campaign announced that she raised over $1.2 million for the June 30 filing deadline. The campaign said the money ensures Roys will be able to communicate with voters ahead of the Aug. 11 primary.

Roys spokesperson Jalen Knuteson said in a statement that the campaign’s internal polling shows that her “message performs the best of all the candidates’, and she doesn’t need the most money to win — she just needs enough to get her message out.”

According to the campaign, her second ad will launch next week.

Responding to questions from the Examiner about the state of the race and Roys’ path forward, Knuteson said in a written statement that “voters should decide who the Democratic nominee for governor is, and we would be failing to learn lessons of past elections if we try to crown a candidate without an earnest primary.”

Update: This story has been updated to include additional comment from the Roys campaign.

Reading Time: 7 minutes

As Wisconsin Democrats rallied in Madison over the weekend, there was a divide among party die-hards on the best type of candidate to be the party’s gubernatorial nominee. 

Many, including Doris Schoneman, a retired nursing professor from Waukesha County at her 10th Democratic Party of Wisconsin convention with her husband David, prefer Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez. Schoneman said Rodriguez, who won the most votes in a WisPolitics straw poll, could appeal to both rural and urban communities.

But an almost equally large contingent, including Vernon County delegate Alexander McDonough, is backing Madison state Rep. Francesca Hong, who came in second in the straw poll. McDonough, who was attending his first convention, said he was inspired by the Democratic socialist.

It’s an all-too-familiar question Democrats will be debating until the Aug. 11 primary with seven candidates on the ballot: Should they choose a candidate who appeals to the average Wisconsin voter in the general election or a candidate who excites the party’s base? 

Wisconsin Democrats have an opportunity to control state government for the first time in 16 years should they win the governor’s office and gain majorities in the Senate and the Assembly. After Republicans won the governor’s office and both chambers of the Legislature in 2010, they drew gerrymandered legislative maps, passed a strict voter ID law and enacted Act 10, which dismantled Democratic-supporting public sector unions. 

“The people in this room led us out of the wilderness,” Democratic Party of Wisconsin chair Devin Remiker told the crowd on Saturday. “The people in this room took back the Supreme Court and made it the people’s court again. The people in this room shattered the gerrymander. The people in this room kept pushing our lines forward year after year, and now we stand at the gates of a castle with walls so high Republicans thought that we would never climb over them, and we are about to.” 

The WisPolitics straw poll found 27.5% of convention-goers backed Rodriguez as the Democratic nominee for governor with Hong a close second at 23.1%.

Some attendees told Wisconsin Watch they were still undecided on who they would vote for in the coming weeks. 

“I’m looking for someone who’s ready to fight and do the work,” said William Garcia, the 3rd Congressional District chair. “I think that we’re gonna win all three. I think we’re gonna win the Assembly, the Senate and the governorship. And that means, in my mind, that I need someone who’s prepared to spend the six months after they’re sworn in doing every policy that we’ve been talking about for 12 years.”

Wisconsin Democrats have not seen a gubernatorial primary of this size since the 2018 race when 10 candidates, including eventual winner Gov. Tony Evers, ran for the chance to go up against then-incumbent Republican Gov. Scott Walker. Democrats won every statewide office on the ballot that year, disrupting nearly a decade of Republican control of the Capitol in Madison. But because Republicans gerrymandered legislative maps in 2011 to insulate themselves from a Democratic wave, Democrats have not held either the Assembly or Senate and were unable to enact any sweeping legislative agenda for all eight years Evers was in office.

The candidate who wins the nomination on Aug. 11 is expected to face U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, who is endorsed by President Donald Trump and received the Republican Party of Wisconsin’s endorsement last month. Tiffany has one primary opponent — Andy Manske, a 27-year-old medical service technician. 

Evers on Saturday told the crowd that Democrats need to show up, as a Tiffany victory could put Wisconsin in an “even worse position” than when he took office in 2019. 

“I want everyone to think about all our hard work and all of the progress we’ve made,” Evers told the crowd Saturday evening. “That’s what’s at stake this fall.” 

Gubernatorial candidates make their case

The seven Democrats running for governor walked the convention hallways Saturday afternoon, dipping in and out of meetings of the Black Democrats or the veterans’ caucus with staffers in campaign T-shirts close behind. They held hospitality suites to schmooze convention-goers with themes including disco for Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, a classroom for teachers-union-endorsed Sen. Kelda Roys, “The Forward Tap” tavern for Rodriguez and dive bar decor for former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes. 

And in speeches Sunday afternoon, Hong drew the largest cheers as she walked out to “Golden,” the Oscar-winning song from the Netflix movie “KPop Demon Hunters.” 

She spoke of historical Wisconsin political figures like former Secretary of State Vel Phillips, former Gov. and U.S. Sen. Gaylord Nelson and former Gov. and U.S. Sen. “Fighting” Bob La Follette to suggest that her campaign aligns with the state’s progressive history.

“These folks were called unreasonable, impractical and unelectable and told their ideas should be tempered by convenience. Yet today they’re considered visionaries because possibility is bound only by our ambition,” Hong said. “We must ask ourselves whether conviction is once again strong enough to meet the demands of dangerous and desperate times.”

Missy Hughes, the last candidate to speak and the last place finisher in the straw poll with 1.6% support, found a tepid crowd with some people who got up to leave as she began her remarks. The crowd still gave her a laugh after she compared inheriting challenges from Foxconn as Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. CEO to cleaning up after her children. 

Barnes, who placed second-to-last in the straw poll with 6.9% support, told the crowd about a phone call he received from former President Barack Obama after he lost the 2022 U.S. Senate race to U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, when Obama reminded Barnes that he lost a congressional race before becoming a U.S. senator and ultimately president. Barnes said his experience from the 2022 race puts him in the best position to fight against Republicans in November. 

“I know that when they swing at you, you get right back up and you fight back twice as hard,” Barnes said. “I can tell you, I came through the fire stronger, and I have more experience than anybody else in this race.”

Joel Brennan, who placed fifth in the straw poll with 8.7%, contrasted Tiffany’s career in the Legislature and in Congress with his work leading the Department of Administration under Evers. 

“We proved that competent, honest government can solve major problems when the people running it believe in it,” Brennan said. “Tom Tiffany is ready to trot out that old playbook, but he’s added some ingredients: Donald Trump’s division, chaos, and neglect. Tom has spent his time in Madison and Washington making things materially worse for Wisconsin families at every turn, but you know what? We are not going back.” 

Crowley, who placed fourth in the straw poll with 13.1%, said his role running Milwaukee County makes him the only candidate with executive experience equivalent to the governor. 

“I’ve brought together labor leaders, business leaders, local governments, advocates, and working families to get things done,” Crowley told the crowd. “And at a moment when Wisconsin needs bold leadership focused on delivering results, I’m ready to bring that same approach to the governor’s office.” 

Roys, who placed third in the straw poll with 19%, leaned on her years in the Legislature to highlight that she has bills and plans to enact as governor, instead of “social posts” or “bullet points.” 

“I’m the only candidate in this race with over two decades of passing progressive legislation,” Roys said. “And this moment demands moral clarity, political courage, and the willingness to use political power to make our lives better.” 

Rodriguez, who ran onstage from the back of the convention hall, compared her approach to the campaign with her career as a nurse. 

“Since I’ve been your lieutenant governor, I’ve done what any nurse would do: show up, listen, care, be there where it counts, and stay until the job is done,” Rodriguez said. “At union halls in Kenosha, at dairy farms in Clark County at small businesses in small towns, 72 counties, every single one, every single year, because the job I’m asking you for starts with showing up and then standing up.”

Who is electable?

Convention delegates and guests were split on who is the right candidate for the party at this moment. 

Some Democrats see this year as the time for progressives to shine. Hong’s supporters say that, as the youngest Democratic candidate in the governor’s race, she is pulling in young voters with a progressive message, such as a moratorium on artificial intelligence data centers and calls to abolish prisons. 

“Francesca Hong has a very serious pull with the younger crowd. A lot of younger voters are looking for someone who is very progressive,” said Sevannah Polsin, member of the Fox Valley Young Democrats. “I think a lot of younger voters are disappointed in the impact that Democrats have had in the past.”

Hong supporters at the convention also compared her to recently elected New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who like Hong is a Democratic socialist.

“Seeing Mamdani, for example, in New York, I think those policies would be like ‘now’s the time,’ right?” said convention attendee Nelson Ojeda. “I think (Hong’s) policies will push Wisconsin in the right direction.”

But a top concern among delegates was whether the party’s nominee can beat Tiffany in November. Some convention-goers told Wisconsin Watch the party needs a candidate to grab the attention of rural swing voters needed for a Democratic win.

Lisa Simonds, a delegate from Baraboo and second vice chair of Sauk County Democrats, said her vote will likely go to Brennan for his experience in the Evers administration and effort to campaign in rural areas. She said while other candidates are focused on the larger cities and ignore rural areas, Brennan had visited her county party in rural Sauk County.

“Joel just seems to have the combination of the intelligence, the experience … the understanding of how life works,” Simonds said. “He cares about the issues that matter to me.” 

While Simonds applauded Hong’s drive, she said she is too young to be the party nominee.

Ojeda said Tiffany has a much larger social reach with his endorsements from the state GOP and Trump, as well as launching multiple statewide ad buys. Brennan is currently the only Democrat with a statewide advertisement, which launched last week.

“(Tiffany) has a huge advertising presence, that’s one thing that I felt like is maybe a little bit of a gap,” said Ojeda, who is leaning toward Hong. “I think Democrats have the opportunity to improve there. … I think that’ll change as we get down because of the number of candidates that are running.”

Ojeda said he hopes the primary ballot will narrow before Aug. 11.

Other Democrats were concerned about the lack of a clear front-runner at this point in the race. Convention attendee Ahmed Hollowell said the state party not endorsing a candidate is “creating a detriment.”

Hollowell said he is not making a decision until he learns more about the candidates. 

“I think the only thing that would probably make this accelerate is probably if Gov. Evers were to endorse someone,” Hollowell said. 

Evers did not endorse any candidate over the weekend, but said in his speech that the “Democratic candidate is going to need each and every one of us, and I know that, because that’s how I won.”

Top two in Democratic gubernatorial straw poll highlight classic debate: Appeal to general electorate or the base? is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.

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The state’s most devoted Democrats are scheduled to gather in Madison this weekend for the party’s annual convention where the seven-way race for the Democratic nomination for governor is likely to take center stage. 

Democratic caucus and county party leaders told Wisconsin Watch they are hopeful the convention could be a clarifying moment in the primary campaign on who has enough support to make it to the August primary. None of the main contenders dropped out ahead of last week’s filing deadline, so seven names will appear on the Aug. 11 Democratic primary ballot.

When Democrats convene at the Monona Terrace Convention Center on Saturday, there will be less than 45 days until early voting starts in late July.

“If their message does not ring true to the delegates at the convention, they better listen to the applause because people will be honest with them,” said Susan Chandler, the 1st Congressional District chair and vice chair of the Walworth County Democrats. “Everybody who goes to the convention is a highly engaged Democrat, and for every one of those highly engaged, we all know 10 people who are not. We’re bringing a lot of background to that convention and critically listening to these candidates.” 

After Democratic Gov. Tony Evers decided not to run for a third term, seven Democratic candidates submitted the signatures to make the ballot. They include former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, former Department of Administration Secretary Joel Brennan, Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, Madison state Rep. Francesca Hong, former Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. Secretary Missy Hughes, Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez and Madison Sen. Kelda Roys. 

Meanwhile, Wisconsin Republicans have coalesced around U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, who received the Republican Party of Wisconsin’s endorsement at their annual convention in May and was endorsed by President Donald Trump in January. Tiffany has just one primary opponent, Andy Manske, a 27-year-old medical service technician.

“We want to know who is best situated to make bold sweeping change here in Wisconsin to provide a better life for Wisconsinites, and who is best situated to beat Tom Tiffany in a head-to-head,” said Brett Timmerman, the chair of the Milwaukee County Democratic Party. “I think that people are going to the convention looking for somebody to stand out in a meaningful way to deliver that message of why they think they are the best person to carry the torch forward.”

The closest comparison to this year’s field is the 2018 Democratic gubernatorial primary when 10 candidates ran for the opportunity to unseat then-Republican Gov. Scott Walker. Two dropped out in June before the primary that year. 

Evers, who had statewide election experience as the superintendent of public instruction, won the Democratic primary that year with 42% of the vote and later defeated Walker in the general election. Evers didn’t win a majority of primary voters, but his closest opponent only mustered 16.4% of the vote. 

A large primary, like the one in 2018, forces candidates to explain why voters should support their campaign, said Martha Laning, who served as the chair of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin during the 2018 election cycle.

At the 2018 state Democratic convention, the candidates all had the opportunity to make a three-minute pitch to party die-hards on what they would do for Wisconsin, Laning said. A spokesperson for the state party said all seven of the Democrats who made the ballot will also have a chance to speak this weekend. 

“I think it’s great to put all of the candidates up there and to just let people know what their options are,” Laning said. “Again, any of them will be better than Tom Tiffany, so the more people talking about how they would do things and how they would improve people’s lives in Wisconsin is a good thing for us.”

Negativity and consolidation

It’s been a quiet primary among the slew of Democratic candidates over the last six months, with few events that set the campaigns apart. Hong led the field with 14% in the most recent Marquette University Law School Poll in March. The poll also found that 65% of voters were undecided on who to vote for in the primary.

It’s worth watching if the convention is a place where candidates take negative swipes at each other with the August primary on the horizon, said Anthony Chergosky, an associate professor of political science at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. 

“This has been a remarkably chill campaign, and I’m wondering if we’re going to see things heat up a little bit,” Chergosky said. 

Hints of discord are emerging in the primary. Hughes last month was the only candidate to publicly support the failed $1.8 billion bipartisan surplus deal negotiated between Evers and Republican legislative leaders. After the deal failed in the Senate, Hughes posted unnamed criticism of “certain self-serving Democratic candidates for governor who would rather boost their own personal political ambitions than serve our kids and taxpayers.” 

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel last week reported that Hong was sued in May by Capital One for nearly $30,000 in credit card debt, which her campaign said had already been paid. Hong in a video posted on social media said the story showed her “opponents are scrambling.” 

“They are scared of what we’ve built, our platform that’s resonating with working class people all across the state who feel left behind, our organizing infrastructure that’s being built stronger every day,” Hong said. “They want to pull me off track and how dare they.” 

The convention could also serve as a milestone for consolidation in the race in the coming weeks, Chergosky said. A fractured field means one of the candidates could win with just 30% of the vote, but the math changes if someone drops out, he noted. 

For Gloria Hochstein, the chair of the party’s Rural Caucus, the circumstances of a large field of candidates make her wish ranked-choice voting was an option for this primary.

“The problem is that there are some really good people running, and the thoughtful voter is really going to have to decide where his or her vote should be,” Hochstein said. 

But the convention could “turn the tide” for some candidates who might drop out if they see they don’t have the statewide reach among the party’s most faithful, she said. 

“I think that’s the realization, some of the candidates, I hope they come to sooner rather than later,” Hochstein said.

The Democratic field for Wisconsin governor has been static for months. That could all change this week. is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.

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The 2025 total compensation of WEC Energy Group CEO Scott Lauber was $12 million.

That’s down from the $18 million paid in 2020 to WEC’s then-CEO, Kevin Fletcher.

WEC, the largest Wisconsin-based utility company, is the parent company of We Energies and other electric and gas utilities in Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan and Minnesota.

Former Wisconsin Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, one Democrat running for governor, said utility “CEO pay” had increased from $4 million to $12 million. His campaign said Barnes was referring to Lauber.

Lauber’s total compensation was $4 million in 2020. But he was senior executive vice president, not CEO.

Nationally, the average total compensation for utility CEOs in 2025 was $12 million, up 47% since 2017. The top earner was the CEO of Ohio-based American Electric Power, at $36 million. That $12 million, as a median, was the lowest among all industry sectors.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

Sources

• Energy Policy Institute: Utility Executive Compensation
• Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance: CEO Pay Study
• AFL-CIO: Executive Pay Watch
• U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission: WEC Energy Group 2021 proxy statement
• U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission: WEC Energy Group 2026 proxy statement
• WEC Energy Group: About us

Did compensation for the CEO of Wisconsin’s largest utility company triple in five years to $12 million? is a post from Wisconsin Watch, a non-profit investigative news site covering Wisconsin since 2009. Please consider making a contribution to support our journalism.