Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley maintained a slight lead over state Rep. Francesca Hong late Tuesday evening in the Democratic contest for the nomination for governor, prolonging the uncertainty of a primary characterized by unprecedented chaos over the last two months. 

An error in uploading absentee ballot data in Milwaukee caused a delay in reporting that pushed the final results off and both Hong and Crowley ended their election watch parties after midnight with no winner declared.

The winner of the race will face U.S. Rep Tom Tiffany, the GOP nominee for governor, who easily defeated his Republican challenger, and his running mate David Varnam. Varnam defeated Will Martin, who had the endorsement of the state GOP and had been campaigning with Tiffany.

The Democratic primary, which started with seven candidates, all of whose names appeared on the ballot even after three dropped out, dwindled to four candidates competing for the nomination. At 2:10 a.m. Wednesday, with 98% of the vote counted according to AP Crowley had 39.8% of the vote and Hong had 39.4%. State Sen. Kelda Roys and former Department of Administration Secretary Joel Brennan trailed the two leaders with 7.5% and 4.7% of the vote respectively.

Crowley launched his campaign in September 2025, dropped out in July and endorsed Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez, then reentered the race when Rodriguez dropped out. Gov. Tony Evers, who had declined to express a preference in the race before the final days, encouraged Crowley to rejoin the field and campaigned for him up until Election Day.

Worried that Hong, a democratic socialist, state lawmaker and chef, could not win the general election, undecided Democratic primary voters flocked to Crowley’s resurrected campaign. Hong ran a campaign based on a cadre of grassroots volunteers and a strong  social media strategy. Polls showed her dominating the field with a double-digit lead toward the end of the campaign, a result that was not matched by vote tallies on Election Night.

Victory parties but no result

The crowd gathered at Atwood Music Hall in Madison for Hong’s victory party started the night in a hopeful mood, singing to Pink Pony Girl by Chappell Roan, Stateside by PinkPantheress and Wannabe by the Spice Girls. Supporters made signs at a table and took photos together. Loud boos rang out when President Donald Trump and Republican gubernatorial candidate Tom Tiffany appeared on the large screens showing CNN’s election night coverage.

In the two weeks leading up to the election, Crowley and Evers raced across the state to reintroduce Crowley to voters with Evers telling people he thought Hong would not be able to beat Tiffany. 

April Brown, a Madison resident, said the issues she is most concerned about this election year are affordability, data centers and queer and trans issues. She and her wife, who came out as trans three years ago, moved to Dane County about a year ago from Georgia. 

“The South was increasingly becoming hostile towards people like us, like her,” Brown said. “When I found out about Fran being, not only my district representative in the state Assembly, but also she was running for governor and found how passionate she was about LGBTQ rights, I knew I had to throw my support behind her.” 

Brown said she would get behind Crowley if he won, but she felt hope voting for Hong. 

“I think she really resonates with people because she gets people and she wants to help people,” Brown said. 

Crowley’s supporters gathered at the Regency Ballroom in the Hyatt Regency hotel in downtown Milwaukee Tuesday night.

Darryl Morin, national president and board chairman of Forward Latino, Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson, and other local elected officials joined the crowd.

Throughout the evening, Crowley maintained a slight lead over Hong as vote totals were reported across the state. Updates on the large TV screens in the ballroom were greeted with cheering from the crowd. 

Talk of a possible recount began as Crowley maintained his razor-thin advantage. 

Calls for unity

Just before 11:30 p.m., Hong addressed her supporters, thanking them and telling them that they have “built something that will change politics forever.”

“In 11 weeks, no matter who’s on this ballot, we are going to fight to win for one another,” Hong said. “We will win together, united. Because everyone who’s running in this race, they know that we can make better possible and we must make better possible.”

After Hong left the stage her campaign staff wished everyone a good night and the lights in Atwood Music Hall were turned up. 

Hannah Ecay, a 25-year-old who wore a Madison Area DSA shirt, said she doesn’t have kids, but wants to one day and that’s part of why she supports Hong and her affordability agenda. 

“I don’t have kids yet, but when I do childcare and public education are very important to me, and I’d like to see those things be set up now, before I have children,” Ecay said. 

Ecay said she would vote for Crowley in the general election if he wins.

“Anyone’s better than Tom Tiffany, but I won’t be as excited about it as I would be for Francesca,” she said. 

As votes were being tallied in Milwaukee, election workers announced that a mistake had been made where some of the flash drives used to record the election results were downloaded with audit data instead of information from 15,000 absentee ballots. The mistake was expected to take over an hour to fix. Congresswoman Gwen Moore addressed Crowley’s supporters, saying that she believes that “the red bird will fly,” referring to a story from Crowley’s wife of having seen a red cardinal — a significant religious symbol to her — which she interpreted as a sign that Crowley should re-enter the race. 

By the end of the night Crowley maintained a miniscule lead of 39.5% to Hong’s 39.6% of the vote. Crowley did not appear at his watch party to address supporters before it ended with no official result. 

Jarrett English, a community organizer in Milwaukee, said that he respects both Hong and Crowley. “I’ve known David since he was an organizer, and so I know that he works hard,” English told the Examiner. “He was always going to do well in Milwaukee because he’s been an incredible county executive, arguably the most successful county executive in a generation, at least in terms of the amount of things that have gotten accomplished with housing, with mental health, with not necessarily shared revenue but getting more revenue for the metro area. All those things show that he is more than ready to be at a higher level.” 

English feels that both Hong or Crowley would make for fantastic governors. “I personally will be happy with whoever wins,” said English, saying that while he doesn’t always agree with Crowley that he’s “a bridgebuilder” and that Hong “is the same.”

Donna Davis, managing partner for Vox Pop Solutions and a Crowley supporter who traveled from Florida, said that “Crowley’s candidacy, who Crowley is and what he believes in, is an idea and a moment whose time has come.” Observing Crowley’s  unexpected surge which kept him in the lead most of the night, Davis said, “I think people want something different. I think they’re unsure about the unknown. I mean this is the Midwest, and people like what they know. And he fits Wisconsin.” 

Davis said that Crowley’s performance Tuesday night is a sign that “Milwaukee is ready to move into the 21st century, Wisconsin is ready for the 21st century.” If she were asked  just three years ago whether his success would have been possible, “I would’ve told you ‘absolutely not.’ I wasn’t even really sure that this was the moment because we’re in the middle of a very divisive era in American history. But this is a democracy, and the voters have the final say.”

Moving into the general election

The Democratic nominee for governor will be joined on the ticket by Secretary of State Sarah Godlewski, who is running in November for lieutenant governor and faced no primary opponent. She previously served as state treasurer from January 2019 to January 2023. Evers appointed her to her current position. 

Democrats have their work cut out for them as they seek to beat Tiffany, a three-term congressman who currently represents the state’s largest congressional district in the northern half of the state. Wisconsin’s statewide races are typically decided by close margins, including in 2018 when Evers defeated Gov. Scott Walker by about 30,000 votes. 

Ahead of Election Day, Democratic candidates had been discussing uniting following the primary to defeat Tiffany.

Godlewski, U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan and the Democratic nominee for governor planned to meet for a unity breakfast Wednesday morning in the Madison area, seeking to move past the divisiveness of the primary with less than three months until the general election.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.”

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.

UPDATE: This story has been updated to include reactions. 

Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez is suspending her campaign for governor after a week of trying to navigate the fallout of a financial disaster. 

“As we have continued to dig into our financial reports, it has become clear that there are issues that would be an ongoing distraction —  not just for this campaign, but for the primary and for Wisconsin,” Rodriguez said in a statement and a video posted to X. “This race is too important to Wisconsin to let that happen.” 

Rodriguez’s troubles emerged when she announced she fired her campaign manager, Kara Spencer, on Sunday due to “serious mismanagement and inaccuracies in campaign finance filings she prepared.” Rodriguez’s January finance reports showed hundreds of duplicate contributions, and during a Monday press conference, Rodriguez said she had hundreds of thousands of dollars less than she expected, but was determined to push ahead, calling it a “bump in the road.”

While she sought to continue on, additional mistakes arose when she submitted her campaign finance reports Wednesday. Her initial report showed she had less than $35,000 in the bank and over $150,000 in debts to sort through. 

However, her campaign put out a statement saying that she had raised $219,000 since July 1 and would be launching a new campaign ad. Her campaign also said that it was still “actively working to ensure our financial records are accurate and complete.” 

The initial report showed a payment to WI Federation of Republican Women, which was a mistake that was fixed in the amended report. However, the amended report also dramatically increased the tally of her campaign dollars to show she ended the period with $643,206. 

The campaign later said that report was a mistake, and the campaign did end the period with only $34,991 in cash-on-hand after all. 

Rodriguez in her statement on suspending the campaign said that she “cannot in good conscience allow these questions to become a cloud over an election that Democrats need to win.”

“I am deeply hurt and betrayed by what happened,” Rodriguez said. “As I said on Monday, part of being a leader is taking swift action, doing the right thing, and being as honest as possible when there’s a problem.” 

“This was never just about any one race or any one candidate,” Rodriguez continued. “This is about protecting Wisconsin from a legislature hell-bent on putting corporations over schools and insurance companies over patients. It’s about showing the rest of the country that we can win here, govern here, and fight for the middle class — and that Wisconsin will lead the way.”

Her exit from the race is the third in recent weeks, narrowing the field to four candidates: former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, state Rep. Francesca Hong, state Sen. Kelda Roys and Joel Brennan, former head of the Department of Administration.

There are just 25 days until Wisconsin’s primary election.

Rodriguez’s campaign appeared to be growing momentum ahead of the financial scandal partially due to the endorsements of her former Democratic opponents, Missy Hughes, the former CEO of the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp., and Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley. Crowley dropped out last Wednesday and endorsed Rodriguez on Thursday, around the same time that Rodriguez said she realized something was amiss with her financials. 

According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, there is a push to get Crowley to re-enter the race, and two Democratic sources told the newspaper that Gov. Tony Evers is “very seriously considering” backing that effort. Late Friday, Crowley released a statement from “Democratic candidate for governor David Crowley” calling a press conference in Milwaukee at which he will make an announcement at 11 a.m. Saturday.

Evers has so far stayed out of the race. When the two-term governor announced his retirement, however, he left open the door for endorsing in the primary saying “never say never” and “if there’s somebody who really needs support, and I want them to win, I might get in.”

Hughes also called on Crowley to get back into the race in a post on X.

While some Democrats sought to pull Crowley back into the race, candidates still in the race highlighted their campaigns  and hoped to pull supporters over to their campaign. 

Brennan, the only other current or former member of Evers’ administration still in the governor’s race, was the first to issue a statement Friday.

“I deeply respect Lieutenant Governor Rodriguez and the ideas and energy she brought to this race,” said Brennan. “This is no doubt disappointing for her and people who supported her campaign, and I am committed to joining her in the fight to protect the Wisconsin we love.”

Brennan has been among the most vocal critics of how the Rodriguez campaign had managed its finance and compliance operation. He emphasized when he submitted his own report this week that her difficulties had weakened her as a candidate in the general election against the likely Republican nominee, U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany.

“While a lot has changed in the Democratic primary, one thing has not: we need a governor who can win and who will fight for Wisconsin to get things done,” said Brennan, adding that he was “the candidate who will get big things done.”  

Sen. Kelda Roys followed shortly after with a call Friday “to unite the party so that we can defeat Tom Tiffany and deliver a Democratic trifecta.”

Both Brennan and Roys have finished further back in polls on the race to date. Until this week Rodriguez, Barnes and Hong have been the top candidates in polling.

The Republican Party of Wisconsin Chair Brian Schimming said in a statement that Democrats are “in full meltdown mode.” 

“With zero clear candidate and lackluster fundraising, any hope Democrats had has turned into a dumpster fire,” Schimming said. “As Democrats fight among themselves in primaries and scramble for resources, Republicans are organized, well-funded, and laser-focused on victory in November.”

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.

UPDATE: After suspending his campaign Wednesday, Crowley endorsed Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez Thursday morning, saying she is the candidate who will best unite Democrats. 

Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley announced Wednesday that he is dropping his bid to be governor, a decision that narrows the Democratic primary field for the second time in recent weeks. 

Crowley, a former state lawmaker who has served as the top executive of Milwaukee County executive since 2020, launched his campaign in September, saying his executive experience  would serve him well in the governor’s office and that he wanted to work to address the state’s affordability crisis. He pitched himself to voters as someone who could build bridges among communities across the state.

“It has become clear that I will not be the Democratic nominee for Governor, so today I am stepping out of this race, but I am not stepping away from the work. Politics should not be about who talks the loudest. It’s about showing up, working with anyone who wants to solve the problem, and delivering results people can see in their own communities,” Crowley said in a statement.

The news of Crowley’s exit, first reported by WisPolitics, is the second in recent weeks as former Wisconsin Economic Development Corporations CEO Missy Hughes dropped out at the end of June. It leaves the Democratic primary a five-way race between Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez, former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, state Rep. Francesca Hong (D-Madison), state Sen. Kelda Roys and Joel Brennan, the former head of the Department of Administration under Gov. Tony Evers. 

While Crowley appeared to be building some momentum at the beginning of the campaign, including leading the Democratic field in early finance reports, he was also unable to break into the top tier in the polls. In a February Marquette Law School poll, he had the support of 3% of voters. In a straw poll conducted by WisPolitics at the Democratic Party of Wisconsin convention last month, he came in fourth behind Rodriguez, Hong and Roys.

Unlike Hughes, who endorsed Rodriguez, Cowley did not issue an endorsement in his announcement.

Crowley said the most important thing for Democrats to do is to unite behind whoever wins in August and defeat U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, the presumptive Republican candidate who has the endorsement of President Donald Trump. 

“Tiffany’s record in Washington does not reflect Wisconsin’s values, and the people of this state deserve a governor who will fight for working families, protect our natural resources, invest in our communities, and be beholden to the people of our state, not Donald Trump,” Cowley said. “While I will not be the candidate, I will still do everything in my power to ensure that we win in November.” 

Crowley said that the state’s next governor needs to focus on the basics including “making this state affordable, making sure care shows up for families before a crisis instead of after and building real opportunity from the classroom to a good-paying job.”