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Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley jumped back into the race for governor Saturday in a last minute attempt to take control of the contest just 24 days before the August primary.

Crowley’s campaign also got a boost with an endorsement from Gov. Tony Evers, who had previously declined to back a candidate in the Democratic primary.

The late maneuvering underscored a schism in the state Democratic Party between traditional Democrats and Madison Rep. Francesca Hong, the democratic socialist who has energized the party’s progressive base. 

This past week, a group tied to the Republican Governors Association began running a multi-million dollar ad campaign that many Democrats viewed as an attempt to boost Hong in the Democratic primary.

What worries some Democrats is that Hong’s brand of politics is too liberal for a general election and would ensure a victory in November by Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany.

At his campaign re-launch in Milwaukee, Crowley said the RGA is “bankrolling millions of dollars, not to attack a Democrat, but to boost one up” without mentioning Hong by name.

“Democrats cannot afford to head into this general election with a nominee who lacks the experience, who lacks the record, or the coalition necessary to win this race, especially with Republicans actively trying to hand us that exact outcome,” said Crowley. “This election is too important to gamble on, and that’s why today I am re-entering this race.”

Crowley said it’s time for Wisconsin Democrats “to make our choice” and fight back.

“My record proves that I can do it, and I am ready for this fight on day one!” said Crowley.

In a statement, Hong said she welcomed Crowley back to the race, and looked forward to the perspective he’d bring as the candidates make their cases to voters in the next three weeks.

“Competition is good for democracy, and voters deserve a substantive debate about the future of our state,” Hong said.

Not all Democrats were as understanding.

While the theory of Crowley’s return to the race is that he’ll unite the party and prevent Hong from advancing and losing in the general election, there’s also a clear chance it could divide Hong’s Democratic opponents just enough to ensure she wins the primary.

The campaign of former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, who was the only candidate to come close to Hong the last time Marquette University released a public poll on the race, issued a statement that criticized Crowley, titled “David Crowley Left This Race For A Reason.” The statement noted that Crowley had only received 3 percent in three Marquette surveys on the race.

“With just 3 weeks until Election Day and after nearly 70,000 people have voted, this Hail Mary serves no purpose other than playing spoiler and handing our state to Trump’s handpicked candidate in Tom Tiffany,” said Barnes Campaign Manager Darby O’Connor.

Evers endorsement a wild card

One factor Crowley will have going for him in this home-stretch run that he didn’t have earlier is the public backing of Evers.

In a social media post Saturday, the governor said he didn’t plan to endorse anyone in the race, “because I know each of the candidates” and wanted to give them time to make their case to Wisconsin residents.” But he said in a tight race, Democrats need to rally behind Crowley to prevent Tiffany from winning the governorship.

Today, I'm endorsing @DavidcCrowley to be Wisconsin’s next governor.

I'm urging Wisconsinites to join me in uniting and supporting David in the upcoming August 11 primary and the November election.

We’ve got a lot to do and only a short time to do it, folks. Let’s get to work! pic.twitter.com/KvArA2cZdt

— Tony Evers (@Tony4WI) July 18, 2026

“Wisconsin only knows one direction to go, and that’s Forward, and let’s unite to make sure David is our next governor so we can keep building the future our kids and grandkids deserve,” said Evers. “We’ve got a lot to do and only a short time to do it. Let’s get to work.”

The governor declined to get involved in the primary earlier, despite several candidates in the race who’d held prominent roles in his administration.

That includes Barnes, Evers’ first lieutenant governor, and current Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez, who ended her campaign for governor Friday amid financial turmoil. It also includes Joel Brennan, the former secretary of Evers’ Department of Administration, whose campaign said he would remain in the race.

“Joel Brennan is in this race to win it,” read the statement. “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.”

Madison Sen. Kelda Roys has also said she’ll remain in the race, regardless of who gets in.

“I have a lot of respect and affection for David, but I would hope that he makes the right choice for the party, which is that we should be moving forward,” Roys said during a Friday interview with WISN-TV. “What I am hearing from people is that they want to see consolidation of support behind a candidate who can actually win this primary.”

Republicans seemed to relish the last-minute scramble by Democrats, which has given Tiffany the chance to run millions of dollars in ads boosting his brand.

“Remember,” said state GOP Chair Brian Schimming on X, “for all the absurd antics among Wisconsin Democrats right now, there is an irrefutable, undeniable fact: it’s all about stopping #FrancescaHong. All. Of. it. Full stop.”

This story was produced by WPR.

David Crowley returns to governor’s race in last-minute effort to win Democratic primary 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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Wisconsin Democratic candidate for governor Sara Rodriguez said Monday that she discovered her campaign has hundreds of thousands dollars less cash than she thought after campaign ads slated to run last week did not air because of unpaid invoices.

Rodriguez, the current lieutenant governor, announced late Sunday night that she had fired her campaign manager after discovering contributions had been double counted and expenses were undercounted, leading to her campaign having far less money than she thought.

Rodriguez, at a news conference surrounded by supporters, vowed to remain in the race.

“This campaign is going to move forward,” she said in the appearance at her campaign headquarters.

Rodriguez is in a competitive primary for Wisconsin’s open governor’s race against democratic socialist Francesca Hong, former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes and three others. The winner of the Aug. 11 primary will advance to the general election against Republican Rep. Tom Tiffany, who faces only token primary opposition.

Last week Rodriguez announced a $1 million television ad campaign buy. But when the ads didn’t start running as she expected, Rodriguez said she began asking questions and discovered the problems in the campaign reports.

“I am hurt, angry and deeply disappointed by someone I trusted to run my campaign,” Rodriguez said of her fired campaign manager. “I was continually getting inaccurate reports from my campaign manager.”

Rodriguez’s next report covering money raised and spent over the first six months of the year is due on Wednesday.

Rodriguez said her campaign immediately notified the Wisconsin Ethics Commission on Monday and was working with them to correct the report filed in January that covers donations and expenditures made last year.

Rodriguez would not say exactly how much her filing was off by because the work to reconcile the books was ongoing. But she said her campaign had raised about $1 million and had about $200,000 cash on hand.

After she announced the $1 million ad buy last week, Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley dropped out of the race and endorsed Rodriguez. Another former Democratic candidate, former state economic development director Missy Hughes, endorsed Rodriguez after she ended her campaign last month.

Democratic challenger Joel Brennan, a former top aide to Gov. Tony Evers, called the errors by Rodriguez’s campaign “disqualifying.” Evers has not endorsed anyone in the primary.

Rodriguez said she was being up front about what happened.

“If I were trying to hide something I would be here today telling you about it,” she said at the news conference. “Most people are not going to stand in front of this many cameras and microphones to talk about fixing an error.”

Wisconsin Watch is a nonprofit and nonpartisan newsroom. Subscribe to our newsletters to get our investigative stories and Friday news roundup. This story is published in partnership with The Associated Press.

Wisconsin governor candidate Sara Rodriguez fires campaign manager after finance errors 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.