Two weeks after shuttering his bid for Wisconsin governor, David Crowley reentered the state’s Democratic primary on July 18, with the Milwaukee County Executive announcing he received last-minute backing from outgoing Governor Tony Evers.
The move puts Crowley in the best position for the party to succeed in November.
Governor Evers had initially declined to endorse in the race. But threw his weight behind Crowley after Lt. Governor Sara Rodriguez ended her campaign on July 17.
Support from the Governor has resuscitated Crowley’s bid to lead the swing state known for razor-thin election margins, where appealing to moderate and independent voters is crucial.
Democrats are looking to November to secure full control of Wisconsin state government for the first time since 2010, and hope it will send a signal about where the country’s politics are headed by shaping a key political battleground that helps decide presidential campaigns.
In an event in Milwaukee on July 18 to relaunch his campaign, Crowley referenced the many issues at stake in the election for residents of Wisconsin.
“Winning this election will also require building the broadest possible coalition. We need a nominee who can energize Democrats in Milwaukee and in Madison, while also competing in rural and suburban communities across this state,” Crowley said. “I have deep roots and strong support right here within Milwaukee County, where Democratic turnout is not only crucial, but needed. And I’ve also spent years building relationships all across this state that allow us to be competitive across the entirety of Wisconsin. We cannot allow Tom Tiffany to dominate outside of our population centers.”
Crowley said his job was to show up and improve the lives of Milwaukee County residents. He said he had delivered results rather than merely talking about solving problems and would bring the same approach to communities across Wisconsin.
He pointed to Milwaukee County’s expansion of affordable housing, investments in public health and public safety, tax relief and modernization of county government as evidence that effective government could improve people’s lives.
“What also hasn’t changed is the threat that Tom Tiffany poses to Wisconsin’s future. We know exactly the kind of governor he’s going to be. He will put Donald Trump ahead of the people of Wisconsin,” Crowley said. “He’ll side with special interests and the wealthy corporate donors that are funding his campaign. We know that he will undermine reproductive freedom, attack organized labor, and roll back the progress that we have made in protecting our land, our water and our air.”
Crowley said the Republican Governors Association was spending millions of dollars to boost a Democratic candidate it considered easier to defeat in November. He called the spending a five-alarm warning for Democratic voters.
“We cannot allow the GOP to choose the Democratic nominee for governor of the great state of Wisconsin. Period. So Democrats, we have a decision to make based on who can actually win in every corner of this state, but also govern on day one,” added Crowley.
Crowley said Democrats could not afford to enter the general election with a nominee who lacked the experience, record, or coalition needed to win, particularly while Republicans were attempting to produce that outcome.
Governor Evers was on a trade visit to Africa and not in attendance at Crowley’s July 18 event. But he said the closeness of the race, his experience as governor and his years observing how political leaders behaved when they believed no one was watching compelled him to endorse Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley.
“I’m all in on making sure Wisconsinites continue to have a governor who will stand up for the people of our state, who understands the challenges facing working families and has real plans to help, and who will work to do the right thing when it matters most,” Governor Evers said. “That’s why I’m all in on David Crowley.”
The Governor called Crowley the strongest candidate to defeat Republican Tom Tiffany and cited his record of creating thousands of jobs, cutting Milwaukee County’s carbon emissions in half, passing balanced budgets and delivering the largest property tax cut in county history.
“He’s not just a candidate who can win in November, but he’s the kind of person who cares about doing the job right,” added Governor Evers. “He has the experience to make tough decisions, and he’s proven he can work together with others to get good things done.”
Governor Evers said Tiffany’s alignment with President Donald Trump threatened health care, food assistance and household affordability. He said the election would also determine the future of public school funding, reproductive health care, clean water protections, affordable housing, small businesses, SNAP, Medicaid and Medicare.
“Our state will move backward if Tom Tiffany is our next governor,” Evers said. “Wisconsin only knows one direction to go, and that’s Forward.”
Crowley, 40, is reemerging into a competitive primary for Wisconsin’s open governor’s race that was turned on its head Friday with the departure of Rodriguez, who earlier in the week fired her campaign manager after discovering her campaign had hundreds of thousands of dollars less on hand than expected.
Now, as they approach Wisconsin’s primary election on August 11, Democrats are hoping to hold onto the governor’s office as they also eye flipping majority control of the state Legislature, which Republicans have held since 2011.
The primary also comes following Democratic socialists’ earlier victories in the liberal strongholds of New York City, Washington DC, and Denver. Francesca Hong, a single mother who has worked as a dishwasher and line cook, is trying to do the same with her campaign for Wisconsin governor, with her candidacy turning the Democratic contest into a test of just how far left voters are willing to go in the November midterms.
Crowley, who would be the state’s first Black governor if elected, had shuttered his own bid two weeks ago to back Rodriguez. Now, he’s returning to a contest against Hong, former Lt. Governor Mandela Barnes, state Senator Kelda Roys and Joel Brennan, a former top aide to Evers.
In the first iteration of his campaign, Crowley leaned into his background, highlighting how his family was once homeless in Milwaukee but he rose to become a community organizer and was elected to the state Assembly in 2016 at age 30. He served until the middle of 2020, when he was elected as executive of Milwaukee County, the state’s largest county. He was the first Black person to hold that job and also the youngest at age 33.
The winner of the Democratic primary will advance to the general election against Republican Representative Tom Tiffany, who faces only token primary opposition.
