Democrats’ ‘Moderate’ Wisconsin Nominee Has His Own Woke Skeletons In The Closet

David Crowley, the Milwaukee County executive who pulled off a stunning upset over the summer’s socialist surge, has blamed systemic racism for police shootings, opposed legislation to protect law enforcement, and declared Wisconsin the worst place in America to raise a black child.

In August 2020, Crowley went all-in on the Black Lives Matter narrative surrounding the domestic disturbance call that ended with the officer-involved shooting of Jacob Blake. The then-29-year-old, who had a felony warrant out for his arrest, was armed with a knife and was attempting to get into the driver’s seat of an SUV when he was shot seven times, triggering widespread unrest in Kenosha, Wisconsin, and setting the stage for the later acquittal of Kyle Rittenhouse.

“Make no mistake, Blake’s wounds are the result of systemic racism, the policies and practices that entangle our institutions and produce racially disparate outcomes, regardless of the intentions of the people who work within them,” Crowley said. “It’s the reason why Wisconsin is ranked as the worst place to raise a black child, why child poverty in the Black community is markedly higher compared to their white counterparts, and why Milwaukee County ranks as 71st healthiest county out of 72 counties in the state.”

Crowley also connected the death of George Floyd to a public health emergency. 

“In the midst of a pandemic that has already taken such a toll on people of color, the death of George Floyd is another untenable example of how racism is the real public health crisis our community is facing,” he said. “These injustices will not go away until we acknowledge and address the hundreds of years of racism that brought us here.” 

In the summer of 2020, Crowley celebrated former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick’s national anthem protest, suggesting professional sports should grind to a halt until the country achieved racial justice.

“4 years ago, @Kaepernick7 took a stand against systemic racism & police brutality. Make no mistake, it’s because of his sacrifice that we are witnessing this unprecedented response from our nation’s sports. Thank you to all who sacrifice in the name of equality. #NoJusticeNoGames,” he wrote on X. 

Before the so-called “summer of love” in 2020, the Democratic gubernatorial nominee also opposed “Blue Lives Matter“ legislation that would’ve added law enforcement officers to the state’s hate crime protected categories, saying the proposal “only furthers the divide between the urban communities and police that serve them.”

Decision Desk HQ called the race early Wednesday morning for Crowley, who re-entered the contest only weeks before the primary and earned the backing of outgoing Democratic Governor Tony Evers. With nearly all votes in, Crowley leads his socialist rival, who called to cancel Thanksgiving and abolish the U.S. Senate, by a little over 3,000 votes. 

Hong, a dues-paying member of the Democratic Socialists of America, significantly underperformed in white working-class parts of the state and failed to generate the margins she needed in deep-blue college towns like Madison. The leftist made waves by repeatedly trashing American holidays and questioning her connection to “whiteness” through her white ex-husband and their biracial son. 

“My proximity to whiteness continues, right. … My son is biracial. He’s half white, half Korean, and I think navigating what his identity is and how people perceive him is always at the back of my mind,” Hong previously said. 

Tuesday’s results mark a major victory for the Democratic establishment, which mounted an 11th-hour effort to slam the brakes on the party’s rebellious socialist surge. Now, Crowley faces a more difficult task: shedding the establishment label that turns off the party’s left flank while holding onto enough independents to take down Republican nominee Rep. Tom Tiffany (R-WI).

In the final stretch of the campaign, Crowley rejected the establishment attack as a racial slur.

“I’m trying to figure out who the establishment is, right? I think that when we talk about the establishment, I don’t know who that is. I’m a kid that grew up in 53206 zip code. My parents was drug addicts and suffered from mental health,” he told reporters. “So when people try to call me the establishment, I look at that as a slur, particularly as an African American candidate.” 

“That’s my foundation. That’s what I’m going to continue to do as a county executive, and what I’m going to do as the governor of Wisconsin,” he added.