Socialist Frontrunner’s Stunning Collapse Hands Wisconsin Dems A November Lifeline

Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley pulled off a stunning upset Tuesday in Wisconsin’s Democratic gubernatorial primary, defeating socialist frontrunner Francesca Hong after polls showed him trailing by double digits just days before the election.

Decision Desk Headquarters called the race early Wednesday morning for Crowley, who reentered the contest only weeks before the primary and earned the backing of outgoing Democratic Gov. Tony Evers. With nearly all votes in, Crowley leads his socialist rival 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.

It’s a narrow but significant victory for the establishment, which pulled off an 11th-hour campaign to stop Hong and ensure the party’s rebellious socialist summer surge hit a brick wall in the industrial battleground of Wisconsin. In the final stretch of the campaign, Crowley seized on Hong’s high-profile stumbles and rejected the establishment label 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. 

He also ran on a message of electability, arguing that Hong was far too extreme to win statewide in a swing state where Republicans are already facing national political headwinds.

“The Republican Governors Association is bankrolling millions right now, not to attack a Democrat, but to boost one, because they’ve decided which Democratic nominee they can beat in November,” Crowley said, explaining his decision to get back into the race. “That is a five-alarm warning sign. We cannot let the GOP choose the Democratic nominee for governor of Wisconsin.”

But Crowley’s comeback was not without its own vulnerabilities, as scrutiny of his past complicated his standing with leftist voters. 

NBC News uncovered old social media posts linking Crowley to a pseudonymous X account called “Dirt McGirk,” which the outlet said featured racist, sexist, and homophobic posts between 2010 and 2014. Crowley insisted other people had access to the X burner account and condemned the posts.

Still, Hong’s high-profile stumbles in the homestretch appeared to decisively shift the race in Crowley’s favor, delivering a comeback that defied a flurry of pre-election polls showing Hong with a commanding double-digit lead over the rest of the Democratic field. One of the final polls before Election Day had Hong leading Crowley 44% to 22%.

Evers, who backed Crowley after he reentered the race, had openly warned that Hong would face difficulty defeating Republican nominee Rep. Tom Tiffany (R-WI).

“I think she’s in a tough place. She has spent her entire campaign dealing not with the issues, but what’s on the Twitter, and I just find that that’s not a good way to beat Tom Tiffany,” Evers said in the campaign’s homestretch. “It’s going to be tough…but I think she’s at a real disadvantage, especially since she spends a lot of time talking about Twitter.”

Hong, a 37-year-old state representative and part-time bartender, had ridden a wave of leftist enthusiasm to become the race’s surprise frontrunner, setting off a late scramble among establishment Democrats to stop her.

Former Wisconsin Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes dropped out of the Democratic primary in late July as Hong surged in the polls, appearing to concede at the time that her nomination was inevitable.

“Last night I had a very difficult conversation with staff,” Barnes said in a social media video. “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.”

But Crowley’s late return to the race ultimately gave Democrats an alternative to Hong, who generated national headlines over a series of old social media posts and leftist policy positions.

“Cancel Thanksgiving. Should have done this in 1621,” she said in a deleted 2020 social media post. “If it takes a worldwide pandemic for us to realize we should stop celebrating colonialism and the original superspreader event that killed indigenous folx and women, so be it.”

Hong has also criticized other major American holidays, saying she doesn’t like fireworks ahead of Independence Day, dismissing Halloween as “not my thing,” and claiming Valentine’s Day brings out “the worst of humanity” on a day when “capitalism tells you how to show love.”

Hong’s rise drew national attention but did not result in endorsements from two of the country’s most prominent Democratic socialists, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY).

Crowley will now face Tiffany, the Republican nominee, in November as both parties battle for control of the governor’s mansion after Evers decided not to seek another term.

Tiffany has centered his campaign on affordability and reducing the size and cost of state government.

“Let’s get control of our utility rates, which have been skyrocketing $2 billion plus in the last eight years. Let’s get control of the red tape and let’s also audit all of state government,” Tiffany said on Fox News over the weekend. “It is one of the most popular issues amongst people that I’m talking to at this point. Boy, let’s root out the fraud and waste because we know what’s happening here in Wisconsin also.”