The Democratic primary for Wisconsin governor remains too close to call between Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley and Madison Rep. Francesca Hong. As of 10 p.m. Tuesday, Crowley and Hong were separated by less than a percentage point, with each receiving about 40% of the more than 600,000 votes cast.
Background
The 2026 election for governor is an open seat after Democratic Gov. Tony Evers chose not to run for a third term. This is the first open governor’s race in the state since 2010 when Gov. Scott Walker ushered in a conservative era.
Hong, a democratic socialist, has led in the polls for months, and her primary victory seemed all but assured heading into Tuesday. But the close race mirrored a similar battle between establishment Democrats and left-wing activists in the Michigan U.S. Senate primary.
Crowley’s strong showing marks a stunning turnaround for a candidate who polled in single digits before he dropped out of the race in early July. Crowley initially ended his campaign after he said he saw both poll and fundraising numbers show momentum for Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez. But then Rodriguez dropped out of the race after revelations of issues with her campaign finance reports, which led Crowley to return to the race with a historically rare endorsement from Evers.
Other Primary Results
In other primary results Tuesday, Rebecca Cooke won the Democratic nomination in the 3rd Congressional District for a rematch with Republican U.S. Rep. Derrick Van Orden. The seat is rated a toss-up and one of two that national Democrats are hoping to flip to retake control of the House.
Original reporting: Wisconsin Watch — read the source article.
