Following a tight progressive win in Michigan, Democratic nomination battles shift to Wisconsin on August 11, 2026. Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley and democratic socialist state representative Francesca Hong are competing for the gubernatorial nomination to succeed outgoing two-term Gov. Tony Evers.
The ideological tug-of-war for the future of the Democratic Party has landed squarely in the Midwest. One week after progressive candidate Abdul El-Sayed edged out moderate representative Haley Stevens in Michigan’s U.S. Senate primary, Wisconsin’s upcoming primary on Tuesday, August 11, 2026, serves as the next major test for the party’s left flank.
Voters across the state are weighing electability against ideological ambition in a race that has experienced an unusually chaotic primary calendar.
Crowley and Hong Clash for the Democratic Nomination
David Crowley, the Milwaukee County executive who entered office in 2020, is attempting to buck a national anti-establishment current by running as a pragmatic candidate anchored by the endorsement of outgoing Gov. Tony Evers, who decided against running for a third term. Crowley’s path back to the ballot was turbulent. He withdrew from the race on July 8, 2026, but re-entered 10 days later with Evers’ backing after Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez ended her campaign. Shortly after, former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes also suspended his campaign.
Standing opposite Crowley is Francesca Hong, a state representative and member of the Democratic Socialists of America. Backed by prominent national progressives including U.S. Reps. Ilhan Omar and Ro Khanna, Hong leads the field. Her platform features guaranteed paid leave and a one-year moratorium on building artificial intelligence data centers in Wisconsin.
Controversies and Scrutiny Over Past Social Media Posts
As Crowley campaigns to capture undecided voters, Hong has spent the final weeks of the race defending past online statements. Resurfaced posts from 2020 show Hong calling to cancel Thanksgiving
to stop celebrating colonialism and the original superspreader event that killed Indegenous folx and women,
as well as disparaging Valentine’s Day and repeatedly calling to defund the police.
Hong has since clarified her positions, stating that she no longer supports cutting police budgets or abolishing police departments, and describing Thanksgiving as her favorite holiday.
Voter Divide and the Stakes for November
A Marquette University Law School poll released in late July showed Hong holding a significant lead among primary voters before Barnes exited the race. More than 112,000 absentee ballots were already returned by the time the poll was made public.
Moderate Democrats harbor deep concerns that a progressive nomination will hand an advantage to Tiffany in the general election.
Yet voters like Sarah Miller, a 49-year-old software engineer from Madison, remain focused entirely on the November matchup against Tiffany. Dismissing Hong as a weak candidate whose popularity is a little bit of a mirage,
Miller cast her vote for Crowley.
We’re going to focus on those undecided voters,
Crowley said during a campaign stop in New Glarus.
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