Crowley gains late support as Hong confronts social media controversy

With a week remaining before Wisconsin’s Democratic gubernatorial primary, Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley is gaining late momentum with a series of endorsements and a fundraising advantage as state Rep. Francesca Hong faces renewed scrutiny about years-old, controversial social media posts. 

Crowley, who reentered the race about two weeks ago after dropping out, is campaigning across the state this week, including with Gov. Tony Evers. The popular two-term governor had stayed out of the race until after a series of upheavals in the primary that helped Hong to grow her lead over other candidates. Evers recently told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that Hong could “probably not” win the general election against U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, the likely Republican nominee for governor. 

Crowley only has six days to build momentum before Election Day. Last week, the latest Marquette Law School Poll, which was taken before former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes dropped out of the race, found Crowley polling at 7% — more than 30 points behind Hong, with about 34% of voters still undecided. Asked on Tuesday if Evers’ endorsement came too late on Tuesday, Crowley said it could “be critical.”

“I would’ve loved to have Gov. Evers’ endorsement earlier, but this is where we are today,” Crowley said. 

Chair of the Legislative Black Caucus and the Vice Chair of the Senate Democratic Caucus Sen. Dora Drake (D-Milwaukee) told the Wisconsin Examiner in an interview that she is endorsing Crowley and doesn’t think it is too late for him to win. 

“I believe that with the right support, he can get it done,” Drake said. “It’s clear that [Hong] is leading in the polls, and everyone’s talking about it, but I will say what I have seen is you have a lot of folks that reached out to Crowley to get back in the race because they trust his leadership that much, and so for that reason, I do believe that there is a possibility that he could still pull this off.”

Drake, who also serves as the Senate Democratic Caucus vice chair, is the latest to come out in support of Crowley in recent days. He has also gained endorsements from the Congressional Black Caucus and U.S. Congresswoman Gwen Moore in recent days.

Crowley has a slight fundraising advantage over Hong, according to pre-primary reports filed on Monday. 

Crowley reported $775,813.32 raised between July 1 and July 27. He spent $627,921 and ended the period before the primary with $463,070. Meanwhile, Hong reported raising $338,757. She spent $343,204 and had $406,117 in the bank. 

Tiffany is also continuing to build his financial strength, reporting $4.6 million raised between July 1 and July 27. That brings his total raised this year to $13.3 million. He has spent a little over $10 million, including $2.6 million during the period, leaving him with $4.97 million in the bank.

Drake, who previously served in the state Assembly with both Hong and Crowley, has stayed neutral in the race up to now, especially as she said that she hasn’t appreciated conversation that downplays either candidate’s accomplishments. She said that she understands the momentum for Hong.

However, Drake said the debate was a turning point for her. 

“For me, knowing the need to introduce legislation, move it through the building, and get it to a place where it gets signed by a governor, you need someone that’s going to understand the legislative process and the governing process — and David Crowley has both,” Drake said. 

Democrats are also competing to flip the state Senate and Assembly. Drake said she’s confident they’ll be able to flip the Senate and doesn’t see the party’s gubernatorial nominee affecting those chances, but as Drake and her caucus are seeking to make progress on their caucus’ policy goals next session, she says the governor’s office is vital.

Drake said Crowley’s positions on education also informed her decision. She said Crowley is the “only candidate aware of the nuances facing Black and brown families and their children; especially on education disparities.”

“I want someone as governor who will focus on getting things done rather than political platitudes that dictate where Black and brown parents should send their kids to school,” Drake said. 

Hong has called for the “responsible” end to the private school voucher program, including in Milwaukee where about half of students use the program. Crowley has said he doesn’t want to expand or cut the programs, but wants to focus on the question of funding public schools. 

Hong responds to renewed scrutiny over old posts

Hong held an energetic rally with U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar and controversial leftist streamer Hasan Piker over the weekend in Milwaukee. Asked whether it was risky to associate herself with Piker, she told reporters that “it would be a risk not to try to build the broadest coalition possible.” She also launched a nearly two-minute video ad that tied data center construction to FoxConn. 

Hong spent the first part of this week navigating controversy over her past posts on social media. Republicans, including presumptive GOP gubernatorial nominee Tom Tiffany, have resurfaced and amplified posts about canceling Thanksgiving in 2020, about abolishing police because they “exist to uphold white supremacy” and about wanting to leave a Culver’s in Black Rivers Falls with her young son because she “was on the verge of a anxiety attack” because of “too many old white people who didn’t think we spoke english.”

In an interview with CNN journalist Kaitlin Collins, Hong was asked whether she still wants to cancel Thanksgiving.

“I’m a chef, and one of the first meals that I made for the community when I was 16 was a Thanksgiving meal. But Thanksgiving is also a time that’s incredibly painful for many people in our communities,” Hong said. “And so I think there, I wanted to make sure that people understood that there are multiple views, but views can evolve.”

Tiffany issued a statement saying that he wouldn’t cancel Thanksgiving as governor. 

David Axelrod,  former advisor to President Barack Obama, said in a post that it is “answers like these that cause many to think if this chef wins the gubernatorial primary in WI, Ds may be cooked.” 

Drake said she thinks Democrats need a nominee “who is ready for prime time,” noting how Republicans attacked Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes during his 2022 run for the U.S. Senate. 

“Given some of the stuff that’s being done now by the GOP about [Hong’s tweets], they’re nothing more than a distraction, and it’s intentional,” Drake said. “You have folks that are concerned about housing, that really don’t know where their next meal is going to come from, and our food pantries are already struggling to keep their food in stock with grocery stores and just affording gas. An everyday voter is not going to be concerned about somebody’s tweets. They’re going to be concerned about issues of how am I going to take care of my kids? How am I going to provide for my family? How am I going to have a job that pays me enough that’s well? And so, for me, it’s nothing more than — it’s a distraction, where we’re not talking about the actual issues that voters care about.”

Evers also voiced his strong doubts and concerns about Hong’s general election chances while on the road with Crowley in Appleton, which was recently hit by tornadoes. 

“She spends a lot of time from what I understand talking on Twitter and all these other extraneous issues. We’re working together on issues and getting it done. People of Wisconsin expect this,” Evers said, noting that there were “people in this room who have seen tornados destroy their city and we’re going to spend time on that bullshit that others are talking about on Twitter. You can ask me a hundred times, I’m going to give you the same damn answer. This issue is around getting things done. This guy has done it.”

U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan, who hasn’t endorsed a candidate, weighed in on the race on Tuesday. 

“Candidates give bad interviews sometimes. They better grow from it. The [governor] has a right to endorse & campaign for people. Get over it. People have a right to run even if they get single digits. I may not get it, but it’s their right,” Pocan wrote on X. “Did I piss off a little bit of everyone?”

Former Department of Administration Secretary Joel Brennan and State Sen. Kelda Roys (D-Madison) are also continuing their campaigns across the state.

Hong’s campaign said in a statement that Evers’ characterization “does not reflect the race we have run.” The campaign said Hong is not bringing up the posts, but that others are bringing them up to distract “from the strong support her policy platform has earned across Wisconsin” and that they are staying focused on the issues including leading the call for a moratorium on data center construction and lowering costs of housing and groceries. 

Hong, in her CNN interview, said Tiffany is “having to go back to a lot of my old tweets, because his actions and his resume, what he’s done is defunded healthcare, ripped food away from our children, supported a national abortion ban.” 

“And last time I checked, he still hasn’t said who won the 2020 election,” Hong added. “Being an election denier is an automatic disqualifier.”