It came down to Tony, Thanksgiving and Tiffany-Trump.
That was one veteran Democrat’s analysis of the Aug. 11 Dem gubernatorial primary that saw Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley narrowly beat Madison state Assemblywoman Francesca Hong and two others to face Donald-Trump-endorsed northern Cong. Tom Tiffany in
November.
And Crowley, a former Dem lawmaker, did it in just a little over three weeks with the help of Gov. Tony Evers' late endorsement, a joint campaign tour with the popular two-term governor, a rush of campaign cash and TV ads plus increased scrutiny of Hong.
Old tweets from the democratic socialist were elevated, including commentary disparaging Thanksgiving, which made it into an ad from a pro-Crowley group. The narrator in the ad knocks Hong for “bizarre rants about holidays we love,” along with calls to defund the police and “voting against protecting kids from sexual predators.”
It dominated media and undermined whatever message focus Hong's campaign hoped to instill.
All of that came against the backdrop of a mid-term election landscape that is titling away from Trump and Republicans. The Trump-Tiffany link apparently was on the minds of many undecided voters who thought Crowley had a better chance of beating Tiffany in the fall than Hong.
Primary polls proved fluid, and voter opinions shifted between Crowley, Hong, former Department of Administration Secretary Joel Brennan and Madison state Sen. Kelda Roys.
"Everything that needed to fall a certain way did fall that way. No one thought Hong would come in below 40 (percent),'' one operative said.
But she did, at 39.3 percent, according to unofficial vote tallies.
Crowley did, too. at 39.8 percent.
Crowley barely got the win and, in the process, revealed some weakness in his home county (where he won by just 1.5 percentage points), in the Fox Valley (losing Brown, Outagamie and Winnebago counties), in western Wisconsin (losing La Crosse, Eau Claire and St. Croix counties) and falling in the perennial bellwether of Kenosha County.
And it came a month after declaring he had no path to victory and dropping out of the race. He got back in July 18 after Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez' campaign imploded over financial irregularities.
On election night, with the outcome still in doubt, Hong stopped short of a concession speech at her rally in Madison. She addressed supporters with unofficial returns showing Crowley in the lead and before the absentee ballot numbers from the city of Milwaukee were added into the totals.
Hong said her campaign is something that “will change politics forever” and her candidacy has been “an honor of a lifetime” in a message to her Madison watch party attendees.
“We have built a beautiful, multi-generational, multi-partisan, multiracial working-class movement, and it is a movement that meets the moment. This is unprecedented here, and this is how we’re going to win,” Hong said.
Hong also issued a call for unity, regardless of the outcome of the primary, to beat Tiffany.
Some progressives have bristled at Evers’ involvement in the race, accusing the establishment of seeking to put its thumb on the scale in the primary. Some moderates say he should have done it sooner.
“We will win together, united, because everyone who’s running in this race, they know that we can make better possible, and we must make better possible. And together, with each other, and for each other, we will make better possible,” Hong said.
That theme was echoed by Crowley at his general election kick-off event on Aug. 12.
Crowley sought to unify Dems, insisting their real opponent is Tiffany, not each other.
Crowley thanked Hong, Brennan and Roys while arguing the people he met on the campaign trail weren’t interested in labels, but in safe communities, strong schools and affordable healthcare.
He also quickly pivoted attention to Tiffany, R-Minocqua.
“He spends his time fueling culture wars because sowing division is much easier than delivering results,” Crowley said in Milwaukee at a former bank building that now houses minority-owned businesses.
“Wisconsin, we deserve better than politicians who divide us for their own political gain. We deserve leaders who wake up every single morning asking one simple question, ‘How can I make life better for the people I serve?’”
Tiffany, meanwhile, sought to downplay any differences between Crowley and Hong, saying “there’s not a dime’s worth of difference between” the candidates.
“His record in Milwaukee County shows exactly what Wisconsin would get: mismanage the government, run up the bill, and raise your taxes to pay for it,” Tiffany said in a statement. “Wisconsin doesn’t need more of the same failed policies. I’m running to lower costs, restore
accountability in Madison, and expand opportunity across our state.”
Let the general election begin!

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