Crowley wins Wisconsin’s 2026 Democratic primary for governor in a photo finish

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An NAACP flyer campaigning for the Dyer Anti-Lynching Bill, which passed the U.S. House of Representatives in 1922, but was filibustered to defeat in the Senate. Dyer, the NAACP, and freedom fighters around the country, like Flossie Baily, struggled for years to get the Dyer and other anti-lynching bills passed, to no avail. Today there is still no U.S. law specifically against lynching. In 2005, eighty of the 100 U.S. Senators voted for a resolution to apologize to victims' families and the country for their failure to outlaw lynching. Courtesy of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).

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Claude, age 23, just months before his 1930 murder. Courtesy of Faith Deeter.

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August 12, 2026

Scott Bauer, Associated Press

David Crowley, who reentered the 2026 race for governor of Wisconsin after securing the endorsement of Gov. Tony Evers, won the state’s Democratic primary election by a narrow margin over Francesca Hong.

Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, State of the County Address, March 26, 2025 (HarvestLife, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Moderate Democrat David Crowley won the Wisconsin primary for governor, defeating a democratic socialist who fell short of trying to deliver another win for progressives in a battleground state.

Crowley, the Milwaukee county executive, is vying to become Wisconsin’s first Black governor and pitched himself as the candidate best positioned to win in November against Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, who is endorsed by President Donald Trump.

[…]

His win was the movement’s first major success in a purple state. It also fed fears in the party’s leaders that such candidates, farther afield and often carrying political baggage of past stances such as defunding the police, would struggle to beat Republicans and imperil the party’s hopes of recapturing control of the U.S. Senate and U.S. House.

[…]

“Now, David is focused on bringing people together, earning the support of Democrats, Republicans, Independents, and anyone who believes Wisconsin is at its best when we work together and deliver results,” Crowley’s campaign manager Garren Randolph said in a statement.

Learn more about the race.

In Milwaukee, Crowley pledged to focus on inequality.

Follow more political updates in our breaking news.

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