Moderate David Crowley defeated socialist Democrat Francesca Hong in a tight race for the Democratic primaries for the Wisconsin governorship, a closely watched vote considered a key test for the appeal of progressive candidates in this pivotal state.
According to projections from U.S. media such as The Associated Press and NBC News, Milwaukee County executive Crowley was chosen by Wisconsin Democrats over Hong, who sought to become the state’s first socialist Democratic governor.
Although Hong was the favorite in polls for the Wisconsin governor primaries, Crowley surprised and achieved a narrow victory by nearly half a point (39.8%-39.4%) in a key state that exposed some limitations for the party’s more radical movement.
The nominee will face Republican candidate, Representative Tom Tiffany, in the November general election. Crowley aims to become the first African American governor of that state.
In a speech to supporters, after securing his narrow victory, Crowley said Democrats are ready to move past a tough internal struggle that pitted moderates against the party’s left wing in Wisconsin, and targeted Trump’s Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement.
“We all have something much bigger to unite around: preventing MAGA extremism from bringing the chaos we see in Washington to our own neighborhoods, right here in Wisconsin,” Crowley said, who according to analysts capitalized on many voters’ fears that a Hong candidacy would be weaker in the face-off against Tiffany.
“There are a lot of scared people. She (Hong) calls herself a socialist. Many people are worried not only about the party but about the country moving in that direction,” Crowley had told The Wall Street Journal the day before the primaries.
Hong came into these elections following several successes by the party’s progressive wing, such as last week’s win by candidate Abdul el-Sayed, a Muslim epidemiologist and former public health official with Egyptian parents who narrowly won the Senate nomination in Michigan.
Meanwhile, the socialist Democratic wing’s main face is the young New York mayor, Zohran Mamdani, who has become a central figure in the party’s ongoing ideological battle.
Meanwhile, in another primary held Tuesday, in the state of Minnesota progressive Democratic candidate Peggy Flanagan comfortably defeated her moderate rival, Angie Craig, by nearly 20 points (59%-39.4%) and became the Democratic candidate to replace outgoing Senator Tina Smith, who announced her retirement in February 2025.
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Flanagan, the state’s lieutenant governor, had the backing of Smith and influential senators from the party’s left wing, including Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, and after her success also gained the “unconditional support” of Craig for the November contest.
The winner is the clear favorite for the November elections, when she will face former NFL commentator Michele Tafoya, who is running for public office for the first time as a Republican.
Craig was the only Minnesota Democrat to vote in favor of the Laken Riley Act, which gave Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) greater authority to detain immigrants accused of certain crimes, but later said she regretted her vote. Flanagan has said ICE is out of control and must be dismantled.
A recent Reuters/Ipsos poll shows that Democratic voters want their party’s candidates to lean more to the left. More than seven out of 10 liberal Democrats say it is “essential” that their party’s candidates support raising taxes on corporations and billionaires (76%), expanding access to abortion (72%), and government-provided universal healthcare (71%).
The results of Tuesday night’s primaries in the Upper Midwest also raised questions about the power of U.S. President Donald Trump’s endorsement.
In Minnesota, former MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell lost the Republican nomination for governor to Minnesota House Speaker Lisa Demuth, despite Trump’s public support.
Lindell is an unwavering Trump ally and advocate of the false claim that the 2020 presidential election was fraudulent.
Lindell received Trump’s endorsement in May, when the president wrote on Truth Social: “Mike will be SPECTACULAR! He really loves Minnesota, just like I do, and wants to rescue it from oblivion and shame. He can do it!” Reuters recalled.
Demuth is expected to face a tough battle with Democratic candidate, Senator Amy Klobuchar, who easily won her party’s nomination following the “Metro Surge Operation,” the immigrant deportation campaign in Minneapolis that caused two deaths.
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