The Democratic primary for governor of Wisconsin has turned into an unexpectedly close race, with Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley and Francesca Hong, a Democratic socialist who was heavily favored to win the contest, essentially tied as of late Tuesday night.Polls heading into Tuesday showed Hong with a significant lead, but a ferocious effort by Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers and the rest of the state party establishment to portray Hong as unelectable, combined with a series of uncomfortable news cycles where Hong was repeatedly confronted with past politically problematic social media posts – most famously, a call to abolish Thanksgiving – seems to have moved a large mass of voters towards Crowley.Shortly before 12:30 a.m. Eastern on Wednesday, Crowley had 293,843 votes to Hong’s 290,849 – good enough for a lead of four-tenths of a percentage point. Each had just under 40% of the vote.Hong, speaking to supporters in Madison, suggested results would not be final tonight. “Wisconsin, we have built something that will change politics forever,” she said. “The work we have done will be remembered forever. I know we don’t have the final results right now, but what I do know is that we are ready to keep fighting.”Notably, five candidates were splitting the remaining fifth of the vote, including two – former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes and incumbent Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez – who dropped out of the race in its final weeks. The race could also head to a recount: If the margin is within a quarter of a percentage point, the losing candidate is allowed to request one from the state. If it’s within a single percentage point, they can request a recount, but need to have the funds to pay for it. Crowley was performing strongly in rural areas and in the majority-Black neighborhoods on the northside of Milwaukee. Hong was performing strongly in college towns and in Milwaukee’s white neighborhoods. But she failed to develop a huge lead in her home county of Dane, the location of Madison and the University of Wisconsin; she was winning it just 44% to 37%, far short of the enormous margins expected of her. The winner of the primary will face Rep. Tom Tiffany, who has the backing of President Donald Trump and won the GOP contest on Tuesday, in November. That contest will give Democrats their chance to complete a 15-year-long political comeback and win total control of state government, if they can also pick up a handful of seats in both the state Senate and the state Assembly.Related2026 electionswisconsin primaryFrancesca HongDavid Crowley