One month after he suspended his campaign, David Crowley’s victory in Wisconsin’s Democratic primary for governor on Tuesday marked an astonishing turn around.
When the Milwaukee County executive re-entered the race 10 days after he exited it, democratic socialist state lawmaker Francesca Hong’s momentum seemed near insurmountable.
But on Wednesday morning, it was Crowley, not Hong, who was urging his party’s voters to set aside their ideological differences and unite against “something much bigger” in this fall’s race against Republican Rep. Tom Tiffany.
The stunning win opens a critical new chapter in the ongoing battle between the center-left Democratic establishment and its progressive insurgency — one that revealed voters’ hesitancy around the electability of further-left candidates in a presidential battleground.
Tony Evers, the popular outgoing Democratic governor, recruited Crowley back into the race last month and campaigned at his side as they traveled together across Wisconsin in the closing stretch of the race, mincing few words as he implored voters to weigh their choices carefully.
