Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley announced Saturday he is re-entering the Democratic primary for Wisconsin governor, a little more than a week after suspending his campaign and endorsing Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez.
Crowley, who dropped out of the race on July 8, made the announcement at an event at the Third Street Market Hall in downtown Milwaukee at which he took pointed shots at socialist Francesca Hong.
“Democrats cannot afford to head into the general election with a nominee who lacks the experience, the record, or the coalition necessary to win, especially with Republicans actively trying to hand us that outcome,” he said.
The Republican Governors Association this week announced a $2 million television ad buy aimed at boosting Hong’s candidacy. Democratic Party of Wisconsin insiders are actively trying to deny her the party’s nomination despite her popularity among far-left voters. They convinced Crowley to re-enter the race with Gov. Tony Evers’ endorsement as a way of rigging the primary against her.
The party had tried to fix its primary for Rodriguez, but she abrupty dropp out of the race Friday amid a massive campaign finance scandal that left her with no path forward and led to calls for a criminal investigation into potential fraud. Crowley initially left the race and backed her, urging other candidates to do likewise. He was persuaded to get back in following her exit with the promise that Evers would endorse him and he would receive the party’s full backing.
Crowley, who has served as Milwaukee County executive since 2020, previously worked as a state representative and held positions in county government. His campaign has highlighted his executive experience, but under his leadership Milwaukee County’s finances have been so disastrous that it faces a massive budget deficit by 2030. In addition, he allowed the county’s health care plan to lapse in January for nearly a month before informing the Milwaukee County Board.
These leadership issues severely hindered his gubernatorial campaign and resulted in him floundering in a distant fourth place behind Hong, Rodriguez, and former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes. Party insiders are now desperately trying to convince Barnes and fellow Democrat candidates Kelda Roys and Joel Brennan to drop out of the race so that non-socialist voters have only one choice in the primary.
