With Wisconsin Democrats set to vote Tuesday in their gubernatorial primary, the Crowley camp finally mustered the courage to air its first negative ad against frontrunner Francesca Hong , slamming the democratic socialist’s “record” as a “distraction we can’t afford.”
The ad from Wisconsin Future Rising takes Hong to task for her greatest hits: bizarre tirades against beloved holidays, her crusade to defund the police, and voting against protecting children from sexual predators. It closes by urging viewers to tell the Madison lawmaker, “Your record hurts us.’ The ad is airing in the Milwaukee, Madison, Green Bay, and La Crosse markets, plus statewide streaming.
According to AdImpact tracking cited by WisPolitics, Wisconsin Future Rising has poured $1.9 million in ad time since Crowley re-entered the race on July 18. Crowley’s own campaign has spent $757,000 in that span, while the allied Believe in Wisconsin group has reported $949,000 in independent expenditures — nearly $3.6 million burned in just over three weeks.
The timing is a last-second Hail Mary. Crowley, the establishment favorite endorsed by outgoing Gov. Tony Evers after briefly quitting the race, has spent weeks trailing badly in public polls. Hong, a proud socialist with a history of extreme rhetoric, has comfortably led as the progressive base rallied around her. Only now, on the final day before voters cast ballots, does the Crowley-aligned money finally decide her record is fair game.
Hong’s record is not subtle. Hong has previously called for abolishing the police because they ‘exist to uphold white supremacy,’ mused about canceling Thanksgiving, and pals around with the far-left activist circuit that includes figures like Hasan Piker. Republicans have long pointed to these positions as disqualifying in a purple state that Donald Trump carried. Now, even a Democratic-aligned group is forced to run them on television because the alternative — letting Hong waltz to the nomination will gift-wrap November for Tom Tiffany.
Social media reaction was swift and telling. WisPolitics noted the first negative ad of the Democratic primary. One observer called it a “clear sign this race is over,” adding that Crowley’s side had gone “Republican-negative” on the eve of Election Day. Others couldn’t help but notice the ad doesn’t even bother to ask for a vote—just a good old-fashioned character assassination that will help Tom Tiffany more than David Crowley.
This is the inevitable result when Democrats elevate candidates whose core beliefs sit far outside the Wisconsin mainstream. The same party that spent months fretting that Republicans were “boosting” Hong with their own ads now finds its own side scrambling to tear her down at the last possible moment. The establishment tried the soft approach: Evers’ endorsement, late fundraising, warnings about electability. When that failed to move the numbers, they resorted to the very attacks conservatives have been making for months.
Whether the late ad moves enough votes is doubtful. Hong’s coalition of younger, very liberal primary voters has proven resilient. But the larger point is already made. Wisconsin Democrats are so fractured and so captive to their activist left that their own side is reduced to last-minute negative ads warning voters that the frontrunner’s record “hurts us.”
Republicans, meanwhile, are enjoying the show. Tiffany and the GOP have a clear contrast ready for the general election no matter who emerges Tuesday. One candidate has a record of practical governance in Milwaukee County. The other has a paper trail of socialist slogans, holiday-bashing and soft-on-crime talking points so toxic that even her own party is running an attack ad.
In politics, timing is everything. Crowley’s allies waited until the last possible second to admit what most Wisconsinites already know. That hesitation may mean the ads are too late to make an impact and to help the Republicans define Hong for the November general election.
