In the ever-shifting sands of Wisconsin’s Democratic gubernatorial primary, the Dems have provided conservatives with a masterclass in political opportunism and incompetence. First, Missy Hughes suspended her own campaign in late June and endorsed Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez as the “best candidate” to unify Democrats and defeat Republicans. Crowley himself dropped out and endorsed Rodriguez, but now — with Rodriguez reeling from a self-inflicted financial scandal — Hughes is pivoting to Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, urging him to jump back into the race.
It’s a game of musical chairs played by a party desperate to cling to power in Madison as their house of cards collapses.
Hughes, former CEO of the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation under Gov. Tony Evers, entered the race touting her business and agriculture credentials. After failing to gain momentum, Hughes exited the race and threw her support behind Rodriguez, calling her the candidate to “build an enduring coalition” and appealing to a broad cross-section of voters.
Other Democrats, including Crowley initially, followed suit in a rush to clear the field for Rodriguez, the candidate who seemed to have the best odds against DSA candidate Francesca Hong. The establishment coalesced around the lieutenant governor who was positioned as a so-called moderate unifier.
But unity on the left is as fleeting as their fiscal responsibility. Just weeks later, Rodriguez’s campaign imploded under the weight of “serious mismanagement and inaccuracies” in its finance reports.
Rodriguez’s team fired its campaign manager after discovering duplicate donations, unrecorded expenses, and overstated fundraising totals — hundreds of thousands of dollars vanished from what they believed was a war chest. Reports showed her January filing was sloppy, with duplicates ranging from small contributions to $1,000, and the campaign had to amend reports while scrambling to explain how they announced a $1 million ad buy they apparently couldn’t afford.
This “error” is a glaring red flag for anyone entrusted with managing Wisconsin’s multi-billion-dollar state budget. If Rodriguez’s inner circle can’t handle basic campaign accounting — double-counting checks and failing to track outflows — how can she be trusted with taxpayers’ money, regulatory oversight, or economic policy? Her rivals were quick to pounce, with one calling the issues “disqualifying.”
Rodriguez’s history of taking corporate PAC money while pledging otherwise only adds to the hypocrisy. Wisconsinites already skeptical of Madison’s reckless spending habits now see a candidate whose own operation can’t keep its books straight.
Now that Rodriguez is considered damaged goods, Hughes has flipped again, publicly calling on David Crowley to re-enter the race. Reports suggest Gov. Tony Evers is considering endorsing Crowley if he re-enters the race. Crowley, who dropped out earlier in July after endorsing Rodriguez himself, represents another chapter in this saga of establishment reshuffling.
This whiplash reveals the deep fractures in the Democratic field. A crowded primary with figures like Mandela Barnes, Kelda Roys, and Francesca Hong shows no clear consensus. Instead of a strong, principled candidate emerging organically, we see desperate endorsements and calls for dropouts to manufacture a frontrunner, similar to the Kamala Harris fiasco in the 2024 election cycle. It’s the same top-down coordination that has defined Democratic politics in for years.
For Wisconsin Republicans, this drama is good news. The presumptive GOP nominee, U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, stands in stark contrast — a consistent voice for law and order, economic freedom, rural communities, and fiscal accountability — unburdened by the infighting and scandals plaguing the left.
Democrats’ chaos demonstrates their failure to deliver on core issues as their primary has become a referendum on incompetence. Hughes’ flip-flopping highlights a party more interested in blocking conservatives than governing effectively. Wisconsin voters see through it. They remember Evers-era policies that prioritized special interests over working families at all costs (400-year property tax bill nobody voted for, 165,000 regulations on the books, Wisconsin students proficient in reading and math at an all-time low, etc.).
As the August 11 primary approaches, conservatives should watch closely. This disarray presents an opportunity to highlight contrasts — Republican focus on results versus Democratic implosion and establishment / Democrat Socialists of America drama.
