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Wisconsin is Dem's Next Battleground 08/06 06:27
NEW GLARUS, Wis. (AP) -- Sarah Miller, a software engineer from the liberal
stronghold of Madison, has heard all of the chatter about a civil war in the
Democratic Party between progressives and moderates. But all she cares about is
winning.
That's why Miller said she is voting in Tuesday's gubernatorial primary for
David Crowley, the Milwaukee County executive endorsed by two-term Gov. Tony
Evers. He faces democratic socialist Francesca Hong in a contest that will be
the latest test nationally of how far Democrats are willing to swing to the
political left.
Wisconsin's primary comes a week after progressive Abdul El-Sayed narrowly
defeated Rep. Haley Stevens in Michigan's U.S. Senate primary, setting up a
crucial test for progressives in November in a key battleground state. Also on
Tuesday, voters in Minnesota will decide another U.S. Senate contest featuring
a centrist and a progressive.
In a year where voters upset with the Democratic Party mainstream have
propelled outsider candidates to victory across the country, Crowley is hoping
to buck the trend in Wisconsin. He's banking on the support of Evers, one of
the state's most popular elected officials, to make up ground in the waning
days of the chaotic primary.
Crowley said that El-Sayed's slim margin of victory "does give me a little
bit of hope."
"We're going to focus on those undecided voters," Crowley said.
Wisconsin Democratic voters grapple with electability, chaotic primary
"The divide is real," Miller, 49, said of the struggle between progressives
and more mainstream Democrats. But her focus remains on November, when the
winner of the primary will face Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, a staunch
supporter of President Donald Trump and one of the most conservative members of
Congress.
Miller, who described herself as a progressive, called Hong a "very, very
weak candidate" and described her popularity as "a little bit of a mirage."
"I don't think she can win," Miller said at a Crowley campaign stop a week
before election day at a winery in the rolling hills of New Glarus.
Crowley is banking on more voters feeling that way. A Marquette University
Law School poll of Wisconsin Democratic primary voters conducted in late July,
before former Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes dropped out, showed Hong with a
significant lead over the other candidates. More than 112,000 absentee ballots
had already been returned by the day the poll was released.
Complicating the path for Crowley is the fact that he withdrew from the race
on July 8 and only got back in 10 days later, with the backing of Evers, after
Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez ended her candidacy. Then, 12 days later, Barnes also
ended his campaign amid allegations of inappropriate behavior.
Barnes and Rodriguez, who were both seen as potential front-runners, remain
on the ballot and votes already cast for them can't be undone.
"We've created a mess," said Michael Gebben, a 64-year-old Democrat who
voted absentee for Rodriguez before she dropped out. "Hopefully we can get out
of it."
Hong bats down controversies as Crowley makes a final sprint
As Crowley sprinted across the state to capture undecided voters, Hong was
batting down controversies.
Hong, a single mom and former restaurant cook, faced questions about past
social media posts where she called for canceling Thanksgiving because "we
should stop celebrating colonialism," disparaged Valentine's Day as "another
day capitalism tells you how to show love" and repeatedly called for defunding
the police.
She has backtracked or clarified many of those past statements in recent
days, now saying that she does not support abolishing the police.
Tiffany pointed to Hong's comments on Thanksgiving and said she wants "to
destroy the traditions and culture that unite us." Tiffany, who had 10-times
more cash on hand than either Hong or Crowley did entering August, has
portrayed the race as a contest between chaos and common sense.
"Wisconsinites can't afford for November to come down to the most extreme
things Tom Tiffany and Francesca Hong have said online," Evers' spokesperson
Britt Cudaback said this week in a social media post explaining why the
governor endorsed Crowley.
Crowley's mention of the Evers endorsement drew a round of applause at both
of his campaign stops in New Glarus and Madison this week, but similar votes of
confidence haven't always been decisive in other primaries. In Michigan,
Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer endorsed the moderate Stevens who came up
short.
Even with Evers' backing, Crowley insists he is not an establishment
Democrat despite having served more than three years in the Legislature and as
the top elected official in Milwaukee County, the state's largest, since 2020.
"When people try to call me the establishment, I look at that as a slur,
particularly as an African American candidate," said Crowley, who is looking to
become Wisconsin's first Black governor. "I have never run for office to
protect the establishment. I've always been here to protect people."
Voters say message from progressive candidates resonates
Hong supporter Chris Vestin has heard the concerns about electability before.
To him, the fears about Hong's chances against Tiffany in November sound
like a repeat of those who pushed Hillary Clinton over Bernie Sanders in the
2016 presidential race. Sanders defeated Clinton in the Wisconsin primary by 13
points that year, before losing the presidency to Trump. Trump carried
Wisconsin in 2016, lost it in 2020 and then won it again in 2024.
"It frustrates me when they say that person is unelectable," Vestin said of
Hong, who is vying to become Wisconsin's first woman governor and first Asian
American governor. "A lot of times it's racist, it's sexist."
Vestin, 54, called Evers' endorsement of Crowley "counterproductive."
"Establishment Democrats want to take the choice away," Vestin said.
On Tuesday in Minnesota, voters will choose between moderate U.S. Rep. Angie
Craig and progressive Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan in the Democratic primary for
U.S. Senate that's playing out in the aftermath of Trump's aggressive
immigration enforcement surge in the state.
But the stakes are even higher in Wisconsin.
Democrats are trying to hold onto the governor's office and flip both
chambers of the Legislature to have full control for the first time since 2010.
Republicans transformed Wisconsin by enacting a wide array of conservative
priorities, including effectively doing away with public worker collective
bargaining, when they had full control from 2011 to 2018.
"We need a trifecta," Crowley told his supporters at the New Glarus rally.
"And who is at the top of the ticket matters."
Crowley supporter Lindsey Lee, 61, of Madison said before the rally there
that he believed previously undecided Democrats were coalescing around Crowley.
"It's like the last 50 yards of a horse race," Lee said. "Hong is obviously
in the lead but Crowley is coming up on a side lane. I think it will be a photo
finish."
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