OAN Staff Katherine Mosack
11:45 AM – Wednesday, August 12, 2026
In an unexpected twist, Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley has won the Wisconsin Democrat gubernatorial primary over Wisconsin State Assembly member Francesca Hong. The Democrat will now face Republican nominee Representative Tom Tiffany, who is backed by President Donald Trump.
On Tuesday, Crowley won 315,278 votes, or 39.8% of the vote, while Hong won 311,495 votes, or 39.3% of the vote, winning by a small margin with 99% of Democrat votes counted, according to the Associated Press.
No other Democrat contenders — attorney Kelda Roys, nonprofit executive Joel Brennan, Wisconsin Lieutenant Governor Sara Rodriguez, nonprofit executive Mandela Barnes and attorney Missy Hughes — reached the 10% mark.
The Wisconsin election followed months of wins for the far-left faction of the Democrat party, including New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, Democrat Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed and several other New York-based candidates.
Despite holding a polling lead late in the race, Hong — a Democratic socialist — faced intense scrutiny over past social media posts.
In the campaign’s final weeks, she walked back a 2020 post calling to “cancel Thanksgiving,” while opponents resurfaced earlier comments supporting police abolition or defunding and a separate post expressing frustration about there being “too many old White people” while traveling with her son.
“Cancel Thanksgiving,” she demanded in a since-deleted tweet. “Should have done this in 1621. If it takes a worldwide pandemic for us to realize we should stop celebrating colonialism and the original super spreader event that killed indigenous folx and women so be it.”
Backtracking from earlier comments, this month, she even told Politico that her favorite holiday was Thanksgiving.
“Yep, I don’t want to cancel it. I actually love it,” she remarked. “You know, I’m just … I’m going to be real, I’m kind of a curmudgeon when it comes to holidays in general.”
Crowley, meanwhile, had briefly dropped out of the race last month, saying he did not realistically see himself winning. Nonetheless, he re-entered the race 10 days later after Rodriguez, who he believed had a better chance than he did, dropped out amid a campaign finance scandal.
On the Republican side, according to the AP, Tiffany gained 467,738 votes, or 95.3%, while medical services technician Andy Manske garnered only 4.6%.
President Trump threw his support behind the GOP winner back in January, promising the candidate would “fight to advance Common Sense Values, and put WISCONSIN, AND AMERICA, FIRST.”
“I endorsed Tom for Congress early and strong, and he won, BIG. Likewise, he has always been at my side,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “A very successful Businessman, Family Farmer, and State Legislator, prior to becoming a distinguished United States Congressman, Tom is a Proven Leader who has dedicated his life to serving his Community.”
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