From the Liveblog of
Wednesday, August 12, 2026
Wisconsin Democrats choose David Crowley as nominee for governor over anti-Israel candidate
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In a surprise outcome, Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley is the projected winner in the Wisconsin gubernatorial primary, eking out a victory over progressive candidate Francesca Hong in a highly watched contest, where progressive Democrats had hoped to secure another win one week after their successful showing in a Michigan senate race.
Polls had placed Hong, a democratic socialist, way ahead of her rival, but with 98% of the votes counted, the Associated Press declares Crowley the winner by a narrow margin of 39.8% compared to 39.4% for Hong.
Speaking ahead of the final vote tally, Hong told her cheering supporters, “It is an honor of my lifetime to be your candidate for governor.”
Hong’s record on Israel and antisemitism was of concern to Wisconsin Jews, as well as Democratic figureheads more broadly. She has appeared on livestream fundraisers with Hasan Piker, the left-wing strident Israel critic who has also rallied with Hong, as well as twice with Michael Beyer, a.k.a. “Mike from PA,” who has called Jewish identity “a constructed ethnicity, this demonic ethnicity, wholly invented.”
On one of her appearances with Beyer, Hong urged constituents to fundraise for people on the “front lines in Gaza.” She has called the war there a genocide.
Crowley will face off against Republican US Representative Tom Tiffany in the November election.
The Times of Israel Community.