Wisconsin governor race: David Crowley officially resumes campaign

MILWAUKEE - Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers broke his one-year silence on who he wants to replace him. On Saturday, he officially endorsed David Crowley, a candidate who got out of the race last week, only to jump back in.

"Wisconsin, you deserve a strong Democratic candidate, and that is exactly why I am reentering this race to be the next Democratic governor," Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley said Saturday at a rally at Milwaukee's 3rd Street Market Hall.

Considerations this week

The backstory:

Crowley endorsed Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez last week. She then faced a campaign finance scandal and on Friday dropped out.

When FOX6 News asked Crowley if the lieutenant governor deceived him with inflated campaign finance numbers and promises of a $1 million ad buy, Crowley said: "I will tell you: Was I upset? Absolutely. Was I disappointed? Absolutely. I had talked to the lieutenant governor, and I was still backing her, until she decided to drop out of this race."

Why get back in?

Dig deeper:

Some polls have shown Democratic Socialist Francesca Hong leading the Democratic primary.

Republicans are up with ads saying Hong is "too liberal for Wisconsin," but Crowley said the ads actually try to help her win the nomination.

"The Republican Governors Association right now is bankrolling millions of dollars, not to attack a Democrat, but to boost one of them, because they're deciding the Democratic nominee they want to be in November. They're making an investment right now, and this should all be a five-alarm warning sign to all of us," Crowley said. 

"Democrats cannot afford to head into this general election with a nominee who lacks the experience, who lacks the record, or the coalition necessary to win this race, especially with Republicans actively trying to hand us that exact outcome. This election is too important to gamble on, and that's why today I am re-entering this race."

Crowley's poll numbers have been low

By the numbers:

The last Marquette University Law School poll in March found 3% of Democratic primary voters backed Crowley. At the same time, the poll found 65% of Democratic primary voters were undecided. An internal poll shared with FOX6 News from April found about 14% of Democratic primary voters were undecided. The undecided voters will be key to winning the primary. 

Calvi: "Could this backfire with Democrats on the ground seeing this as the establishment trying to handpick the nominee?"
Crowley: "I don’t know who the establishment is."
Calvi: "The governor."
Crowley: "When you think of the state of Wisconsin, you look at a Black kid from the city of Milwaukee, this is not what the establishment looks like. So, I am focused on what we need to do to win this race to make sure we can defeat Tom Tiffany in November."

The Marquette poll in March found 86% of Democratic voters had a favorable view of Gov. Tony Evers. Though, in May, Democratic legislators turned against Evers' budget surplus deal reached with Republicans.

Evers announced last year that he was not running for a third term, and he intended to avoid endorsing candidates in Democratic primaries, but then said never say never.

"I'll never say never, but I want to make sure who the rest of the candidates are before I even make that decision," Evers said at the time. "If there's somebody who really needs support and I want them to win, I might get in."

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Almost a year later, the governor backed Crowley, less than three-and-a-half weeks until the primary on Aug. 11.

Rivals react to Crowley and Evers news

The other side:

State Rep. Francesca Hong reacted to Crowley jumping back in the race:

"I welcome David Crowley back into the race, and I look forward to the perspective he’ll bring as we each make our case to Wisconsinites over the next three weeks. Competition is good for democracy, and voters deserve a substantive debate about the future of our state."

Joel Brennan, Milwaukee nonprofit leader and Evers' former Department of Administration secretary, posted on social media after his former boss made the endorsement: 

"I'm ready to go toe-to-toe with Tom Tiffany and win. And as governor, I'll expand childcare, make healthcare more affordable, build more housing, protect Wisconsin values, and fight for working people every single day."

The Mandela Barnes campaign stated:

"David Crowley left this race for a reason. After nearly an entire year in the race, the only attention he received was for a major healthcare scandal that threw Milwaukee residents off their insurance. He and his allies spent nearly a million dollars but gained absolutely no traction and was stuck in the low single digits."

State Sen. Kelda Roys reacted: 

"I've been traveling Wisconsin, listening to voters, and preparing to defeat Tom Tiffany. We owe it to ourselves to seek voter support, and that’s what I’ve been doing this race. I'm ready to govern on day one and I’ll never stop fighting for the progressive Wisconsin we deserve."

On the Republican side, U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany weighed in.

"Apparently, Democrats have decided their only shot at stopping the socialist who wants to abolish the police and prisons is to bring back David Crowley."

When is the election?

What's next:

Wisconsin's partisan primary election is set for Tuesday, Aug. 11. The general election will be Tuesday, Nov. 3.

Portions of this article were formatted using A.I. FOX6’s Jason Calvi reviewed it for accuracy and tone prior to publishing.

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